Celebrate Earth Day With These Environmental Courses from CLA
This Earth Day, we recognize that the liberal arts are critical to understanding and doing right by our planet. These fall 2024 courses show a few of the ways that the arts, humanities, and social sciences reckon with environmental issues, imagine alternative futures, and develop creative approaches toward healing our relationship with nature.
![African man plowhing a field with oxen](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/anth_3037_image_-_african_man_plowing_field.jpg?h=3ed6217d&itok=oaLhIhhx)
Examine the physical environment and historical processes that have shaped agricultural productivity in Africa. Explore the interplay between food security, Indigenous knowledge, and environmental sustainability.
![Birch Trees](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/unsorted/images/Birch_stand-870x580px.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=RWgd_y75)
Analyze how social, political, economic, and legal forces influence American Indian environmental issues in the US and Canada. Study colonial histories and tribal sovereignty.
![Orange painting of a lake and trees](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/arts_3206w_image_-_nature_painting.jpg?h=ee9b73b9&itok=3P5pEk46)
How do artists use creativity to work across disciplines to address ecological concerns? Explore the history, theory, and contemporary practice of artists engaged with ecological issues.
![A 3D earth coming out of a an open book](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/earth_book_generated_with_ai_april_22_2024_at_11-39_am.jpeg?h=436b82d4&itok=OlU4XH5w)
Explore environmental issues through analysis of a diverse set of literature. Examine the formal dimensions and the contexts of these texts while learning how to evaluate information concerning the environment.
![Washington state capitol facade reflecting in pond lined by trees](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/geog_3376_image_-_washington_state_capitol_facade_reflecting_in_pond_under_white_sky.jpg?h=3ed6217d&itok=Yl-GrNj1)
Environmental problems and political economic processes are intimately connected. The latter shapes interactions with nature, access to resources, and which communities are exposed to environmental harm. Learn how environmental problems are produced and how people organize to address them.
![Tree stump with asymmetrical tree rings](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/geog_3839_image_-_tree_stump.jpg?h=3ed6217d&itok=YKmGJTy1)
Dendrochronology: The application of tree-rings to understand environmental change. apply the tools of this field toward understanding forest dynamics and the influence of climate and people on the forested environment.
![White hand holding cardboard sign that reads "THERE ARE NO JOBS ON A DEAD PLANET."](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/glos_3215_image_-_protest_sign.jpg?h=3ed6217d&itok=QjxO11pG)
Global production networks link consumers and producers across the globe. How did this global economy come to be, how has it impacted workers, consumers, and ecosystems, and what are its ethical and political implications?
![Oil rig on water at sunset](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/hist_3514w_image_-_oil_rig_on_water.jpg?h=3ed6217d&itok=LfOjbxxH)
Navigate the far-reaching impacts of environmental change upon Middle Eastern societies, culture, politics, economic development, and violence.
![Chickens in a cramped cage](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/phil_3301_image_-_chickens_in_cage.jpg?h=3ed6217d&itok=UKLEw77M)
Apply philosophical theories to topics such as vegetarianism and wilderness preservation. Establish and defend your views about moral relations between humans, animals, and nature.