Ecological (De)colonization: North American Environmental History, Justice, and Sovereignty

This course investigates how historical and contemporary issues of resource capitalism, environmental justice, and settler colonization in the North American context are entangled. Students will come to understand that Indigenous sovereignty, and thus decolonization, is fundamentally concerned with land and water (i.e. the other-than-human environment). Students will receive an introduction to environmental history, learn to use primary sources, develop a theoretical toolkit to approach topics concerning settler colonialism and environmental/climate justice, and explore political and environmental solutions to the problems discussed.