Courses

From the notion of 'carbon-heavy masculinities' (Alaimo 2016) to sexist and racist population control policies, gender is woven throughout the policies and ideologies that cause climate change. In this course, we will develop tools for analyzing climate crises through political, social, and economic lenses that take gender (and its intersections with race, class, nation, ability, species, and sexuality) seriously. We will center ecofeminist, environmental justice, decolonial and Indigenous scholars/activists as we think about how best to weather the changes. We will aim to be bold in thinking through not just reformist and technocratic solutions to mitigate the worst impacts of a rapidly changing climate, but will consider the revolutionary potential of doing things otherwise: what if justice means imagining new economic systems? Embracing more flexible and fluid gender and sexual identities? Making reparations for racial justice and bringing an end to the widening gap between the hyper-wealthy and the rest? Or decolonizing the nation by redressing land theft and confronting notions of private property and state authority altogether? As we work through the losses and immense potential of this moment, we will do so by building our learning community on the foundation of open, respectful communication, which helps us hone our writing and collaboration skills.

From the notion of 'carbon-heavy masculinities' (Alaimo 2016) to sexist and racist population control policies, gender is woven throughout the policies and ideologies that cause climate change. In this course, we will develop tools for analyzing climate crises through political, social, and economic lenses that take gender (and its intersections with race, class, nation, ability, species, and sexuality) seriously. We will center ecofeminist, environmental justice, decolonial and Indigenous scholars/activists as we think about how best to weather the changes. We will aim to be bold in thinking through not just reformist and technocratic solutions to mitigate the worst impacts of a rapidly changing climate, but will consider the revolutionary potential of doing things otherwise: what if justice means imagining new economic systems? Embracing more flexible and fluid gender and sexual identities? Making reparations for racial justice and bringing an end to the widening gap between the hyper-wealthy and the rest? Or decolonizing the nation by redressing land theft and confronting notions of private property and state authority altogether? As we work through the losses and immense potential of this moment, we will do so by building our learning community on the foundation of open, respectful communication, which helps us hone our writing and collaboration skills.

Fall Semester information

280A: Gender & Climate Justice