English 890STA - Climate, Coloniality & Sustain

Radical in its conception, this course, led by a humanist and a climate scientist, offers students an opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary modes of critique in the context of the most urgent story of our times, the story of climate change. We will engage in robust discussions surrounding the intersections of empire, climate, and capital; we will learn about the birth of climate and environmental sciences, their relationship to ecological imperialism, and also think through why the humanities and the sciences need to work in tandem to address the most pressing problems of climate breakdown. We will gain a better understanding of how imperial processes continue to dominate climate politics, what the racial and gendered implications of the crisis are, and what a politics that sustains life might entail. Despite the big picture problems, we aim to arrive at a place of radical and life-affirming politics of hope and sustainability for the future.