CHID 250 A: Special Topics: Introduction to the History of Ideas

"BLACK SEA ECOLOGIES: POLITICS, CULTURE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN POST-SOVIET SPACE" THE BLACK SEA REGION STANDS AT THE CROSSROADS OF CULTURES, CONTINENTS, EMPIRES, AND TIME. POLITICALLY TURBULENT, RICH IN OIL AND PIPELINES, THE AREA FACES CHALLENGES OF ALIGNING WITH IDEAS THAT CARE ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, AS THEY PURSUE THE CAPITALIST PHASE THEY ASPIRED TO DURING THE SOVIET YEARS. IN THIS COURSE, WE WILL EXPLORE THE INTERSECTION OF POLITICS, CULTURE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THIS COLONIZED SPACE: WHERE DO ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES FIGURE IN STRUGGLING DEMOCRACIES? WHAT ARE ACTIVISTS ABLE TO DO UNDER AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES? WHAT DO INDIGENOUS FOLK TRADITIONS HAVE TO TEACH ABOUT THE POLITICS OF CARING FOR OUR ENDANGERED PLANET? GE REQS: W, I&S