| Course Title: The Value of Nature |
| Start Date: 01/27/2026 End Date: 05/12/2026 |
| Term: Spring Semester 2026 |
| Description: Through this seminar, students develop an in-depth knowledge of and articulate vocabulary for the significant and diverse ways that humans value the natural world -- utilitarian, scientific, aesthetic, naturalistic, symbolic, ethical, and spiritual. We use these different typologies of human environmental values as frameworks for readings and discussion, extending our examination to historical and cultural variations in values, competing perspectives of the natural world, and other value concepts, including intrinsic and transformative value. We examine the concept of biophilia and probe the role values play in the concern over losses of biological diversity and its implications. |
| Distribution(s): I - Humanities |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Thakshala Tissera | ttissera@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 01/27/2026 - 05/12/2026 | Lecture | Tuesday and Thursday | 10:30AM - 11:45AM | TBA | TBA | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| Prereq: ENVST-100 or ENVST-150PH. | Take previously | Required |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags | ||
| ENVST-HUM | ENVST-HUM: Env Studies pre-2024 Minor - Humanities | This course has been approved to count towards the Environmental Studies minor Humanities area. |
| CFS-CRSE | CFS: Conceptual Foundations of Science minor | This course has been approved to count towards the Conceptual Foundations of Science minor. |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Waitlisted | Capacity: 18 | Enrollment: 17 | Available: 0 | Waitlist: 14 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| To be determined. |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is NOT the complete book list for this class. |