SUS 1200 - CULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

credits: 3.0
Crosslisted/Same As: ANT 1200
ANT 1200-SUS 1200. This class provides an introduction to the study of human-environment interactions. Will look at the ways that humans imagine, impact, and manage the natural world, and what role nature plays in the social lives of people around the world. Through careful reading of ethnographic materials, discussions, films, and other multimedia materials, we will analyze the ways that people create boundaries between the natural and cultural realms, and how these boundaries are maintained, changed, or broken down through various practices. Objectives: A) Identify, describe, and explain the complex local and global links between environmental, political, and social health and development; B) Critically engage media from multiple, divergent viewpoints regarding sustainable development and environmental issues; C) Identify and describe the historical and cultural factors that influence different communities’ understanding of the environment and human environmental relationships; D) Explain the ways that the concept of the environment is culturally and politically contingent, and identify ways that this category varies in different cultural and political contexts; E) Identify, describe, and explain the relationship between environment and community, identity, race, ethnicity, and gender from the perspective of anthropological theory. Method of Instruction: Class format includes daily lectures and short discussions, as well as a class period dedicated to discussing each book we read. Students will be evaluated on two short presentations about current environmental events, three response papers, their facilitation of one book discussion, and a final paper. Method of Evaluation: Two Mini-Presentations, 10 (five points each); Three Response Papers, 30 (ten points each); Facilitate Book Discussion, 20; and Final Paper 40. Meets *GLP Distribution Requirement.