ENV 247 - Critical Perspectives of Environmental Health

This course will critically engage students in the study of the relationships between environment, health, and society. This course is designed around contemporary environmental issues, such as climate change, pollution and exposure, environmental monitoring, population growth, hazards and disasters, waste, resource extraction, food systems, and other, special topics. Throughout, we will pay special attention to how intersecting social positions shape the distribution of environmental health inequities in particular places, especially in the context of globalization and development assistance. Themes include, but are not limited to: bodies and embodiment, syndemics, the politics of knowledge, metrics and standardization, categories and boundaries, infrastructures, and the Anthropocene. We will also begin to explore how (humanistic) social scientists are increasingly working with environmental health practitioners and researchers to develop critical perspectives for understanding and resolving environmental health problems using theoretical frameworks from decolonial, indigenous, and feminist studies. What is the benefit of engaging with these theoretical perspectives when conducting research on environmental health topics? How do these different disciplinary perspectives resolve longstanding epistemological tensions and contradictions? What are the possibilities and limits of interdisciplinary practice? This course will draw from science, technology, and society studies, environmental history, medical anthropology, and political ecology to explore these issues, themes, and questions.

This is a reading, writing, and discussion intensive course. If you are not willing to deeply engage with theoretical readings, complete biweekly written reflections, and actively participate during class and in discussion forums, this may not be the course for you.

All readings for this course will be made available to you via the course’s Moodle page. You will not be required to purchase any reading materials for this course.

Satisfies Environmental Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisites: Knowledge of at least one of the following fields is highly recommended, but not required: science, technology, and society studies, environmental history, medical anthropology, environmental health, and/or political ecology.