LUNCH 'N LEARN: Shopping Towards Gomorrah

Condemning consumption has become a rallying cry for many environmentalists. Yet our desire to consume and our concern for nature have long gone hand in hand. What can an historical perspective on modern consumerism tell us about the paradoxes and often unexpected consequences of consumption? And is consumption as wicked toward nature as many assume? 

Matthew Klingle, a fourth-generation Westerner, was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. A historian of the United States, his research and teaching focus on the North American West, environmental history, urban history, social and cultural history, and the history of science, technology, and medicine.