Goucher College 2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalogue 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Goucher College 2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalogue PLEASE NOTE: This is an archived catalog. Programs are subject to change each academic year.

ES 140 - Introduction to Environmental Studies (4 Cr.)

(LER-ENV)(GCR-ENV)
There is no relationship more important to society than the one we have with our natural environment. From the extraction of resources necessary for everyday life to where we put our waste products, from where we get our food to where we go on vacation, our dependence on and perceptions of the environment are fundamental to every aspect of our lives. Resource use and environmental management, in addition to being scientific and technological problems, are also inseparable from our political, economic, and cultural systems. Resource use practices and efforts to control nature are closely tied to power at every scale: local, national, and global. This course focuses on the social aspects of resource management across the globe. We begin by reading about and discussing some conceptual issues that are central to our understanding of environmental management. These include political economy, social construction of nature, and environmental economics. We then examine the interaction of these processes and problems through in-depth study of several issues, including energy use, agriculture and food, and conservation. Offered every semester.