Environment and Development

Geography 465 / 565

Professor Lise Nelson

Mon / Wed  2:00-3:20 p.m.

104 Condon

(CRN 35052/ 35068)

This course critically explores histories and geographies of development and sustainability, primarily in countries of the global South (so-called “developing” countries).  We will examine the social and ecological dimensions of capitalism and colonialism as they have played out in different regions of the world, and we will trace the emergence of planned “development” strategies and interventions post-WWII.  The course will provide students an opportunity to think critically about how concepts and theories of development (and sustainability) are produced through relations of power, such as those marked by colonialism, race, gender and class.  In addition, we will explore the myriad of local / national / transnational responses and resistances to these processes.  The following topics will be included:  rural transformation; urbanization and migration; debt crisis and neoliberal restructuring; governance and transnational institutions of environment and development; and debates about sustainability and population growth.

Prerequisites:

Geography 341 or 342; instructor’s consent; or graduate student status.

Course requirements:

This is a reading-intensive and thinking-intensive course--the materials must be read prior to class so that students are prepared for discussion.  Students who are unable to prepare fully should not enroll.  The grade for undergraduates will consist of three parts, reading summaries (30%); classroom attendance and participation (30%); and a research paper (40%).  The reading summaries will be turned in at the beginning of each class (~100-150 words per reading), and students will take turns providing discussion questions for the class as part of their participation grade.  The research paper will be approximately 12-14 pages in length for undergraduates (16-18 pages for graduate students) and will link a subset of concepts and readings from the course to a case study researched by the student.

The two lowest reading summary grades will be dropped, to allow for absence / illness.

The grade for graduate students will consist of four parts, reading summaries (20%); two one-page think-pieces (15%); classroom attendance and participation (20%); and a research paper (45%).  A “think-piece” represents a more in-depth engagement with a reading (I will explain this further in class).  On the days the graduate student turns in a think-piece, you do not have to turn in a reading summary.  The graduate student research project should ideally link to your own research, and can be developed as part of a dissertation or master’s proposal, etc. with instructor approval.

Textbooks:

There are two required textbooks for this course, in addition to a reading packet available at the Knight library.

Porter, Philip W. and Eric S. Sheppard. (1998) A World of Difference:  Society, Nature, Development.  New York:  Guildford Press.

Bunkingham-Hatfield Susan. (2000) Gender and Environment.  London:  Routledge.