FS 008 PZ -LA: An Exploration of the Environment and its Cultural Complexities

Institution: Pitzer

Description: This first-year seminar explores selected aspects of Los Angeles’ contemporary complexities through its socio-cultural history and its environmental problems/history. The course will explore the “becoming” of contemporary Angelinos through the environmental and cultural geography of the region, the urban spaces they inhabit, the city’s historical and present ethnic and racial communities, and their contexts of economic inequalities, frictions, and social struggles. The class will include 5 full-day field trips into Los Angeles as we explore the city and its environment. Many of the class discussions and conversations will occur during these field trips to various sectors of the city including museums, street art/murals, and environmental problems and habitats. The opportunity to learn about initiatives that bring about change will be central to this course. The structure of this first-year seminar and its assignments will emphasize process in order to foster the interest and reflection to purposeful writing; the class is informed by methods of cooperative learning and principles of critical pedagogy.

Prerequisite(s): None

First-Year seminars are not listed on the course schedule. Incoming students will be assigned to a first-year seminar and registered automatically.