Faculty First Year Seminars 197ECO3 - The Sixth Extinction

Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. We will explore why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before by examining research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept.

Freshmen Only