ES305 Health, Human Rights & Envron Just

Public health has important political and moral implications. This course addresses central issues in the philosophy of health care from an environmental and human rights perspective. Students will consider what is health? What is health care? Does health enjoy a special moral importance? What is it? Who requires and/or deserves health care? Is access to health care a fundamental human right? Students will examine how geography and environmental justice influences the answers to these questions. Students will learn about the disproportionate burdens of environmental contamination and about the health disparities affecting communities of color across the US and internationally. We will review programs that have been organized to address childhood asthma reduction, lead poisoning prevention, waste recycling, clean-up and restoration of contaminated sites, sustainable/organic agriculture, clean energy programs and cancer and health disparities research. Students will be asked to critically examine these efforts and also explore unresolved, chronic problems with environmental injustices and health impacts. Pre-requisites: ES 240 Sustainable Communities is helpful but not required.