Conversations with Environmental Icons & Others

What do voices from U.S. American History, both past and present, reveal about the way race, gender and privilege shape how we understand conservation, climate change, and environmental justice today? How does your voice matter in this current moment? We will consider the foundations of environmental ideas and attitudes and the connections to contemporary environmental practices by engaging in “conversations” with environmental icons such as John Muir and other historical and contemporary figures such as Zora Neale Hurston and Rachel Carson. In addition, we will explore the construction of environmental narratives and how representations of the natural environment are structurally and culturally racialized within environmental institutions and the media. 3 hrs. sem.