Toxic World
Navigating A Toxic World: Environmental Health in Your Daily Life Have you ever wondered how the environment around you impacts your health? Environmental health scientists study how water, air, food, and the built environment affect wellbeing. In this class, we will explore environmental health topics relevant to our daily lives, including what’s in “BPA Free” water bottles, the science and politics behind your waterproof raincoat and mascara, and whether organic foods are actually better. We will also explore themes of environmental justice because who you are and where you live determine your environment and, in turn, your health. We will engage in lecture, discussion, and a semester-long project on environmental health in your daily life. 3hrs lect.
Navigating A Toxic World: Environmental Health in Your Daily Life Have you ever wondered how the environment around you impacts your health? Environmental health scientists study how water, air, food, and the built environment affect wellbeing. In this class, we will explore environmental health topics relevant to our daily lives, including what’s in “BPA Free” water bottles, the science and politics behind your waterproof raincoat and mascara, and whether organic foods are actually better. We will also explore themes of environmental justice because who you are and where you live determine yo …Read more
Professor Crawford is so kind and very passionate! I really enjoyed taking this class with her. We moved through different units focusing on different toxins. Professor Crawford did a great job pulling in real world examples and making the content relevant to our lives. The class could get a bit boring at times but overall I found the content really interesting. There was minimal out of class work and the final project was fun and not too much.
Professor Crawford is so kind and very passionate! I really enjoyed taking this class with her. We moved through different units focusing on different toxins. Professor Crawford did a great job pulling in real world examples and making the content relevant to our lives. The class could get a bit boring at times but overall I found th …Read more
Toxic World was a great way to get a science distribution credit. The class provided a lot of good information about how our health is impacted by the world around us. While at times the content was a bit disheartening, Professor Crawford was really great at conveying course material in a way that seemed productive rather than just doom-spiraling. Overall an easy class with not a lot of work.
Toxic World was a great way to get a science distribution credit. The class provided a lot of good information about how our health is impacted by the world around us. While at times the content was a bit disheartening, Professor Crawford was really great at conveying course material in a way that seemed productive rather than just d …Read more
The material is very broad and you have a hard time grasping the major themes of the course. We cover a lot of different areas of environmental health and a variety of toxicants, but we don't spend much time on any one of them. The content is interesting, but I don't think it's being presented in a clear way. This is still a newer course that is offered at Middlebury so it is still being tweaked. Professor Crawford is really nice and fairly accommodating in certain ways. She's a tough, but fair grader. Overall, it was a fairly easy course though.
The material is very broad and you have a hard time grasping the major themes of the course. We cover a lot of different areas of environmental health and a variety of toxicants, but we don't spend much time on any one of them. The content is interesting, but I don't think it's being presented in a clear way. This is still a newer co …Read more
I absolutely loved this class. It was definitely slow paced, and if I were a science person I can see why it may have been boring at times (especially at 8 am), I'm really interested in the subject of the class and I found it fascinating. The readings were difficult to fully comprehend at times, but the class overall was not at all difficult. And Kate is an amazing professor! I know the other reviews are pretty negative, but I personally would definitely recommend this course.
I absolutely loved this class. It was definitely slow paced, and if I were a science person I can see why it may have been boring at times (especially at 8 am), I'm really interested in the subject of the class and I found it fascinating. The readings were difficult to fully comprehend at times, but the class overall was not at all d …Read more
The workload for this class wasn't crazy. The lessons were very interesting and surprisingly kept me engaged for a non-stem major. I took this class for the science credit expecting to hate it, but I loved it. The lessons followed a consistent pattern that could sometimes be boring, but comfortable. Crawford is very specific with what she wants from her students, so she is a bit of a tough grader. Nonetheless, it's clear she wants her students to apply what they learn in class into their lives. I recommend taking this class if you just want to get a science credit. It's more reviewing studies rather than any actual science.
The workload for this class wasn't crazy. The lessons were very interesting and surprisingly kept me engaged for a non-stem major. I took this class for the science credit expecting to hate it, but I loved it. The lessons followed a consistent pattern that could sometimes be boring, but comfortable. Crawford is very specific with wha …Read more
This course was very interesting because of its relevance to everyday life. I had not realized how many toxic components are in products such as the moisturizer you use or couch you sit on. It gave insights on what you can avoid, but also left you a bit feeling like exposure to toxicants are out of your control.
While the course itself seemed interesting at first, my interest in the material began to die over the course of the semester. Prof Crawford's lectures were rather unengaging, and the 8 am class time did not help. While the courseload is not very overwhelming, the given assignments require intense attention and can be pretty time-consuming. We would move on to something new when a lesson just got interesting. The pacing could be altered, though, since this is only the second year the course was offered at Midd. Overall, wouldn't take it again or recommend it to others, but it wasn't the worst class ever.
While the course itself seemed interesting at first, my interest in the material began to die over the course of the semester. Prof Crawford's lectures were rather unengaging, and the 8 am class time did not help. While the courseload is not very overwhelming, the given assignments require intense attention and can be pretty time-con …Read more
The course was very slow-paced and so we did not learn that much per module. There are also a lot of scientific readings which we had to write a two page summary for (4-5 per course). It was not necessarily too difficult, but just time-consuming. Although the material can sometimes be interesting, it also felt pointless at times because she would skip over the big ideas and then have us try to figure it out and then never confirm it with us.
The course was very slow-paced and so we did not learn that much per module. There are also a lot of scientific readings which we had to write a two page summary for (4-5 per course). It was not necessarily too difficult, but just time-consuming. Although the material can sometimes be interesting, it also felt pointless at times beca …Read more