Course Synopsis

This course provides a broad introduction to nature and society relationships. The first part of this course explores the evolution of the modern world system and provides a brief history of the human environmental impacts that culminated with American environmental governance. We will then examine the global ecological consequences of the modern world system, with an emphasis on the interactions between demography, consumption, natural resources, and technology.  The third module in this course  details the mechanics of global climate change and its environmental impacts.  We will end the course with a brief exploration of emerging technologies for a sustainable future and promising efforts to address the unequal distribution of environmental benefits and burdens today.