Syllabus

Module 1:
Basic Concepts:
Environment, Ecology, Adaptation, Resources, Sustainable Development, Environmental Worldviews

Module 2:
Theories on Human-environment relations:
Environmental determinism, possibilism/cultural determinism, cultural ecology, ecosystem, ethno-ecology, political ecology

Module 3:
Culture and Resource management:
Ecology of Hunting and Gathering, Ecology of Pastoralism, Ecology of Horticulture, Ecology of Intensive Agriculture,

Module 4:
Current Issues and Problems of the Environment:
Invasive species, Tragedy of the commons, Deforestation, Human–wildlife coexistence and conflict

Module 5:
Spiritual ecology, Biodiversity Conservation, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Sustainable Agriculture and Development.

To familiarize the concepts of ecology, adaptation, and sustainable development

To learn the theories of human-environmental interactions

To understand the community/cultural resource management, modes of production and resource use - ecology of hunting-foraging, pastoralism, incipient agriculture, and agricultural intensification

To explore the diverse human-environmental interactions and environmental issues

After the completion of this course, students will be able
CO1: To define basic concepts of ecology and sustainable development
CO2: To explain diverse perspectives to understand human ecological relations
CO3: To discover how societies adapted to different environmental conditions
CO4: To examine the emerging issues of the environment,
CO5: To analyze how the ecological approaches generate sustainable outcomes, environmental management and development.

Sutton, Mark Q. & E.N. Anderson, Introduction to Cultural Ecology, 3rd ed., Altamira Press, Lanham , 2014

Moran, Emilio F., Human Adaptability: An Introduction to Ecological Anthropology, Routledge, New York , 2018

Marten, Gerald G., Human Ecology: Basic concepts for sustainable development, Earthscan, London , 2008

Moran, Emilio F., People and Nature: An Introduction to Human Ecological Relations, Blackwell Publishing, Malden , 2006