Focus Questions

Focus Question #1, due 9/18.

From your perspective as you enter this course, what are the main environmental problems of our day, and what are their causes? Explain the 'culture' concept and how it might or might not be useful to explain these environmental problems.

 

Focus Question #2, due 10/9.

How are the demands of consumers and capitalists related to the destruction of Costa Rica's rain forests? Who are the different actors in the chain of relationships, and how are they each promoting the conversion of rain forest into pastures of bananas?

 

Focus Question #3, due 10/28.

How have indigenous people we have studied so far (Guarani, Cree) been impacted by economic development pressures and associated ecological change? How have their societies responded to these pressures?

 

Focus Question #4, due 11/13.

Discussions about two environmental issues we have studied – water and climate change – are often dominated by technical and scientific perspectives.  What are some concerns and issues social scientific and cultural perspectives bring to these debates? Do you think there is something to be gained by analyzing critically the production of scientific knowledge about these problems? Why or why not?

 

Focus Question #5, due 12/2.

Have international nature conservation efforts reflected Western attitudes toward nature? How or how not? Is a non-elite, non-Western environmentalism possible? Why or why not? Justify your answer using examples from our readings.

 

Focus Question #6, due 12/11.

Explain how this course has affected how you think about global environmental problems. Discuss using specific examples from our course topics and readings.

 

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