Environmental justice is an idea, a movement, a science, and a method. Or rather it is a diverse collection of these things that together have transformed the landscape for environmental and social activism globally over the last 30+ years. The intersection of environment, identity, and wealth that environmental justice politics and scholarship have defined in that period promise to continue to be central to some of the planet’s most pressing problems.

This semester represents a unique moment in history…the first few months of a historically unique U.S. Presidency. This course will use this moment in two ways: • First, as a learning opportunity for students to engage with critical issues as they emerge on the social, economic, policy, and political landscape; • Second, to be of service by documenting key developments and creating a neutral source of information about them.

The class will explore the full breadth of environmental justice scholarship, activism, and policy-making. Over the semester we will work to understand social conditions and theories, quantitative data, and real-world politics and organizing. Students will dive into great stories, theories, and data that will help them understand environmental justice.

Service learning has always been a major component of the course and is designed to be even more so this semester. Besides a few individual assignments, students will largely work in small groups to edit and/or create Wikipedia articles in order to create a neutral, well-documented record of the assaults on the environment and environmental justice expected to unfold early in the Trump Presidency.