Environment and Society
TR 2:55-4:10.
G. Gillespie. Spring.

The main objective of the course is to develop a critical understanding of the dominant trends in modern U.S. environmental thought like preservationism, conservationism, deep ecology, social ecology, NIMBYism, risk assessment, ecological modernization, and environmental equity. Another objective is to familiarize students with some major contemporary substantive environmental problems and policies. These topics include air and water quality, public lands management, biodiversity, deforestation, climate change, and ozone depletion. A sociological framework is applied to evaluate interrelationships of substantive and philosophical/theoretical issues.