This week we focus on building a foundation of knowledge about how we think about and relate to Nature, and why it matters. The readings and film will demonstrate that our ideas about Nature - what it is, what we want it to be, what our role as humans is in relation to it - have a profound impact on the world around us.
The first item is a reading by an influential geographer and environmental historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, William Cronon. [1] His research seeks to understand the history of human interactions with the natural world: how we depend on the ecosystems around us to sustain our material lives, how we modify the landscapes in which we live and work, and how our ideas of nature shape our relationships with the world around us.
The second item is a film featuring narration by another prominent thinker on the environment, Michael Pollan [2]. He takes a creative approach to understanding human-environment relations and asks us to reconsider how much control we humans have over the process of crop cultivation and domestication.
Check the calendar in Canvas for specific due dates.
Michael Schwarz and Edward Gray (directors) (2009).The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World [documentary]. USA: Kikim Media.
At the end of this week, you should be able to:
Let's dive in!
Links
[1] http://williamcronon.net/
[2] http://michaelpollan.com/