The Environment and our Health
Telluride House, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
June 29-August 9, 2008
Faculty: Jerome Nriagu and Nil Basu, both of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Factota: Rebecca Poole, Agnes Scott College, and Paul Katz, Harvard University
After decades of research and expenditure of huge
amounts of resources, controversies and uncertainties
still surround our knowledge of human-environment
interactions and their influence on health. What are the
principal environmental issues that threaten our health
at the local, regional, and global scales? What factors
contribute to the growth of these health threats? What
policy instruments can be used to deal with pollutants
that cross national boundaries? What can individuals
and communities do to minimize the exposure to
environmental health threats? Who speaks for the environment?
We will address historical and contemporary
controversies in environment and health, with topics
including food choices, disparate exposure to health
hazards, minimum standards for healthy living, social
equality, the obesity epidemic, and the interplay of
spiritual, economic, political, and physical well-being.
This seminar will include field trips, which may include
southwest Detroit, the most polluted area in Michigan;
Saginaw, where black churches advocate for environmental
health; and “green” buildings, county offices, and
wastewater treatment facilities in Ann Arbor.
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