When SUNY Geneseo transitioned all classes in Spring 2020 online due to the coronavirus pandemic, seniors in the seminar PLSC 390 – Global Environmental Politics responded in a dynamic way. Recognizing the parallels between environmental threats to humanity – like climate change – and COVID-19, they sought to connect the two. The result is this blog, where you will find essays that apply theories and topics that students initially learned from the perspective of sustainability to the current global crises surrounding the pandemic.
Sustainability is a way of looking at world. It is inherently interdisciplinary, requiring that all issues be examined from the perspectives of its three “pillars”: economics, society & politics, and the environment. While the entries on this blog may focus on one pillar more than another, all consider the economic, political, and environmental aspects of the coronavirus pandemic with the goal of assessing how the pandemic affects humanity now and for future generations.