Toxic: Health, Environment, and Life after Harm

What does it mean to live amidst toxicity? This course explores the environmental and health problems associated with exposure, contamination, and detoxification through a social and cultural perspective. It provides students with an interdisciplinary introduction to the complex relationship between society and the environment using theoretical interventions from medical anthropology, science and technology studies, political ecology, and decolonial studies. From oil spills to asthma, this course draws on readings and in-class activities to explore how contemporary environmental and health problems are shaping—and being shaped by—the politics of race, gender, and class.