Geography: Nature, Places & Poli of Truth

Advanced offerings in political ecology and political economy, particularly at global and regional scales. Possible topics include Third World economic restructuring, globalization, international environmental movements. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: Vary with course content; minimum Junior standing.

GEOG majors only for first week of registration Six hours in Geography, Environmental Studies, or Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies. PACE students with permission and override

This advanced seminar examines natures, places and the politics of truth through an approach known as feminist political ecology (FPE). We will emphasize key Science, Technology, and Society (STS) concepts relevant to contemporary FPE. Through auto-ethnographic writing and student-led discussions and workshops, we will learn together about how specific technologies and scientific practices shape our understanding of cleaning up nuclear contamination and preparing the seabed for industrial resource extraction. We will also read science fiction and play digital games to consider geohumanities approaches to carefully unpack common gendered and racialized figures or tropes of humanity’s remaining fertile survivors, cancer warriors, and expert scientists in ways that radically rethink ideas of nature, modernity, agency, freedom, expertise, relating and other concepts. Core readings and digital works will be posted in the coming weeks.

Learning Objectives (Note: We will modify these objectives during the first week of class) After completing and reflecting on experiences in this course, students should be able to: i. Critically analyze popular narratives about modernity and constructed boundaries between nature/society and masculine/feminine dichotomies (awareness/knowledge/foundations) ii. Conduct creative and critical inquiry that integrates and synthesizes multiple disciplinary perspectives and that distinguishes and combines different kinds of evidence, methods and theories (such research entails working independently and in groups, drawing on the diverse strengths of group members and encouraging peer- and self-assessment) (application/integration/skills) iii. Recognize a diversity of cultural values and ecologies across multiple sites of local, national, global and networked relations, which requires taking the time to listen to the seemingly obvious, the banal and the daily facets of lives often drowned out by grand narratives about groups of people and about non-humans ((non)human dimension/personal/values/skills) iv. Begin, as members of society, to deliberately identify and assess how specific environmental narratives and technical fixes impact our own lives, shape our behavior and in turn, impact the lives of others who might not share our identities, attitudes, beliefs, values and assumptions (human dimension/personal) v. Take responsibility for communicating precisely and respectfully through written, visual and other genres to express key concerns and engage other perspectives (caring/skills) vi. Develop a greater desire to read specific texts more than once and to explore how one might “become with and among” other individuals, communities and ecologies (through this process, students will build a clearer sense of what they would like to learn and to do next and what knowledge and skills are necessary to do so) (application/learning how to learn)

There are no exams in this course. Students will sign up to co-lead two class sessions across the semester (consulting with Prof. Nelson concerning any needed materials and consulting about accessibility, etc.). Writing sessions include two short reflection essays, and regular note card assignments for each assigned reading (this helps to prepare students ahead of our discussions). Students will be able to choose which two major essay assignments to submit among several options. If opting not to submit a specific essay, students are still expected to participate fully in peer-review sessions and in-class writing exercises. One essay option is more open-ended and may be appropriate for students writing a thesis who want to devote time to a topic closer to their research or other work.