Cornell Courses Taught:
Socio-cultural and Ecological Role of Diversity: NTRES 7330.
Course Description: Given the dramatic and coupled nature of environmental and social change as well as the current limitations on understanding the implications of these changes for adaptation and resilience, this research seminar explores the roles of and linkages between biological and cultural diversity. The graduate seminar: (1) examines the concepts of biological and cultural diversity; (2) explores empirical research that elaborates upon the relationship between biological and cultural diversity; and (3) determines the relevance of these coupled concepts to issues of sustainability and conservation.
Course Objectives: Based on conceptual underpinnings and applied research, the objectives of this graduate seminar are: to explore the definitions of diversity in both a cultural and an ecological sense; to examine the relationship between biological and cultural diversity; to situate the significance of these concepts in the current historical and global context; to explore the validity of proposed indicators of cultural and biological diversity for conservation; to provide students with a viable intellectual lens to undertake interdisciplinary research related to diversity; and to propose relevant research topics that utilize the coupled lens of biocultural diversity.