The Environment in Literature, Law, and Science

This class explores changing concepts of 'environment' and 'nature' in lit, law and policy, and science. Using the Duke Campus Farm, the campus, and surrounding areas, we trace those changes across historical periods and cultures, culminating in a consideration of the dismantling of Black Durham (red lining, 147) and the emergence of the Environmental Justice Movement (in Warren County, NC). We explore how those concepts are constructed through science, law and policy, and cultural forms, how those concepts shape our lived experience, and how an understanding of that process might lead to more productive debates in science, law and policy, and ethics, and to constructive social and environmental change.