Land Matters: Stewardship, Sovereignty, and Justice on the Ground

We are connected to Land. Whether our connection is intimate and acknowledged or distant and unexplored, human (and other) lives are rooted in Land. In this course, we draw out matters of land, asking how and for whom land matters. Building on scholarship, journalism, public commentary, movements, podcasts, and videos, we explore land as a multifaceted and fundamental source of life, knowledge, community, wealth, power, theft, exclusion, sovereignty, justice, and healing. The course is grounded in US-based land histories and how colonial violence, patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism intersect to shape land access, control, and ownership. From this foundation, we explore on-the-ground efforts toward land justice, including decolonization, reparations, agrarian commons, and land trusts. Students will leave the course with frameworks for envisioning and helping to build equitable, just, and healthy Land futures based in stewardship, intention, and care.