Disability, Ethics, EcoJustice – 35714/36582 – THEO 074 10/20
Professor: Julia Watts Belser
Environmental justice movements raise a powerful ethical call to challenge entrenched patterns of environmental racism and classism that force marginalize communities to bear the brunt of climate change and environmental harm. This course examine disability as a cornerstone of environmental justice ethics. In an era of rampant endocrine disruptors and persistent organic pollutants, amidst cesium and carcinogens, human health is increasingly imperiled by environmental harm. Disability also intensifies environmental risk. People with disabilities are disproportionately affected by natural disaster, but rarely included in plans for community response. Centering the voices of disability artists and activists, this course asks: Can we build an environmental movement that affirms the dignity and agency of disabled people? What insights might environmental movements draw from disability activism? And how might lived experiences of disability ground an environmental ethic for the Anthropocene? Note: This course is one of many courses in the yearlong Core Pathway on Climate Change, open to all students. Each semester in the pathway students MUST pair together two 1.5 credit 7-week courses focused in the area of Climate Change. The other courses for this semester are as follows: PHIL-127, HIST-007-01, HIST-008-13, CHEM-028, ENGL-244-02 and ENGL-22-03. All courses in the Core Pathway on Climate Change are offered during the same timeslot TR: 2:00-3:15PM so that students can enroll in two over the course of the semester. To learn more about the courses and Core Pathways, visit www.corepathways.georgetown.edu.
