CHID 480 A: Special Topics: Advanced Study of the History of Ideas

SACRED EARTH POLITICS - RELIGION, ENVIRONMENT, AND IDENTITY __ TAUGHT BY OUR NEWEST CHID PROFESSOR IPSITA DEY. THIS COURSE EXPLORES TH INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, COSMOLOGIES OF PLACE, AND GLOBAL RACE, LAND, AND IDENTITY POLITICS. WE WILL EXAMINE TWO INTERRELATED QUESTIONS (1) HOW ARE RELIGIOUS THEOLOGIES, SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, AND LOCAL COSMOLOGIES OPERATIONALIZED IN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM? AND (2) HOW DO ECO- RELIGIOUS NARRATIVES OF WATER/LANDSCAPES PRODUCE CATEGORIES OF RACE AND RE-IMAGINE WHO CAN BELONG TO A PLACE? STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE WITH DIVERSE RELIGIOUS HISTORIES AND COSMOLOGIES OF THE WORLD, CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM, AND REPRESENTATIONS OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITY AS DEFINED THROUGH MORE-THAN-HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONS.