Civic Communication and Media
CCM 260 Communicating Environmental and Climate Justice (4)
Journalists, government officials, corporate and environmental advocacy group representatives, small business owners, and concerned community members, among other actors, generate and respond to different rhetorical materials about “the environment.” However, what this term signifies and the implications for engaging in sustainable practices often are ambiguous, contested, and are entwined with colonialism, racial capitalism, neoliberalism, environmental privilege, and other interrelated systemic problems that disproportionately create negative conditions for Indigenous peoples, people of color, and low-income individuals and communities. This course requires students to examine how particular frameworks and discourses support or pose challenges to US environmental movements, with particular focus on environmental and climate justice. To examine various communication contexts in discussions, readings, writing assignments, community activities, and multi-media production and critique, the course requires students to collaborate with local partners to practice applying course concepts and the university’s commitment to advancing equity and social justice in our communities. This engagement relies on service learning to examine questions, challenges, and possibilities that shape and are shaped by different media environments and experiences.