SOC 306 Environmental Anthropology: Culture, Ecology, & Globalization

This course offers a comprehensive overview of the reciprocal relationships between human behavior and the natural environment. While it partly focuses on the comparison of Western and Non-Western societies, it pays a close attention to sociocultural and political aspects of global ecological issues, such as ? deforestation, deteriorating air and water quality, global warming and climate change, the need for sustainable food production and renewable energy sources, and fair and culturally sensitive natural resources use.

It invites students on a journey across the different ecosystems in which humans live and depend on (desert-, rainforest-, wetland-, ocean-, urban-, and agro-ecosystem) in order to explore foundational values of Western and indigenous ecological models of sustainable and non-sustainable living. The presentation of the variety of environments and peoples allows for a rich comparison of each model with the increasingly global ecological model, stemming from Euro-American core values.

The journey across the ecosystems will also include a travel through time in which the different models will be examined vis-à-vis their ancient, historical, and modern roots in order to deconstruct the foundations of present day beliefs and relationships of humans with increasingly devastated natural habitat/s, while focusing on those paradigms that lead to engage in sustainable behavior.