On the NAS site, Ashley Thorne raises important questions about a course at the University of Chicago called “Sustainability and Social Justice” that aims to teach students “how to achieve social justice though sustainability and increase sustainability through social justice.”

She is especially critical of the course because of its apparent desire for elevating nature to divine-like status. Towards the end of her essay, Ms. Thorne states:

We love to think that nature is a place of harmony and peace, but in reality it is the seat of savagery. Spending long periods of time in nature can be dehumanizing. Only in the company and customs of other people are we really civilized. And higher education exists to transmit civilization’s legacy to the next generation — not to denigrate civilization in favor of nature.

Loving nature is not exclusive to any political ideology, but Ms. Thorne essay asks whether the course in question will advocate a movement of turning off the television to get outside and smell the roses or whether it will push a more totalitarian agenda for man’s role vis-à-vis the environment.