GEG 3230Latin American Geographies

Catalog

Prerequisite(s): Junior or higher standing Students in this course learn how nature, culture, and socio-political relations have shaped the landscapes of Middle and South America from a geographical perspective. The emphasis of the course is to examine the intersection of environment and society; that is, how power relations are imbricated with people’s use of environments and access to resources. Specifically, the course focuses on how major regional patterns of political ecologies of development have shaped and continue to define Latin America’s geography. Topics include development conditions, resource use and environmental politics, extractivism, deforestation and biodiversity conservation, agrarian and environmental struggles, indigeneity politics, and climate change-induced disruptions, and emigration and refugees. Within this perspective, the course provides an understanding of how sociopolitical and economic issues with environmental factors are part of the connections between the United States and Latin America.