NTRES 2000 Environmental Justice

Course description

Within the U.S. and globally, there continue to be stark racial and economic differences in 1) the distribution of environmental harms and goods and 2) the determination of who meaningfully participates in environmental decision-making processes. This course examines how environmental processes and policies interact with race and class to differentially affect people’s exposure to environmental harms and their ability to participate in environmental decision-making. We will review the history of the environmental justice movement in the U.S. and use an environmental justice framework to examine various case studies and responses to environmental injustice.Through these examinations, students will enhance their ability to analyze the impact of environmental work on vulnerable communities and improve their ability to work with diverse social groups in the U.S.

Outcome 1: Describe the three types of environmental justice and how they manifest in environmental problems.

Outcome 2: Describe the history of the environmental justice movement, its main tenets, and its relationship to the mainstream environmental movement.

Outcome 3: Explain how politics, economics, and structural racism have led to differential environmental outcomes within the U.S.

Outcome 4: Evaluate an environmental problem using the three types of environmental justice.

Previously offered classes