Geographies of Sustainability and Unsustainability

Exploration from a geographical perspective of how sustainability can be understood. Consideration of why the organization of different kinds of landscapes encourages, fosters, enables, and stymies building of sustainable relationships among people, land, waterways, flora, and fauna. While readings and discussions reference scientific studies, focus is on exploring social, historical, cultural, and political-economic dimensions of environmental problems and solutions. Examination of cultural ideas about human environment interaction and questions of power, politics, history, and inequality asking how they contribute to the problems that scientists measure and discuss. Selective focus on those issues of sustainability and unsustainability that are most central to everyday lives in Los Angeles, including questions of food, water, waste, and urban sustainability more generally.

P/NP or letter grading.