THEORIES AND PERSPECTIVES IN HUMAN ECOLOGY

C&ESOC/SOC 977

Review of ecological theory and research; critical assessment of the ecological complex (population, organization, environment, and technology); problems of measurement.

INTER-HE 801

Special Topics in Human Ecology.

INTER-HE 201

This course explores the art and science of purposeful living by integrating academic knowledge with issues real and relevant to students' lives including: identity and belonging; happiness, purpose and meaning; self-awareness and self-presentation; romantic, peer and family relationships; material culture, consumer behavior and financial well-being; and connections to community, culture, and society. From the microbes that inhabit our guts to political revolutions sparked by a tweet, human lives are embedded in an ecology of complex, interdependent systems. Using the lens of Human Ecology, you will address "big questions" like: How am I connected to others and to larger systems? What brings happiness and works for the "greater good" in human lives? An overarching goal of the course is to help you understand yourself as embedded in the web of ever-evolving interconnected networks, an "EcoYou." Human Ecology is a systems approach to studying and understanding relationships between humans and their everyday environments; it is a civic and socially conscious orientation that is committed to understanding and improving the quality of human lives. Human Ecology is inherently interdisciplinary drawing on research, theories and methods from diverse fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, public health, biology, and art and design.

INTER-HE 301

Specialized subject matter of current interest.

ENVIRST 112

Explores different social science approaches to interpreting the relationship between environment and society at various scales, from the local to the global. Traces the social origins of environmental concerns, their social impacts, and the different responses they engender.