From the Columbian Exchange to Climate Change: Modern Global Environmental History

Environmental stories are constantly in the news, from weird weather to viral outbreaks to concerns about extinction and fracking. In this course, we put current events in the context of the past 500 years, exploring how climate, plants, animals, and microbiota – not just humans –acted as agents in history. From imperialism to the industrial revolution and from global capitalism to environmental activism, we will examine how nature and culture intermingled to create the modern world. This is an introduction to environmental history and assumes no prior courses.