Doing Environmental History: Water Justice

This course introduces the field of environmental history, which examines how humans have influenced and been affected by various environments over time. We will utilize different sources (written, visual, and on-site) to explore methods of studying environmental history, with a focus on water justice - that is, how access to water, its use and abuse, and the impacts of storms and droughts have historically reflected racial, gender, and class disparities from local to global levels. Case studies include the AI industry; South Asia under British colonial rule; Native Americans in the Western US, including the Muwekma Ohlone people's unceded land now part of the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, which we will visit; Hurricane Katrina's devastation of predominantly Black New Orleans; and others. Assignments will include in-class work and a final research paper on Jasper Ridge's environmental history.