Teaching

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

University of South Carolina

ENVR/GEOG 517 - Socionatural Coastlines: A Global Perspective

Coastal regions are among the most populated and developed places globally. They are also dynamic, ever-changing interfaces between land and sea with extensive histories of habitation. Imbued with the historical geographies of current and past societies, coastlines are deeply affected by contemporary social, political, and cultural values. In this discussion-based, reading intensive course, we will explore nature-society relations in coastal systems globally. The course engages social theory related to processes of uneven development. We explore several case studies of how these processes shaped – and continue shaping – current coastlines. We will read, discuss, and critically examine critical coastal ecologies are they relate to uneven development, settler colonialism, coastal & racial capitalism, climate justice, market-based solutions, and decolonization. We will also cover possible solutions and pathways for achieving just coastal futures such as abolition ecologies.

ENVR 201 - Environmental Science & Policy I

This course is part of a two-course sequence (ENVR 201-202), which is the foundation of the Environmental Studies and Environmental Science major programs. This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to key environmental concepts. Following an overview of how different disciplines approach environmental issues, the course is structured around a series of contemporary environmental case studies.

GEOG 347 - Water as a Resource

This course examines the environmental, political, social, and cultural dimensions of water and society. While this course leans toward social science, most weeks we will take an “integrative” approach and explore a physical/environmental dimension of water (e.g., hydrological cycle) followed by the social science dimension (e.g., hydro-social cycle). Throughout the course, we will explore the multiple functions that water fulfills as a resource for society. It quenches thirst, sustains crops, generates power, cools industry, carries waste, and maintains ecosystems. For each of these topics we will look at the management issues, problems, and solutions that play out on local, national, and global scales. We will investigate questions of transboundary water management, flood risk mamangement, water governance, water commodification, and the water conflicts. Throughout the course, we will pay particular attention to questions of justice, equity, and sustainability.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

I have two principle goals in my teaching: I want students to develop critical thinking skills through active learning methods. I also want students to become keen listeners who are capable of synthesizing the key points from an argument or theoretical framework. Central to my pedagogical style is for students to leave the instructional space (be it a classroom or cacao farm) with more knowledge, but also more curiosity, about how the world operates as a complex web of human-environment interactions.

TEACHING RESOURCES

An interactive map of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

An introductory lab on exploratory spatial data analysis in R