Course Info: CSI-0238

CourseCSI-0238 Beyond the Population Bomb
Long TitleBeyond the population bomb: Rethinking population and the environment in an era of climate change
Term2018F
Note(s) Satisfies Distribution
Textbook information
Meeting InfoFranklin Patterson Hall ELH on M from 1:00-3:50
FacultyAnne Hendrixson
Capacity25
Available3
Waitlist0
Distribution(s) Power, Community and Social Justice
Cumulative Skill(s)Independent Work
Multiple Cultural Perspectives
Writing and Research
Additional InfoStudents are expected to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.
Description

Population, or "overpopulation," has long been blamed as a primary reason for environmental problems, including climate change. In this class, we will critically examine the gendered and racialized ways that environmental thinkers have framed population in relation to resource scarcity, food insecurity, conflict and violence, environmental degradation and climate change. Starting from the 1948 bestsellers Our Plundered Planet and Road to Survival we will analyze environmental discourses that call for population reduction to address environmental issues. We will explore how these discourses influence environmental activism, impact sexual and reproductive health policy, and fuel anti-immigrant rhetoric, while obscuring the complex contributors to environmental problems. In the class, we will look to reproductive, environmental and climate justice movements to find frameworks that take action on environmental issues while fighting for social justice.