Cultural Ecology

GEOG 421  

Summer 2002

Instructor:  Barbara Kearney  

email: Bkearney@geog.umd.edu 

TuTh 2-5:30 p.m

2208 Lefrak Hall

Office: 2176 Lefrak Hall UMCP            

Office Hours:   by appointment                        

 

            Course Description

This course is an upper level geography course, which explores the relationship between culture and environment.  Cultural Ecology is the study of how humans and their cultures through adaptive mechanisms adjust to their natural environment and local habitat.    The first half of the class will address differing subsistence patterns of development and their overall effectiveness, the latter half of the class will delve into the Cultural Ecology of our National Forests and National Parks System and specifically how ownership issues (common property, public property, and private property) relate and are translated into management schemes of forest resources, and how National Parks have helped to shape the cultural landscape in bordering communities. 

Required Texts:

Netting, Cultural Ecology

Bromley (ed) Making the Commons Work

Geores, Common Ground: The Struggle for Ownership of the Black Hills National Forest.

Coursepak:

Barrows, "Geography as Human Ecology"

Steward, "The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology"

Zimmerer, Karl “Human geography and the “New Ecology”: The Prospect and Promise of Integration”

Hawley, "Ecology and Human Ecology"

Ellen, "Environmental Determinism"

     "Cultural ecology"

Blaikie, Chapters 1 & 2,  The Political Ecology of Soil Erosion

Achana, Chapter 4, "The Transboundary Relationship between National Parks and Adjacent Communities" from National Parks and Rural Development

Jarvis, Chapter 11, "The Responsibilitiy of National Parks in Rural Development" from National Parks and Rural Development

Jane Collins, "Smallholder settlement of Tropical South America: The social causes of ecological destruction" Human Organization 45/1 (1986), pp. 1-10.

Susanna Hecht, "Environment, development, and politics: Capital Accumulation and the livestock sector in Eastern Amazonia", World Development, 13/6 (1985), pp. 663-684.

 

Course requirements:

Class attendance is essential because readings, discussion and videos all are valuable parts of the course.  This class will be taught as a seminar therefore you must be familiar with the assigned readings in order to facilitate discussion and fully participate in the class.  

As part of your participation you will be required to do a short presentation on your term paper on August 20th.  Late term papers will be penalized.

  If you have any special needs, please let me know about them as soon as possible, so that I may accommodate you.

Grading Policy

Grading is by letter grade.

Midterm (100 points), July 30th

Final (150 points), August 22nd

Term paper (100 points), due August 20th 

Class participation, (150 points)

Course Outline

 

I. What is cultural ecology? (July 16)

Readings: Netting

Videos in class - The Last of the Karaphuna, In Good Hands, The Whale hunters of Lamaholot

 

II. Disciplinary approaches to cultural ecology and questions of scale. (July 18)

Readings: in Coursepak

Barrows (geography)

Steward (anthropology)

Hawley (sociology)

Discussion question:  "What are the different approaches to cultural ecology and how are they translated into research?"

III. Cross - Disciplinary Approaches  (July 23)

 

    Readings: In courespak.

Ellen ("Environmental Determinism and Causal Correlation" and "Possibilism and Limiting Factors"

Blaikie, "Why do Policies Fail" and "A new approach - with new problems" 

Zimmerer “Human geography and the “New Ecology”: The Prospect and Promise of Integration”

     Videos - In our own backyard; Arrows against the wind

Areas of Discussion::  Causation in human/physical interactions

Population issues in cultural ecology

Political ecology

Discussion question: "Why is there a disconnect between reality and policy how should we go about bridging the gap?" 

 

IV. The Shaping of Cultural Landscapes -National Parks and Community (July 25)

 

Readings: in Coursepak

 

Achana, Chapter 4, The Transboundary Relationship between National Parks and Adjacent Communities

Jarvis, Chapter 11, The Responsibilitiy of National Parks in Rural Development

Video: 

 

Discussion question: "What affects have National Parks had on the development schemes in gateway communities?"

 

Midterm Exam (July 30)

 

V.  Kinds of resource management schemes (August 1)

 

Readings: Bromley (Part One, Chapters 1,2, and 3) "Common Property as an Institution", and Chapter 6, "Institutional Dynamics"; Goldman, all chapters

 

Topics:  Private Ownership

Public/government ownership

Common Property Resource Management

 

V1. Management of Particular Resources (August 6,  8, 13)

 

Readings: In Bromley

Fishing Bromley, chapters 7 and 8

Agricultural Lands Bromley, chapters 4, 5, 9, 11;

Forestry - Bromley chapter 10, Geores,

"Fragile Environments" - Bromley chapter 10.

 

Videos:  Three Worlds of Bali; The Rebirth of Whitewood Creek; Our Vanishing forests, The Buffalo Revolution.

 

 

VII. Role of population growth  (August 15)

Readings: In Coursepak

 

Jane Collins, "Smallholder Settlement of Tropical South America: The social causes of ecological destruction" Human Organization 45/1 (1986), pp. 1-10.

Susanna Hecht, "Environment, development, and politics: Capital Accumulation and the livestock sector in Eastern Amazonia", World Development, 13/6 (1985), pp. 663-684.

 

Discussion:  Environmental Degradation and Population

 

 

Term Papers due and Presentations on Papers (August 20)

Final Exam (August 22)