Critical Social Inquiry 0244 - Media Studies / Environment

In this 200-level course, we will examine where the categories "media" and "environment" intersect, focusing in particular on the central role that media play in communicating about climate change and environmental degradation. We will also engage media studies scholarship that theorizes the environmental impact of media technologies, especially emerging media. We will cover an array of topics, including e-waste and techno trash, environmental justice, undersea cable systems, greenwashing and consumer activism, "green" TV, ecofeminism, cultures of climate change, and race and the anthropocene. Some questions to guide our inquiry include: What discourses about nature and the environment do media (including journalism, film, television, advertising, websites) produce? How have scholars analyzed the environmental effects of an increasingly digital world? How have activists used media to combat environmental degradation? We will draw from a range of texts, including documentary film, popular media, journalism, and advertising.

Power, Community and Social Justice Culture, Humanities, and Languages Independent Work Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.