There is a unique study abroad opportunity in Costa Rica being held in July 2014 – Environmental Anthropology, a six-credit program now accepting applications through March 20. The program covers two courses: Communities, Conservation and Development on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast and The Anthropology of Surfing.
The program is open to students from universities around the US and throughout the world, providing a diverse experience for students in a welcoming multicultural environment. The program offers students an entry into political ecology, broadly defined, and how it plays out in a particular place, giving students hands-on exposure to ethnographic research and participant observation.
Please see full information below and share this announcement with students and program coordinators in Anthropology, Geography, Development Studies, Tourism Management, Sociology, and Environmental Studies. Again, the deadline for applications is March 20, and please let students know they can contact Tara Ruttenberg (contact info at bottom) directly with any questions.
Please note that out-of-state students pay in-state tuition. For application details, go to: https://www.externalaffairs.uga.edu/costa_rica/index.php/site/program_detail/environmental_anthropology_in_costa_rica/students
Environmental Anthropology in Costa Rica
July 3-July 31, 2014
Instructor: Pete Brosius (pbrosius@uga.edu)
Program Assistant: Tara Ruttenberg
Course Description: ANTH/GEOG 4275/6275 – Communities, Conservation & Development on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast
Over the last few decades Costa Rica has come to be recognized globally as an icon of successful conservation. In the process, conservation and the tourism associated with it have made major contributions to the Costa Rican economy. However, Costa Rica now faces a number of challenges that threaten to undermine the progress it has made. In coastal areas in particular, rapid development is affecting both ecosystems and local community livelihoods.
This course will focus on the affects of coastal development on both conservation and local communities on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. During the program we will travel to a number of national parks and reserves along the coast. We will also visit sites of rapid coastal development – resorts, large housing tracts and gated communities. In the process we will meet with people representing different viewpoints on trends in coastal development. Course assignments will focus on integrating what you are learning experientially with literature on the anthropology and political ecology of conservation and development.
Course Description: ANTH 4900/6900 – The Anthropology of Surfing
Surfing is simultaneously a sport, a lifestyle, and an iconic part of popular culture. It is also an ideal lens for analyzing a range of contemporary cultural processes associated with globalization. This course will introduce students to surfing as a globalizing cultural phenomenon. We will begin by learning about the history of surfing, particularly as it has become increasingly internationalized in recent decades. We will also focus on a range of specific topics: surf culture and the idea of lifestyle, the production of recreational spaces, branding and the commodification of surfing, surf tourism, surfing and gender, localism and travel, surf knowledge, contest culture, and more.
This course will emphasize an ethnographic approach to the study of surfing. During our time in Costa Rica we will be traveling to multiple locations where surfing is a dominant activity, and we will be interacting on a daily basis with surfers from Costa Rica, the US and elsewhere. Through both guided observations and daily encounters, we will document our experiences through a series of written and visual assignments.
Courtesy of:
Tara Ruttenberg, Program Assistant
Environmental Anthropology in Costa Rica
University of Georgia-Costa Rica