Environmental Studies

As the shock of a global pandemic takes hold of public imagination and transforms daily life, the work of thinking through community-based responses that cultivate an ability to adapt to, and to think critically about this public health emergency is paramount. Developing good habits of inquiry and generating new knowledge are urgently needed to help us cultivate the spirit to carry on in the midst of dramatic change, and we, as a University community, can do just that. In this course, we will engage with CMU faculty from multiple disciplinary perspectives examining how thinkers from philosophy, ecology, psychology, sociology, musicology, music therapy, and theology engage with our current context. We'll pay particular attention to the environment and food systems in the midst of the pandemic's disruption of political, economic, and social systems. We'll critically reflect on how these disciplines (ways of knowing) approach the pandemic, and think creatively on how to connect their perspectives to address issues emerging from this crisis. We'll each create a portfolio on community resilience (including ecological resilience) in these pandemic times, and we'll share them with the class and members of the University community at the end of the course. In so doing, we, the university community of this class, will have connected scientific, social scientific, and humanities approaches in a way that aims to help ourselves and others.

(3-week online intensive course)

Class Dates: July 6-July 24, 2020; 9:30am-12:15pm (Tuesdays-Thursdays, with small-group meetings on Fridays. )

Lecture & discussion via Zoom videoconference.

This course fulfills 3 credit hours of CMU core requirements in either Integrative Studies, Social Sciences or Humanities