One of the greatest skills I have gained in ENVS 160 is the ability to analyze and compile a wide range of materials into a few coherent and meaningful ideas. Although the interdisciplinarity has proven to be somewhat difficult for me, I have enjoyed having the opportunity to look at the broad topic of environmental studies through multiple lenses. Overall, throughout this course I have derived three main takeaways that I hope to apply to my future.
As I briefly discussed in Post 3, I am very passionate about biology and I hope to someday enter a field relating to ecology or conservation. Although I am most interested in the science components behind these fields of research, I have now come to realize that in order to succeed as a biologist, it is necessary for me to understand other factors and disciplines as well. These include but are not limited to political, economic, and sociological factors. As Steinberg shows us, social rules are everywhere and can have major influences on the ecological well being of any given species (Steinberg 2015). In order to fully grasp the threats and potential risks to a population, it is clear that I will need to study and comprehend these underlying social rules. Overall, I have learned that if I want to be successful in studying conservation and ecology, I must be open to many different perspectives and viewpoints. I must be willing to apply different lenses to help determine and understand the factors influencing a specific population. I feel that this class has greatly prepared me for this task, as we have analyzed a wide range of texts from many different viewpoints.
In addition to the applications to my potential future research, this class has also given me new insight that will be of great use in any future discourses or topics of contention I may encounter. Moving forward, in future debates with my family and friends over environmental issues, I will now not only be well equipped with a large amount of research and evidence, but I will have a deeper understanding of how and why disagreements come about. Through reading and analyzing Mike Hulme’s Why We Disagree About Climate Change, I now understand that there are numerous components involved in why people disagree over certain subjects, and specifically relating to environmental topics (Hulme 2015). I now realize that it is necessary to look into at a wide range of different factors to comprehend a disagreement. Overall, I feel like I can use this knowledge on the ideas behind disagreement to my advantage to successfully prepare my arguments so they are most effective and in the end to move forward to resolutions and new ideas.
The final idea that I hope to carry with me from this class, that I have already addressed somewhat in my previous posts, is that if I want to strive for change for the face of the environment, I must look to higher institutional powers rather than focusing solely on individual level movements. After analyzing many texts (Steinberg 2015, Maniates 2001, Shellenberger 2011) in this class arguing that institutional actions are necessary for change, I have come to realize the importance and power behind this truth. Although I still believe individual actions are important, I now feel that we must use these institutions and the government in particular to establish real movements for change to save and protect our earth.
References
Hulme, Mike. 2009. Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge University Press.
Maniates, Michael F. 2001. “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” Global Environmental Politics 1 (3): 31–52.
Shellenberger, Michael, and Ted Nordhaus, eds. 2011. Love Your Monsters: Postenvironmentalism and the Anthropocene. Breakthrough Institute.
Steinberg, Paul F. 2015. Who Rules the Earth?: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.