Political Ecology Track

Advisor: Prof. Paige West (cw2031@columbia.edu)

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As of Fall, 2020, Barnard’s Anthropology Department is now offering a specialized major track in Political Ecology. This track follows a similar format to the existing one in Medical Anthropology, designed to enable students who wish to pursue specialized studies in their coursework and senior theses projects in fields relevant to environmental justice, climate change, and sustainability. The major track is grounded in strong theoretical and methodological training in sociocultural anthropology.

Upon graduation, Anthropology (Political Ecology) will be designated on their transcript as their major field of study. Note that the Department does not offer a minor in Political Ecology.

This specialized track assists students in finding jobs and bolsteres their prospects for admission to graduate programs concerned with climate change and other contemporary socio-ecological problems by demonstrating they already possess robust specialized training. More specifically, the track in Political Ecology prepares students for 1) graduate studies in environmental anthropology, human geography, environmental studies, environmental humanities, and the like; 2) jobs at various NGOs, state agencies, and international organizations that are focused on sustainability, climate change, and the social aspects of these two areas; 3) work with progressive organizations working on decarbonization, climate change mitigation and the like; 4) environmental journalism (a quickly growing field); and 5) a range of other careers focusing on climate change.

The Anthropological Political Ecology Track Consists of Eleven Required Courses:

(1) ANTH UN 1002 - Interpretation of Culture

(2) One of the following:

ANTH UN 1003 The Environment

ANTH UN 1007 The Origins of Human Society

ANTH UN 1008 The Rise of Civilization

ANTH UN 1009 Introduction to Language and Culture

ANTH S 2724 / UN 2427 The Anthropology of Climate Change  

EEEB UN 1010 The Human Species: Its Place in Nature

(3) EESC UN 1001 - Introduction to Environmental Science, with lab

OR

Earth’s Environmental Systems: Life Systems   

* Or an equivalent introductory course in the natural sciences with a lab requirement 

(4) ANTH UN 3040 Anthropological Theory

(5,  6) Both ANTH BC 3871x and BC 3872y, Senior Thesis Seminar

(7 – 11) Five electives, at least three of which must be in anthropology or an adjacent discipline AND at the 3000 level. These three courses must demonstrate a focus on political ecology. The other two electives can be in ANY department (including anthropology) and can be 2000, 3000, or 4000 level courses as long as the courses have a political ecology focus. These electives must be approved by Professor West or another member of the faculty. 

While they are not required, students are also STRONGLY encouraged to take one or both of the following courses:

• EESC UN2100 - Earth's Environmental Systems: Climate, with lab
• EESC UN2200 - Earth's Environmental Systems: Solid Earth, with lab

Examples of Political Ecology Focused Courses:

HIST  UN 2222            Nature & Power: Environmental History of North America

ANTH UN 3861            Anthropology of the Anthropocene (Paige West)

ANTH UN 3950            Anthropology and Consumption (Paige West)

ANTH UN 2427            Anthropology of Climate Change (Paige West)

ANTH BC 3932            Climate change and Migration (JC Salyer)

ANTH UN 3215            Culture, Society, & Catastrophe (JC Salyer)

ANTH UN 3976            Anthropology and Science (Nadia Abu El-Haj)

ANTH UN 3988            Race/Sexuality in Science and Social Practice (Nadia Abu El-Haj)

ANTH UN 3828            Ethnography of War (Nadia Abu El-Haj)

ANTH UN 3811            Toxic (Vanessa Agard Jones)

ANTH UN 3728            Ethnographies of Black Life (Vanessa Agard Jones)

ANTH UN  3151           City, Environment, Vulnerability (Cassie Fennel)

ANTH UN 3888            Ecocriticism for the End Times (Marilyn Ivy)

ANTH UN 3821            Native America (Audra Simpson)

ANTH UN 3899            Food Ecology and Globalization (Naor Ben-Yehoyada)

ANTH UN 3151            Living With Animals (Hannah Chazin)

ANTH UN 3893            The Bomb (Karen Seeley)

ANTH BC 3234            Indigenous Place Thought (Severin Fowles)

If you are considering a course which is not on this list, please reach out to Professor West for advice about whether it counts as a political ecology elective or not. The above list is not exhaustive, it is simply a list of possible courses.