Natural Resources: Race & Culture in NR

Introduces First-year students to issues of race and culture and their relevance to society, natural resources, and the environment. Prerequisite: NR 1050.

Students need to co-register for both NR1050 and NR1060; Synchronous meetings online: Tues and Wed 1:00-4:00 Asynchronous Mon and Thursday

NR 1060 is a core course for first-year students in the Rubenstein School but this section is open to all UVM students. This class introduces students to issues of equity, diversity, power, and privilege and how these relate to the environment and conservation. In this course, students will: • Use a variety of frameworks to think critically about racism, equity, inclusion, diversity, positionality, and privilege. • Use critical reflection and dialogue to better understand and empathize with diverse perspectives on environment and natural resource issues. • Evaluate the differential impacts of environmental issues with respect to race, gender, socioeconomic class, and other dimensions of difference, and to what extent responses to environmental issues are equitable. • Describe dynamics of race, racism, and anti-racism in historical and present-day environmentalism. • Learn from the stories and voices of environmental leaders who have historically been marginalized from mainstream environmental narratives.

Readings are assigned each week and will support the topics discussed in lectures and dialogue sessions. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss their thoughts about and reaction to lectures and readings. We will have frequent critical reflections assignments in which you will consider explore and reflect on the course content. Each unit will end with a summative assignment that will bring together what you have learned. Required text: Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World, 2nd edition (ISBN: 9781571313195). Deming and Savoy (Eds). Milkweed Editions. Soft cover available at the UVM Bookstore. eBook available through the Howe Library.

Attendance, submission of reading logs, assignments for each course module (3), critical reflections (2-3), and a final self-assessment of your learning over the course of the semester. There is no final exam in this course.