Political ecology | A series of student essays on the politics of culture, place, and nature
Moderator’s Note: As has become customary, I am posting a selection of student research notes and essays prepared for a political ecology seminar I teach during fall quarter at the University of Washington. Taught as an advanced reading and discussion seminar, the course involves heavy reading loads and weekly writing aimed at development of analytical and critical skills. All of the students prepared a total of eight (8) critical reading summaries. They also produced the essays presented here which are synthesized from quarter-long topical research projects and presented in the form of a series of 2000-word posts. Some of these posts are autobiographical in nature and draw from personal life histories and experiences – but they are not self-indulgent empty exercises in navel gazing. The students of the so-called Millennial Generation are critical realists not because it might be an intellectual fad but as a matter of historical and structural circumstances. This is a group of seriou...