Environmental Science, Policy, and Management C22AC / Native American Studies C22AC
Fire: Past, Present and Future Interactions with the People and Ecosystems of California
Historical Studies, Social & Behavioral Sciences; 4 Units
The course presents a diachronic perspective on human-fire interactions with local ecosystems in California that spans over 10,000 years. The course will provide an historical perspective on human-fire interactions at the landscape scale using a diverse range of data sources drawn from the fields of fire ecology, biology, history, anthropology, and archaeology. An important component includes examining how diverse cultures and ethnicity influenced how people perceived and used fire at the landscape scale in ancient, historical and modern times. The implications of these diverse fire practices and policies will be analyzed and the consequences they have had for transforming habitats and propagating catastrophic fires will be explored.
Terms Offered
- Spring 2025
- Spring 2024
- Fall 2022
- Fall 2021
- Fall 2019
- Fall 2018
Every student at UC Berkeley should take this course, in order to understand the process of comprehending a problem and developing real world solutions to combat it.
"Learning about fire in California from different disciplines (or more generally, learning about a topic from different disciplines) is intellectually stimulating. All of my other courses are either strictly stem or strictly humanities. Combining the two is fun and interesting for me, since it allows me to think harder beyond just memorization.