This course explores the histories of material culture on Turtle Island/North America from origins to the present day. We will explore the stories that live inside objects and the relationships people have with material culture. We will explore case studies from a variety of cultures, including Indigenous, Euro-American, and African-American perspectives, but with a heavy emphasis on Indigenous material cultures. Students will be exposed to a variety of research methodologies for studying material culture. This course will culminate in the production of a substantial research paper.

This course introduces students to the field of environmental studies and to some of the scientific, historical, political, economic and cultural aspects of environmental concerns. Through interdisciplinary lenses, we explore the complexities of many issues and problems such as climate change, threats to biodiversity, and toxic environments. In addition to fostering an understanding of their origins, the course focuses on potential solutions.

This course will explore the historical, political, economic, social, and cultural contexts in which human-environment interactions occur. We will cover critical topics and trends in the field of political ecology, from its early manifestations to more recent expansions. Using case studies from the global south and north, we will discuss factors that shape social and environmental change across scales from the personal to the global, and we will examine the role of gender, race, class, and power in struggles over resources.

This course explores the major trends and changes in development theory and their bearings on development policy and practice, critically discussing concepts of development and the emergence and evolution of paradigms in development thinking. We will explore what and who drives (under)development, where (location and scales), and what can be done. The course integrates hands-on experiential learning through case studies and guest lectures to enable students to analyze what theoretical foundations informed past and current development thinking and their prospects and limits.

Human health is directly and indirectly impacted by climate change. Throughout this course we will investigate the diverse human health impacts that are linked to climate change. We will ask how changes to our air quality, water quality, vector-borne disease distribution, and food production impact our health. We will examine how extreme weather events lead to changes in morbidity, mortality, and mental health conditions in communities.

Through this seminar, students develop an in-depth knowledge of and articulate vocabulary for the significant and diverse ways that humans value the natural world -- utilitarian, scientific, aesthetic, naturalistic, symbolic, ethical, and spiritual. We use these different typologies of human environmental values as frameworks for readings and discussion, extending our examination to historical and cultural variations in values, competing perspectives of the natural world, and other value concepts, including intrinsic and transformative value.

A key test of our ecological knowledge is whether we can successfully apply it to create or restore ecosystems that have been damaged or destroyed. As we take on the role of restoration ecologists this semester, we will use principles and methods of ecology, conservation biology, hydrology, soil science, and related disciplines to learn about the theory, practice, and politics of ecosystem restoration. This course emphasizes fieldwork, interdisciplinary teamwork, and ecological planning to evaluate and design restoration projects in our surrounding communities and regional landscapes.

Water is not simply a natural biophysical element that flows neutrally through landscapes. In this course, we will focus on the political, ecological, and historical dimensions of human water use in a changing climate. Throughout the course, we will examine ways in which water crises are produced and play out at various scales, ranging from the macro (global) to the micro (household) and human body. We will begin by strengthening our foundational understanding of water resources and laws that affect distribution, quality, use, and sustainability.

Although they cover ~0.6% of the Earth's surface, wetlands perform more ecosystem services per hectare than any other ecosystem type. Alarmingly, over half of the Earth's wetlands have been lost to agriculture and development. With these wetlands were also lost the valuable ecosystem functions wetlands perform. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the biogeochemical, ecological, societal, and regulatory aspects of wetland ecosystems.

Food insecurity, warfare, disasters, energy, climate crises: how are environments enrolled in and entangled with questions of power, security, and geopolitical strategy? This course will explore relationships between population, resources, and scarcity, starting from the premise that scarcity is more often manufactured to maintain power than it is a "natural" condition.