Course code:

HS4020

Level:

MA - Intermediate/Advanced

Class size limit:

10

Meets the following requirements:

  • HS - Human Studies

Typically offered:

Once every three years
 

Bringing critical theory directly to the gates of human ecology, this class will approach the central issue of how discourses of government, biopower, and geopower have intertwined and infused themselves within the representations of “environments” in popular debate.  With a specific nod to Foucault, Marx, Baudrillard, Luke, and other critical social theorists, we will tackle the various complexities that arise when “ecology” become a site for political and economic expertization. Topics to be covered include the formation of knowledge/power/discourse, systems of environmentality, the rise of hyperecology, the valorization of ecodisciplinarians, and, as Timothy Luke puts it: “how discourses of nature, ecology or the environment, as disciplinary articulations of ecoknowledge, can be mobilized by professional-technical experts in contemporary polyarchies to generate geopower over nature for the megatechnical governance of modern economies and societies.” The class will also address the question of “moving forward”, and how these critiques can open productive spaces for new ways of representing modernity and ecology.  The class will be highly interactive; discussion will be the primary mode instruction, and students will have considerable influence on the exact topics covered. Final evaluation will based on a combination of class participation, a series of analytical response papers, and two long form essays. While the class is open to all students, those with some background in critical theory, philosophy, or economic theory are encouraged to attend. 

Prerequisites:

None

Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.