Environmental Ethics and Policy

Online: July 1-24 Face-to-face: August 6-10

Professor Andrew Light
Department of Philosophy & Evans School of Public Affairs
University of Washington (website)

This class will serve as a foundation for discussion of the overwhelming challenge of environmental degradation and the human responses to that degradation. The course will focus on contemporary environmental, moral and political theories, as well as the general use of philosophical methods in broader environmental questions and policies.

Registration deadline: June 25

Contact us as soon as possible to apply for Center for Ethics financial assistance if you have financial need.

Syllabus for Environmental Ethics and Policy... Register

More information:

Dr. Light is a prolific writer, the author of over seventy articles and book chapters and is editor or co-editor of sixteen books in the fields of environmental ethics and policy, philosophy of technology, moral and political philosophy, and aesthetics. He is also a coveted lecturer and speaker, with engagements across Europe and the Americas. His course with us last summer was extremely well received, and one student even composed a song in his honor (called "Andrewsphere").

The course combines a half online, half face-to-face format, which one student last year called "The perfect balance of a variety of teaching strategies!" For all of July you simply follow the readings and join in discussion online when you can (within some parameters to make sure everyone is keeping up). This way everyone develops a broad understanding of the material and issues before coming together in Missoula for the intensive, though not overwhelming, face-to-face portion (August 6-10).

Two additional features that were praised by last year's students were the high caliber of fellow students and the evening events. This year Andrew Light's course has already attracted three young professors from around the country - all with fascinating backgrounds in ecology and environmental ethics themselves - along with graduate students and some professionals who are simply interested in Dr. Light and this topic. The evening events, which are free and open to the public, were also greatly enjoyed by last year's students as a compliment to the courses, with discussions regularly continuing over pints at nearby pubs.

The course can be taken for graduate or undergraduate credit in either Philosophy or Environmental Studies. Costs are deliberately kept low ($120 per credit-hour) for UM students, and some scholarship funds are available.

Our first week's events are currently being replanned. Please check back soon for the latest on the following two events:

John Engen (Mayor of Missoula, MT) & guests“Local Responses to Global Climate Change.” 

Ben Minteer (Arizona State University)“Civic Agrarianism: New Roots for Environmental Ethics.”