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That every student must take some course in Environmental Studies is mandated by the UGC and, we think, for good reasons. At Ashoka, we are convinced that being exposed to and engaging with issues having to do with the role human beings play in our shared environment is an important part of every student’s education. This course will look at a variety of issues from climate change and species extinction, to socio-economic responsibilities and environmental justice, to address the fundamental question of how do we live at peace with nature.
Code: FC-0102-1 | Semester: Monsoon 2026
FC Section: First Year
Any environmental issue is invariably about society and politics. From global warming to garbage on city streets, nature and culture lie at the centre of competing claims about what should be done. As Raymond Williams said, “We have mixed our labour with the earth, our forces with its forces too deeply to be able to separate each other out.” Understanding these processes of ‘socio-nature’ demands a focus on social inequality as well as biological complexity. This course looks at how biophysical processes in natural landscapes are changed by the cultural geography of capitalism, colonialism, caste and nationalism. We will analyse environmental crises and explore how collective action can lead to ecological justice.
Code: FC-0102-2 | Semester: Monsoon 2026
FC Section:First Year
The course aims to introduce students to a complex, interdisciplinary understanding of environmental issues and challenges, going beyond simplistic discourses of crisis. The pedagogic design is built around ten questions, framed in very simple terms but designed to crack open disciplinary silos to build a multivalent understanding of linked socioecological systems. It exposes students to a diversity of environmental issues, challenges, processes, perspectives, and actors. The objective is to enable students to gain a more nuanced and historicized understanding of the politics of environmental policy and practice.
Code: FC-0102-3 | Semester: Monsoon 2026
FC Section: First Year
The contemporary world is beset with growing environmental problems. The global focus on economic growth and development has led us onto an unsustainable path: growing scientific evidence now suggests that the Earth may not be able to cope with the demands imposed on it. This has created an urgent need to critically examine complex environmental issues from a variety of perspectives. It is necessary to inculcate holistic thinking on environmental challenges and their purported solutions that includes concerns of social and ecological sustainability.
This course will discuss some of the most current concerns related to the environment, as well as societal responses to them, from a multidisciplinary perspective. Water scarcity, climate change, forest degradation, biological extinction, pollution and agrarian distress are some of the issues that will be studied. This course is intended to familiarise students with environmental problems and engender a holistic perspective in understanding causes and possible solutions through the lenses of both science and equity. This course will encourage students to synthesise information across a variety of sources.
Practically, the course will be taught using a combination of lectures, documentaries, slideshows, guest lectures and in-class group discussions. Discussion on assigned readings will engender critical thinking and debate in class. Students will undertake group projects on current case studies (such as river pollution, tiger tourism, etc.). Assessments will be based on in-class tests, essays, group projects and class participation.
Code: FC-0102-4 | Semester: Monsoon 2026
FC Section: First Year
This course is meant to introduce students to nature-society dialectics. We will examine the historical, social, and political processes that shape societal relations with the natural environment. The course has three overarching goals. First, it will help students gain an in-depth understanding of some of the pressing environmental issues of our times, such as the agrarian crisis, climate change, disaster and vulnerability, waste, the industrial food system, struggles over water, and neoliberalization of nature, among others. Second, drawing on a variety of theoretical frameworks, including Marxist, feminist, and post-structuralist perspectives, the course will expose students to a breadth of approaches to environmental questions. Finally, through this course, I hope to be able to cultivate a sense of environmental citizenship in students. The course will be taught using a combination of lectures, discussions, films, and group projects.
Code: FC-0102-6 | Semester: Monsoon 2026
FC Section: Senior Year
Faculty: A.J.Urfi
The core of environmental studies requires cross-disciplinary thinking and this course attempts to present broad perspectives on environmental issues from diverse perspectives. As with other FCs, the central point here too is to develop an appreciation of the societal relations with the natural environment by examining historical, social, political, and ecological processes that shape these relations. In this FC, we will first unpack the origins of the ‘environmental movement’ in a broad historical context before we come to the complexities of conflicts over resources, the different stake holders involved and the manner in which people have responded to crisis situations created by environmental destruction. In context of India, the ‘development versus environment protection’ controversy dominated much of our thinking and so this will be covered in fair amount of detail with a discussion of several case studies. Each module will comprise several classroom interactions, ranging from 2-5, in which the background of the theme under discussion will be laid out and evaluation methods discussed.
Code: FC-0102-5 | Semester: Monsoon 2026
FC Section: First Year
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time—and of the future. To respond to it, we first need to understand its wide-ranging relationships with nature, society and our everyday lives. Through this course, I seek to make these complex interrelationships accessible while building a strong analytical foundation for you. To this end, we will begin with the basics of climate science and the tools we use to study it. From there, we will engage with the different frameworks—both historical and current—that shape how people and governments think about climate change. Informed by these frameworks, we study the three key pillars of response: vulnerability assessment, mitigation, and adaptation.
We will then explore the social, political, and economic dimensions that shape climate change and, in turn, are shaped by it. We finally examine the implications of these factors on our shared future. We look at alternative frameworks, technologies, and models gaining traction, and finally consider why hope in the era of climate change should be the new politics.
The course will be taught through:
Throughout the course, we will learn about critical thinking, tools to comprehend the underlying layers of the challenge, assess the scope for resistance and create new pathways.
Code: FC-0102-7 | Semester: Monsoon 2026
FC Section: Senior Year
Some of the most pressing issues of our time arise from our impact on the environment. In this course, we will explore questions such as: What obligations, if any, do we have to future generations, other species, or ecosystems, and why? What does it mean for something to be natural? Does being natural make something good or worth preserving? What does justice look like in a world where development may require environmental destruction—or is this a false dichotomy? Does responsibility for saving the environment rest with individuals, or with governments, corporations, or social structures—or is this another false dichotomy? How can ordinary citizens think clearly about complex environmental issues when our information environment is polluted by sophisticated campaigns of misinformation and misdirection? Exploring these questions requires drawing on multiple disciplines—philosophy, economics, political science, ecology, atmospheric science, sociology, and more—and we will be especially focused on learning how to draw on these different disciplines to create a coherent and ethical way of looking at and acting in the world.
amita.baviskar@ashoka.edu.in