Earthling and Earth things: Humans and our Natural World

Course Description

Humans have never simply lived in nature — we have always shaped it, interpreted it, and been shaped by it in return. This first-year seminar draws on anthropological perspectives to explore that dynamic relationship across cultures and contexts, asking questions that are as urgent today as they have ever been. How do different societies understand and relate to the natural world? What can non-industrial communities teach us about sustainable ways of living? And whose knowledge counts when it comes to the environment?

Together, students will examine topics including human-animal relationships, contrasting systems of ecological knowledge — scientific and traditional — environmental racism, and the social dimensions of natural disaster and risk. These frameworks come together around one of the defining questions of our time: what does it mean to live, and respond, in the age of the Anthropocene? This course makes the case that the social sciences are not just relevant to that question — they are essential to it.

Faculty Spotlight

Caitlin Meagher, Ph.D. – Lecturer, Anthropology

Academic background

Dr. Caitlin Meagher earned her M.Sc. in Modern Japan Studies from the Nissan Institute for Modern Japan Studies, and her M.Phil. in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISCA), both at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. She is the author of numerous publications about gender, family, and singlehood in Japan, including the monograph Inside a Japanese Sharehouse: dreams and realities (Routledge 2021). Her more recent research, following Tropical Storm Helene in 2024, concerns risk perception of natural hazards.

What makes this course meaningful for students?

This class is designed to orient students to UNC Asheville, including our beautiful campus, and to help them think critically about our relationship to the natural world.