Environmental Justice & Macro Mental Health

3 units

Students in this course will develop praxis (a theory-based approach to practice) for a sustained, collective commitment to ecological stewardship and environmental justice. Employing a “macro mental health” lens, the course will provide practical tools for developing individual- and community resilience, including nature-based practices for healing and care. Part I of the class will address affective issues such as climate anxiety that may deter individuals’ involvement in environmental work. We will examine the environmental movement’s historical use of fear-based messaging and consider more productive and evidence-based framing strategies. Part II of the class will draw from a variety of disciplines to envision communities of care in the service of environmental justice. Central themes will include ethics of stewardship and maintenance, place attachment and ecological connectedness, and anticolonial paradigms. In Part III of the class, students will apply these concepts and strategies in hands-on, outdoor activities in partnership with one or more local organizations. Accessible and inclusive opportunities could include ecological stewardship in the form of tree maintenance or urban gardening, and/or nature-based mindfulness activities. Readings in this section of the course will discuss the on-going history of environmental racism and anti-racism in our St. Louis context.