Collins Living-Learning Center

For much of the last five hundred years and beyond, empires have been the dominant political unit in human history. In their drive to control territory, mobilize labor, consume resources, and compete with their rivals, empires have played a key role in how we define, organize, and interact with our environment. This course is intended to introduce students to key concepts in
imperial/colonial studies and environmental history before placing the two topics—empire and environment—in conversation with each other. How did empires define words like environment, nature, and climate? How did imperial modes of thinking and seeing re-order the natural world? Was empire bad for the environment? The course is organized chronologically into a series of historical case studies that span from 1500 to present. In preparation for class discussions, students will read a new primary source each week, including personal diary entries, landscape paintings, satirical essays, and speeches.

SustainCollins course – open to all Collins students

Instructor: Brock DeMark

Collins Seminars: Selected by Board of Educational Programming (BOEP)

• S&H
• What are CASE requirements?