American Cosmologies

This course equips students to recognize and analyze how moral and cultural worldviews shape the way Americans understand nature, make policy, and define national purpose. Drawing on sociology, philosophy, and religious studies, students will examine how sacred values guide decisions across sectors often seen as technical or rational, from environmental science to land management. The course centers the North American West — not as a regional niche but as a powerful lens for understanding how American belief systems collide, adapt, and endure. We’ll trace these dynamics through public land conflicts, ecotourism, spiritual movements, unlikely forms of cooperation, and cultural responses to death and extinction. Students will learn to analyze cultural systems, write persuasively, build confidence speaking, and engage across political and moral divides with nuance and clarity. Don’t take this course if you’re not ready to do heavy reading, challenge your assumptions, and engage in open debate.