The over-arching course goal is to build a direct understanding of political ecology surrounding wildlife conservation efforts in Costa Rica through travel, observation, research, guest speakers, readings, and discussion. We will focus on experiencing, appreciating and recognizing the biodiversity of Costa Rica’s protected areas and how explore how humans and animals alike are impacted by various models of wildlife conservation. The cultural and political framework of the course, combined with studies of natural history, will guide us to developing an ecological and socio-cultural knowledge of place that we will translate later into critical social science projects upon returning home to Canisius and Western New York. These projects will support deeper understandings of the interdependent human and more-than-human communities we visit as well as allow us to reflect on the politics of the multispecies communities in which we live.
Credit information: 3 credit course
Approx. Cost: $2,500 per student. Included in cost are travel, lodging, meals, and various activities and speakers
When it will run again: June or August 2018
Contact information: Joshua Russell (@email