136-419 Ecology and the Environmental Movement

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Subject Description

This seminar examines the history of ecology as both a science and a social movement during the last century--a period of unprecedented transformation in both the environment and the sciences created to interpret these changes. However, the historical interaction between the ecological sciences and environmental thought in this period remain poorly understood. This seminar will focus on the development of both ecology and environmentalism within a broader social context of interdependence and tension. In the ecological sciences we will explore the instrumental ecological ideas of: natural history, plant succession, ecosystem ecology, gaia hypothesis, and chaos ecology. Simultaneously, in the evolving field of environmental thought, we will examine: conservation, green politics, deep ecology, ecofeminism, environmental racism and justice, and bioethics. The methodology to investigate these issues will be historical case studies. Specific case studies will focus on ecological investigations of human systems including: nuclear fallout, pesticides, deforestation, and overpopulation.

Assessment

Class presentation and essay 2000 words; final essay 3000 words.