Looking through the lens of history, students will explore Nature, Progress, and the Role of the Global Citizen from three distinct components. One, students will trace the major events of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries that have led to where modern society is today in terms of its relationship with nature.
Such topics will include a study of the origins of Colonization and Imperialism, the First and Second Industrial Revolutions, the rise of Nationalism and the complexities created by competing national interests.
The second component of the class will center on the unique relationship between emerging modern societies and nature. Special emphasis will be given to artistic, economic, philosophical, and sociological observations and commentary that accompanied the evolution of modern progress and its impact on the natural world. Last, Nature, Progress, and the Role of the Global Citizen will offer students the opportunity to explore current social and philosophical commentary on our current global relationship with nature. This last layer of the course will allow students the opportunity to create their own vision for what a more redefined, more just perspective might be as we head further into the twenty-first century.
Faculty: Chris Brooks