Where do our ideas of nature come from, and what cultural and political consequences do they have? In an era of rapid human expansion and uncertain ecological change, cultures everywhere are forced to reexamine their basic orientations to their environments. What stories and values shape the patterns of everyday ecological life? Are they still good ones, or do we need new moral resources to meet new moral problems? 

This course interprets humanity’s changing ecological relationships through religious and philosophical traditions. It takes up ethical questions presented by environmental problems, introduces frameworks for making sense of them, and examines the symbols and narratives that shape imaginations of nature. With a set of modern classics of environmental reading from around the world, small-group online discussions and individual essays, participants develop their own views on connections of belief and behavior in practical problems like climate change and food choices.

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