SOC 3048 Plastics Crisis 3.0 Credits
This course focuses on the causes and consequences of the proliferation of plastic wastes and examines solutions to the problem, using a social science approach. Students will study how plastic waste and pollution harm ecosystems and nonhuman species and pose risks to human health; links between plastics and climate change, and how plastics became embedded in our everyday lives and resulted in global plastics commodity chains. Students will examine potential solutions to the plastic waste crisis including chemical and mechanical recycling, extended producer takeback, bans of problematic plastic products such as microbeads and single-use plastic bags, international treaties, and import bans on foreign plastic waste instituted by a growing number of nations.
Repeat Status: Not repeatable for credit