Introduction to Ecological Ethics

3 credits

This course studies the theological and ethical responses to the range of interrelated planetary threats known as the ecological crisis. We begin with Catholic social teaching and Laudato Si and then turn to a variety of methodological approaches and topics, e.g. a biblical analysis of agriculture, Orthodox ethics and asceticism, patristic and medieval sources and the development of ecological virtues, and liberation theology and global consumerism. We address global crises as well as local, contextual theologies such as African, Native American, and South American ecological ethics, with particular attention to how these crises impact the poor and marginalized.