Associate Professor
Environmental Justice
What You'll Learn
- Analyze current trends, events, and changes in the field of environmental justice using knowledge of the field’s history
- Describe concepts and actions around the four types of justice as they relate to actions, organizations, and technologies
- Contextualize environmental justice work in relation to histories of human inequality, adaptation, and resilience
6 Modules
24 Hours
4 hrs per module (approx.)
Rating
About Environmental Justice
Studies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries demonstrated persistent trends in the US: race, income, and other factors predispose marginalized communities to higher toxic waste exposure and poorer quality of air, water, housing, and recreational spaces. In “Environmental Justice,” you’ll learn how these burdens have individual, interpersonal, and intergenerational effects and how environmental justice has helped mitigate these inequities
In this course, you’ll learn about the historical events that have helped shape the environmental justice movements of today, and legislative victories, like the removal of lead from automotive fuels and the establishment of mandates within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to previous successes, this course will explore current work emerging in the field of environmental justice, including Indigenous sovereignty, conservation, climate and migration justice, affordable housing, policing, digital equity, disability rights, and more.
This is a course within the “Green Skills for a Sustainable and Just Future," a course series dedicated to shaping the next generation of sustainable practices and leadership.
Skills You'll Gain
- Community Advocacy
- Environmental Health
- Environmental Justice
- Policy Analysis
- Social Justice
- Social Policy
What You'll Earn
- Certificate of Completion:
- Certificates of completion acknowledge knowledge acquired upon completion of a non-credit course or program.
Welcome Message
Environmental Justice explores the origins, evolution, and global expansion of the environmental justice movement. Learners examine distributive, procedural, restorative, and reparative justice through case studies, reflection, and policy-focused analysis. This is the second course in the Green Skills for a Sustainable and Just Future series.
This abbreviated syllabus description was created with the help of AI tools and reviewed by staff. The full syllabus is available to those who enroll in the course.
Course Schedule
Module 1: Distributive Justice and the Birth of a Movement
- Video: Welcome to the Course
- Video: Instructor Journey into Environmental Justice
- Reading: Meet Your Instructor
- Discussion Prompt: Share Your Journey into Environmental Justice
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: A New Understanding of Human History and the Roots of Inequality TED Talk
- Reading: Help Us Learn About You
- Video: Introduction to the Course
- Video: Distributive Justice & the Birth of a Movement
- Reading: Growing Authentic Leaders From Communities Most Impacted By Environmental Injustice And Climate Change Podcast
- Video: Methods & Movements: Foundations of a Field
- Reading: Bunyan Bryant: A Fighter for Environmental Justice
- Video: Interview: Paul Mohai (part 1)
- Video: New Tracking & Teaching Tools
- Video: Interview with Joan Martínez Alier
- Discussion Prompt: Exploration of EJAtlas
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] Environmental Justice Tools of the 21st Century
Module 2: Procedural Justice and Energy Equity as Environmental Justice
- Video: Foundations of Procedural Justice
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] Conflicts Over Energy Policy
- Video: An Introduction to Energy Justice
- Video: Interview with Rahul Agrawal Bejarano
- Reading: Energy Equity Project
- Reading: The Intersection of Equity and Justice
- Video: Introduction: Globally Interconnected Energy Justice
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] Farming and Fishing the Wind
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] Fueling the Energy Transition
- Reading: Project Finance and Sustainable Development in the Global South
- Video: Interview with Tony Reames
Module 3: Retributive Justice: Carceral Economies, Punitive Modes for Individuals Corporate Accountability
- Video: Foundations of Retributive Justice
- Reading: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Retributive Justice
- Video: Carceral Economics and Environmental Justice
- Reading: Prisons are a daily environmental injustice
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] A Case for Prison Abolition
- Video: Corporate Accountability and Environmental Justice
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] Dioxane Plume Pollution Briefing
- Video: Interview with Tobias Ruttenauer
Module 4: Restorative Justice and the Healing of Harms
- Video: Restorative Justice and the Healing of Harms
- Reading: About Restorative Justice
- Video: Restorative Justice in Practice
- Video: Interview with Shiloh Maples
- Video: Critiques of Restorative Justice
- Reading: Opinion: More reparative justice, less restorative justice is needed
- Reading: The Origins of “Braiding Sweetgrass”
- Reading: Restoring Mnomen, a Step on the Path to Reconciliation
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] Decolonizing University Land and Water Management
Module 5: Reparative and Relational Justice
- Video: Foundations of Reparative Justice
- Reading: What Are Reparations?
- Reading: The United States Has Paid Reparations for a Host of Issues. Why not Slavery?
- Video: Reparative Justice in Practice
- Reading: United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous People
- Video: Interview with Willi Haas
- Reading: Between activism and science: grassroots concepts for sustainability coined by Environmental Justice Organizations
- Reading: Harvard sets up $100 million endowment fund for slavery reparations
- Reading: [OPTIONAL] Indigenous Forest Guardianship: A Success Story
- Video: Interview: Latia Leonard
- Video: Emergent Relational Justice
- Reading: Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute
- Reading: A Single Night of Bird Collisions in Chicago Points to the Need for Window Safety
- Reading: Against Crisis Epistemology
Grading Policy
Learners must earn an overall grade of 80% to pass. The course grade is based on five module quizzes worth 20% each.
Course content developed by U-M faculty and managed by the university. Faculty titles and affiliations are updated periodically.
Beginner Level
There are no specific prerequisites in terms of knowledge and skills.
