UF Center for Latin American Studies
Days: Wednesdays
Times: 11:45 am - 2:45 pm
Location: Grinter 376
NO PREREQUISITES OR INSTRUCTOR APPROVAL NEEDED FOR REGISTRATION
Course description
Infrastructure Governance: Magic Wand or Sham?
How long before Amazonia gets hit by a Tipping Point catastrophe?
Can Indigenous resistance save the forest?
Is sustainable development a contradiction in terms?
Will Lula da Silva continue to destroy Amazonia’s rivers?
For the past several decades, world attention has focused on Amazonia as a region under assault by the forces of development. But even with the vast transformation that has occurred here, the region still shelters an expansive ecosystem of critical importance to global biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, and Indigenous cultures. Thus, Amazonia remains an important arena in which development, conservation and cultural survival have yet to find a balanced equilibrium. This course is designed to equip students with the knowledge they need to understand the issues at stake. It takes a multi-dimensional, socio-ecological view of the region, touching on its cultural heritage, its colonial history, its ecological function, and its ongoing agricultural and industrial change. We address Amazonia from a variety of angles, formulating our understandings and drawing our conclusions on the basis of an inter-disciplinary reckoning.
And yes, we will answer all the questions, one way or the other.
Robert Walker
Center for Latin American Studies
Department of Geography
313 Grinter Hall
Email: roberttwalker@ufl.edu
Tel: 352-392-0494
Research Interests
GeoSpatial Analysis & Techniques; Global Environmental and Social Change
Geographic Expertise
Amazonian region: Brazil
