Course description

Humans have fraught relationships with the animals, plants, land, water—even geological processes—around us. In this course, we will examine how people make and respond to environmental change and how groups of people form, express, struggle over, and work out environmental concerns. We will probe how environmental injustices, demographic change, economic activity, government action, social movements, and varied ways of thinking shape human-environmental relationships. Through our conversations, we will explore possibilities for durable ways of living together in our social and material world. Our goal in this course is to give you knowledge, analytical tools, and expressive skills that help you feel confident to address environmental concerns as a social scientist and a citizen.

Outcome 1: Explain different perspectives about how people create and address environmental concerns.

Outcome 2: Discuss key debates in the sociology of environmental change, communicating the theoretical claims and empirical evidence one can use to test those claims.

Outcome 3: Use sociological concepts and tools to analyze the emergence, dynamics, and outcomes of environmental controversies.

Outcome 4: Express your knowledge and reasoning in engaging written communication.

Summer 2025: Ithaca campus