Lecture

Readings & Resources

1. Illuminative, "Warrior Up COVID-19 PSA"

2. Rebecca Nagle, "Native Americans Being Left Out of US Coronavirus Data and Labelled as 'Other'"

3. Aubrey Streit Krug, "Ecospheric Care Work"

4. Optional: All My Relations podcast, "Whole Family Wellness"

5. Optional: For the Wild podcast, "Linda Black Elk On What Endures After Pandemic"

(see also "Week 4 Additional Resources," below)

Discussion Questions

1. Reflect on times you’ve seen or used the word “resilient.” What connotations does the word have? How does it make you feel? What are its limitations?

2. What does “decolonization” look like to you? What might decolonized healthcare look like?

3. How would you define your own “ethics of care,” and what healing traditions are important to you?

4. What connections do you notice between Shyanne’s experiences and others we’ve heard about in this course?

Lecture

Readings & Resources

1. Daniel Wilkinson & Luciana Téllez Chávez, "How Covid-19 Could Impact the Climate Crisis"

2. Dana Nuccitelli, "Coronavirus Doubters Follow Climate Denial Playbook"

3. Thais Borges & Sue Branford, "Rapid Deforestation of Brazilian Amazon Could Bring Next Pandemic: Experts"

Discussion Questions

1. How do you think public perception and political will regarding climate change could shift due to our experiences with covid-19?

2. Which climate-relevant changes from this time seem most likely to impact our future? Possible examples: reduced travel and commuting, increased computing, increased use of disposables, reduced purchasing.

3. What can the changes we are seeing in economies and environments tell us about the importance of individual choices or systemic change?

4. Think of a time when your beliefs changed. What made that change possible? Share your story with the group; together reflect on how we can build trust and communication between scientists and public leaders.

Lecture

Readings & Resources

1. Eric Klinenberg, Heat Wave (Preface & Introduction)

2. Ibram X. Kendi, "Stop Blaming Black People for Dying of the Coronavirus"

3. Optional: Horwitz & Anderson, "Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea"

Discussion Questions

1. As we try to understand Insurrectionism, one way to approach it is to think about the aspects of an anti-government ideology that we find appealing. What appeals to you about an anti-government view?

2. How do we organize to solve complex problems without a functional democracy? What recourse would we have to corporate power, for example, without the ability to organize as a collective?

3. Thinking about all that you’ve learned this semester, what are some ways that our society can emerge from this pandemic with a stronger sense of “we-ness”?

4. What are some examples of other issues in our culture where meanings are contested? What do these contestations reveal?

5. Given what we have learned in the second section of the lecture, how might we respond to someone who tries to minimize the number of people who have died in this pandemic?