Environmental Anthropology (383-0-1)
Instructors
Melissa Rosenzweig
1812 Hinman #304
Office Hours: Mondays, 1:00 – 3:00 pm or by appointment. Room 304, 1812 Hinman
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L06: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Environmental anthropology is a more recent outgrowth of ecological anthropology, which emerged in the 1960s and 70s as a quantitative focus on systemic human-environment relationships, especially as they pertain to patterns of social change and adaptation. Environmental anthropology became more prominent in the 1980s, and is typically characterized by qualitative research on communities' engagements with contemporary environmental issues. Environmental anthropology has greater commitments to advocacy, critique, and application than ecological anthropology, but as we'll see in this course, the proliferation of "new ecologies" (as opposed to "new environmentalisms") denotes the continued synergy between ecological and environmental anthropologies.
This course is divided into two parts. Part I will provide an historical overview of the development of environmental anthropology. We will cover some of the most influential research trends in the field: environmental determinism, cultural ecology, systems ecology, ethnoecology, historical ecology, political ecology, ecofeminisms, and interspecies studies. Part II will then pivot to the application of environmental anthropology knowledge to some of the most pressing environmental issues facing the contemporary world: population pressure, capitalist consumption, biodiversity conservation, sustainable land use, climate change, and environmental justice.
Class Attributes
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area