Faculty Name

Lewis Messenger

Document Type

Syllabi

School

CLA

Department

ANTH

Course Subject

ANTH

Course Number

3980

Course Section

2

Course Title

Special Topics: Climate Change

Academic Term and Year

Spring 2017

Credits

4.00

Hamline Plan Letter

D, S

Area of Study

ANTH

Course Description

Climate change is something that all of us should be increasingly concerned about, not only as an academic issue, but something that we should be more proactive about in our own actions and in the realms of our personal and professional discourse – within academe and beyond. Understanding the dynamics and impacts of climate change itself requires a holistic approach, making it all the more suitable for anthropological work. Words like “sustainability” and “resilience” should be found in these kinds of conversations, whether we are biologically, archaeologically, socio-culturally, or linguistically oriented. None of these words are mutually exclusive. The organizing themes for Climate Change – Anthropological Perspectives and Indigenous Voices are the anthropological ramifications, permutations, knowledge, relevant questions, etc. of global climate change, and how these intersect with our own holistic discipline. This course will be conducted as a seminar and will be a holistic exploration of the issues related to climate change with the goal of developing an organizational theme within the various anthropological subfields – sociocultural, biological/physical, linguistic, and archaeological, but also within and between broader interdisciplinary interests. We will be looking synchronically and diachronically at global climate change, focusing on those times when humans have been around. What has ""our"" role been over the years with regard to the development of our global ecosystem? What part have ""we"" played in the creation of the ""Anthropocene"" and, is it valid?

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