Environmental Anthropology - 1st semester

Objectives

a) To review the contribution of anthropology to the study of nature conservation;
b) To support the perspective of the environment as a social and cultural construction;
c) To promote the skills and use of methodologies in the field of the Environmental Anthropology;
d) To develop the ability to analyze and evaluate the dynamics present in nature conservation projects.

General characterization

Code

722170089

Credits

10

Responsible teacher

Amélia Frazão Moreira

Hours

Weekly - 3 letivas + 1 tutorial

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

None.

Bibliography

CRUMLEY, Carole L. (ed.), 2001, New Directions in Anthropology and Environment: Intersections, Walnut Creek, Altamira Press.
DESCOLA, Philippe e PÁLSSON, G. (eds.), 1996, Nature and Society. Anthropological Perspectives, Londres, Routledge.
ELLEN, Roy, 2006, Ethnobiology and the Science of Humankind, Malden, Blackwell Publishing.
HAENN, Nora & WILK, Richard (eds.), 2006, The Environment in Anthropology. A Reader in Ecology, Culture, and Sustainable Living, New York: New York University Press.
MILTON, Kay (ed.), 1993, Environmentalism, Londres, ASA Monographs.
ORLOVE, B. e Brush, S., 1996, Anthropology and the Conservation of Biodiversity, Annual Review of Anthropology, 25, 329-352.

Teaching method

Lectures and practical classes: teaching methodology that seek to combine the presentation and discussion of theoretical concepts with practical analytical work based on case studies.

Evaluation method

Evaluation: Participation (10%) Presentation and discussion of a case study (20%); Writing of an individual final paper work (70%).

Subject matter

In the discipline we will discuss different theoretical approaches and case studies, on the following topics:
1. Anthropology and the environment. Basic concepts and precursors.
2. Ecological knowledge, cosmologies and social representations of the environment.
3. Ethnoecology. Economic systems, social differentiation and local management of biological resources.
4. The studies and the methodological tools of Ethnobiology applied to nature conservation.
5. The knowledge associated with genetic resources. Bioprospection, biopiracy and intellectual property rights.
6. The analysis of environmentalist culture. The environmentalist’s discourses and practices as object of anthropology.
7. Planning, implementation and evaluation of programs for preservation and conservation of the environment: an anthropological perspective.

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: