Climate Change: Religion, Ecology, and Economics

1-3 credits · Graduate School

Since the publication of Lynn White's classic 1967 article in "Science," Western Christianity has come under intense scrutiny for contributing to the current ecological crisis, which finds its culmination in climate change. Less discussed but equally important is White's sense that science in the West has also been influenced by these intellectual currents and is, therefore, not able to solve the problems on its own. This class brings together theological, ethical, economic, and scientific perspectives in an examination of what has contributed to our current ecological crisis. While there is widespread agreement in these fields that we are living in the "Anthropocene," an age that is determined by humanity after the end of the "Holocene," how can we better understand humanity's role in environmental degradation and climate change, and how is humanity changing under those conditions? The goal of this analysis is to identify how the problems might be addressed and what alternatives could be developed. Conducted on the Campus of the Oregon Extension (www.oregonextension.org), the class will have access to ecological resources with the ability to study how humans affect the environment even in remote parts of the country, what possibilities there are to live sustainably on the land, and how Christian and other religious traditions have been able to create more sound relationships with the earth, in conversation with alternative religious expressions and members of the Klamath Tribe of Native Americans that lives in the region. [1-3] Mr. Reside and Mr. Rieger