SOC 291
Religion and Ecology in America
Fall 2024
Division II
W Writing Skills
Cross-listed
ENVI 291 / REL 291
Class Details
This course examines the relationship between religious and environmental thought in American cultural history. Exploring a broad range of practices, stories, and beliefs, we will examine the spiritual roots and branches of modern environmentalism. Rather than survey the formal teachings of organized religious groups, we will explore the creation and contestation of environmental meaning in the public sphere through literature, art, philosophy, and popular culture. How have religious writers, thinkers, and artists shaped the way we think about nature? How have they shaped the way we think about politics, science, and social justice? In pursuit of these questions, we will consider a diverse array of topics and cases, including struggles to protect Native American sacred places, the role of Black churches in fighting environmental racism, Protestant outdoorsmanship, Catholic climate activism, Jewish eco-mysticism, atheist biological theory, Buddhist eco-spirituality, and more.
The Class:
Format: tutorial
Limit: 10
Expected: 10
Class#: 1275
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Limit: 10
Expected: 10
Class#: 1275
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation:
Each week each student will either write a 5- to 7-page essay on assigned readings or offer a 2-page critique of their partner's paper.
Prerequisites:
None
Enrollment Preferences:
Environmental Studies majors and concentrators
Distributions:
Divison II
Writing Skills
Notes:
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ENVI 291 Division II REL 291 Division II SOC 291 Division II
ENVI 291 Division II REL 291 Division II SOC 291 Division II
WS Notes:
Each student will write five five-page papers and five two-page papers in this class. They will be given extensive weekly feedback on their writing in the form of one-on-one meetings and written comments, and they will be given multiple opportunities for revision. Emphasis will be placed on the mechanics of argumentation, logic and rhetoric, and the development of a distinctive voice.
Attributes:
ENVI Humanities, Arts + Social Science Electives
Class Grid
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SOC 291 - T1 (F) TUT Religion and Ecology
SOC 291 - T1 (F) TUT Religion and EcologyDivision II W Writing SkillsTBA1275ClosedInst