The above course carries Arts and Humanities distribution.

This course focuses on three global environmental issues and
religious/ethical responses to them: climate change, destruction of
ocean environments (e.g., pollution, fisheries collapse, ocean
warming), and global food issues (e.g., food security, seed
patenting, and genetically modified crops). The course adopts a
global perspective in two related senses: first, the course deals
with environmental issues that are global in scale and/or linked to
the global economy. Second, the course examinee the impacts of, and
responses to, these problems from the perspective of particular
communities throughout the world. The primary geographical locations
to be considered as case studies (in addition to, and in comparison
with, the U.S.) include parts of the UK, regions of the Black Sea,
and India. However, given the nature of these problems, particularly
climate change, we will inevitably touch upon a variety of other
regions around the world.
Because climate change is the primary global environmental problem
that confronts us, and because it affects a multitude of other
environmental issues, the ethics of climate change will take center
stage in this course. Al Gore has characterized climate change as a
problem that “challenges the moral imagination.” We will examine
what lies behind this claim, both in terms of the practical
challenges of fostering international cooperation, as well as the
unique moral and ethical dimensions of this problem, such as
concepts of intergenerational justice/obligations to future
generations. We will also consider “interfaith” responses to climate
change that incorporate perspectives from the major world
traditions.  The section of the course on ocean ethics explores the
question of how humans can develop an ethic toward marine
environments which (unlike terrestrial environments) remain largely
alien and uninhabitable to us. Our ethical responses must reckon
with the extreme otherness of ocean environments and life forms,
many of which we never encounter directly.  Developing an ethic
toward oceans presents challenges to the moral imagination nearly as
complex as those posed by climate change, though for different
reasons. This section examines how religious mythology and symbolism
often portrays the sea as inexhaustible and “unfathomable.” We then
consider some religiously motivated responses to seas in crisis. The
third section of the course focuses on questions of ecological
justice surrounding seed patenting and genetic modification of
crops. Ethical issues here center on the corporate ownership of
regenerative natural processes—symbolized by seed patenting—and the
implications for traditional farming cultures and food security in
places like India and throughout the globe. A final section of the
course considers local and individual initiatives for responding to
global environmental problems, with particular emphasis on the
movement known as bioregionalism, as well as virtue ethics. Course
requirements may include occasional quizzes on reading material,
short analytic papers and essay exams. Regular participation in
class discussion is expected. (note: There may also be opportunities
to collaborate, in journaling and writing assignments, with students
studying similar issues in the UK and elsewhere.)