The Climate of Concepts: How Words Build Worlds

This course is a survey of a selection of concepts frequently encountered in the environmental humanities. Each week introduces a word with a view to thinking about "its climate": we investigate its theoretical meanings, the political ends to which it is mobilized, and the historical contexts in which it first took on the ideas we now associate with it. 

We will think closely about how words build worlds: what they mean, what they don't, and how we use them to construct and negotiate reality. We will explore concepts as fundamental as "nature", "wilderness", "the environment", "the anthropocene", "the planetary", and "the climate" itself. 

This undergraduate level course meets for the Spring 2022 semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00-1:30pm. Please sign up here and you will receive a confirmation and welcome from Dr. Badami before the semester begins. Registration cap: 15

SIGN UP FORM