I teach a variety of undergraduate and graduate level courses on nature-society relations . At UNC-Chapel Hill, I have developed and taught eight courses:
Introductory and general education (undergraduate):
- GEOG 063 Nature and its Preservation is part of the First Year Seminar series at UNC, which is designed as a first-year only undergraduate course that introduces theories on nature-society relations using seminar style teaching.
- GEOG 121 Peoples and Places is an introduction to human geography that surveys different themes through a nature-society lens: economic, cultural, postcolonial, political, and historical geography.
Regional (undergraduate):
- GEOG 259 Latin America examines how we know Latin America as a region. I use an environmental history perspective to discuss pre-colonial, colonial, state-led development, neoliberal, and the Left Turn moments. The last three weeks focus on the contemporary economic and cultural relationship between Latin America and North Carolina.
- GEOG 459 Rural Latin America is an advanced undergraduate course taught seminar-style. From precolonial to contemporary periods, we focus on the political and cultural economies that have developed around natural resources, and the sociopolitical patterns that emerge in the region.
Discipline specific (advanced undergraduate and graduate):
- GEOG 420 Fundamental Concepts in Human Geography is a required research-based course for geography majors. We focus on key concepts and methods used in geographic research, emphasizing the application of these through hands-on independent research.
- GEOG 470 Political Ecology examines the trajectory of political ecology in geography, with an emphasis on property, identity, social movements, coloniality, environmental justice, and conservation.
- GEOG 720 Seminar on Cultural and Political Ecology is a graduate seminar that aims to strengthen a foundation in cultural and political ecology among seminar participants. We read about the politics of environmental change; the implications of the material world in how we theorize value and ethical responses; environmental justice; everyday practices of knowledge production; and humanist contributions to how we live with and in nature.
- GEOG 813 Seminar on Nature and Society is an advanced graduate seminar on the epistemological and ontological challenges of nature-society scholarship. We focus on nature-society divides, cultural and political ecology foundations, agrarian studies, postcolonial studies, and post-structural approaches.