NATURE AND SOCIETY*

概要

This advanced seminar examines the cultural and political dimensions of society’s impact on the natural world. By studying anthropology, environmental studies, urban political ecology, and science studies, we will critically think about the way we relate to nature, both conceptually and in practice. Students are required to participate in discussion, work on group projects, and complete a research paper.

目標

This semester, we will explore nature in cities, or urban ecology. We are currently facing many planetary crises -- climate change, pandemics, biodiversity loss -- that threaten our future on Earth. Cities are at the center of these crises. The ecological footprint of cities is larger than ever, as over half of the global population now live in urban areas. Cities are also generators of social inequities, funneling global movements of goods and people in ways that can be unjust and undemocratic. Yet they are also incubators of new ideas and innovation, centers of capital and power. In recent years they have become key testing grounds for implementing “nature-based solutions” to deal with climate-induced extreme weather such as flooding, droughts, and wildfires. There is a growing consensus that cities hold the key to humanity’s future on this planet. William Cronon, an environmental historian, writes that our tendency to regard cities as the antithesis of all that is natural is an ideological fabrication. Following Cronon, this course argues that the metabolism of a city is intimately linked to its infrastructure, both natural and artificial, as well as to modern regimes of urban planning and management, often informed by technocratic visions and global scientific knowledge. It also contends that cultural imaginaries, relations of power, and economic forces shape the way we understand the ecology of and in cities. This course also seeks to bring into conversation the social sciences, the natural sciences, and discussions about urban planning, design, and the arts. The course in particular examines urban waters. The governance of sewage infrastructures, the culture of urban access to its waters, and the key ecological services that relies on the hydrological cycle -- these ways and many other ways that a city handles its waters are indelibly a part of its past as well as its future. We will also study watershed governance, the political ecology of common-pool resource management, history of rivers, and the poetics of water. The course also will take advantage of the city of Tokyo via fieldwork and tours. Key goals of this course are: To prepare students for a world that is transitioning to a biophilic and nature-positive world by training them in ecological literacy and nurturing a disposition for an ecocentric approach to the world’s problems. To give students tools of the social sciences and the humanities that will allow them to critically assess discourses on climate crisis, biodiversity, and other environmental issues. To give students a way of approaching today’s challenges by an appreciation of how cities throughout history developed in response to past environmental problems.

授業外の学習

【Preparation】(Time required: approx. 90 minutes for each session). ・Check the syllabus and Moodle to see upcoming topics and assignments. ・Review your lecture notes and summarize the content of the class discussions as well as review the provided textbook. ・Read the assigned class materials and take notes on the readings. ・Prepare for class discussion by generating questions to be addressed in class. 【Assignments】(Time required: approx. 100 minutes for each session). ・Work on assignments announced in class and on Moodle ・Engage in individual and group research.

所要時間: 190 minutes.