Energy, Environment, and Society: Global Politics, Technologies, and Ecologies of the Water-Energy-Food Crises
MIT's course examines how water, energy, and food crises interlock as political, economic, and cultural problems rather than separate technical shortages. Students work through the historical and geographic factors that have shaped supply and demand for each resource, from irrigation systems and hydropower to agricultural policy and energy grids, and how decisions in one sector ripple into the others. The syllabus draws on case studies of specific regions and infrastructure projects to show how governments, markets, and local communities negotiate scarcity and access. Materials include the full reading list, assignment prompts, and course structure published through MIT OpenCourseWare, free to access with no certificate offered. The course sits in MIT's Science, Technology, and Society program and suits anyone wanting a grounded, policy-focused look at resource interdependence rather than a purely technical treatment of environmental systems.