ENVI 263
The Global Ocean: An Interdisciplinary Introduction Spring 2021 (also offered Fall 2020)
Division II
Cross-listed MAST 263 / ENVI 263
This is not the current course catalog

Though it covers most of the planet, the ocean’s importance to everyday life is easy to overlook. Its roles as a cultural symbol, resource, highway, and climate regulator make it essential to life around the world. This interdisciplinary course, team-taught by the faculty of the Williams-Mystic Program, will examine key issues in each of the world’s oceans while introducing students to the ways these issues connect multiple disciplines and transcend physical, political, and imaginary ocean boundaries. By drawing on the expertise of the five professors — from humanities, social sciences, and sciences — this course facilitates the critical study of the ocean from an interdisciplinary perspective and helps them consider their own role in the shifting relationship between humanity and the ocean. This seminar-style course will meet twice a week online, with students assessed by their participation, response papers, and final project, while helping them apply interdisciplinary skills to pressing sustainability issues connecting the environment and society.