ENVI 230(F) Nature and Politics in the Himalayan Region
The Himalayan Mountain region stretches over an arc of 2,400 km, including territories of at least seven nation-states. Today, the region holds the largest remnant expanse of forests and other wildernesses in the Indian sub-continent, and it is a major global biodiversity hot-spot. About one-sixth of the world's population lives in the drainage basins of the Himalayan glaciers and rivers. The mountains and rivers often serve as national borders, creating lines of contestation. The region's biological and water "resources" are also subjects of dispute and contestation, with the interested parties including hundreds of millions of people downstream. All these forces combine to make the Himalayan region one of growing interest to international markets and politics, as well as regional and global conservation agendas. The course will introduce students to the political ecology of these influences, with an emphasis on how they present and manifest themselves on the ground. The course will follow a discussion format.
Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: multiple 5- to 8-page papers, plus occasional assignments based on readings. One long paper may be substituted for several short papers, with the permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: Environmental Studies 101 or permission of instructor. Enrollment limit: 20 (expected: 15).
This course satisfies the "Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences" requirement for the Environmental Studies concentration.
Satisfies one semester of the Division II requirement.
Hour: 2:35-3:50 MR THEOPHILUS