SOC 061 PZ -Environmental Sociology

Institution: Pitzer

Description: Environmental Sociology and Climate Futures The course will examine human societies and their relationships to nature, with an underlying focus on the societal causes and implications of climate change. While using a sociological lens, the course will draw on an interdisciplinary mix of materials to explore different societies and historical and contemporary relationships to the non-human world. In particular, differences between Euro-American relations structured by capitalism and diverse North American Indigenous practices shaped by traditional Indigenous knowledge will be featured. In the context of current and emergent policies, students will imagine transitions to various possible climate futures, from a decarbonized extension of the present to degrowth transformations to catastrophic escapism and ecofascism. We will identify possibilities of, processes for, and challenges facing the restructuring of society towards sustainable–and specifically post-carbon–futures. In conjunction with the above material, students will be asked to be attentive to their own relationship with the natural world and to the reality of climate change. I will strive to make the class a site of mutual support for conscious efforts of self-care in the context of ongoing climate change.

Prerequisite(s): See the current course schedule for registration restrictions.

For up-to-date information on current course offerings and details, please refer to the Pitzer class schedule on MyCampus2 Portal .