This course explores local water security and the “ripple” effects on societies. Students will reflect individually on how water insecurity may threaten or reinforce positive peace, particularly at the local level.
The course will consist of an introduction to variations in water resources and uses over space and time, followed by an exploration of local water security, an understanding of the different ways in which we use and value water, consequences of water insecurity, the role of intersectionality in water (in)security, and examples of how to reduce local water insecurity.
The course will be interactive, consisting of presentations by the lecturer and students, readings, discussions, assignments, group work, and field trips.
This hands-on course is designed to train participants with practical skills in organizing, summarizing, and visualizing social science data using Microsoft Excel, a widely accessible and powerful tool. Social sciences increasingly rely on quantitative data to inform decisions, evaluate programs or projects, and understand societal trends.
Regardless of your specific professional field, these sessions aim to strengthen your data literacy and confidence in handling quantitative information. By the end of the course, you will improve your ability to manage real-world social data and lay the groundwork for more advanced statistical analysis.
Around 40% of the world’s population currently lives within 100 km of the coast, and nearly all humanity benefits from the world’s coasts and oceans for a variety of cultural, economic, and environmental reasons. Despite, or perhaps because, of their value to social and ecological processes, marine resources face increasing pressures and conflicts over their utilization. Additionally, climate change acts as a main driver of major oceanic and coastal threats.
As a response to the evident crises of coastal resources, we have been able to move away from an understanding of a proclaimed inexhaustibility of the ocean, predominant in Western societies in the 19th century, to the development of tools intended to help stakeholders, from the local to the national and international levels, to protect and to manage these resources more equitably, effectively, and sustainably.
In this course, we will identify major challenges and threats to the world’s oceans and coasts and their impact on coastal populations. We will look into different coastal ecosystems, their functions and importance. In addition to that, we will become familiarized with innovations, strategies, and management tools related to coastal resources management. Finally, through practical exercises, guest lectures, and field visits, students will be able to explore the complex nexus of relations between humans and coastal/marine resources as it applies to Latin America and the case of Costa Rica.
In this course we will become familiar with contemporary issues in sustainable agriculture and critically analyse key debates in the field. To provide context to our discussions, we situate the emergence of sustainable agricultural practices within their historic contexts (e.g., green revolution and colonization) and we will examine key economic agreements that shape current agricultural markets and trade. We critically examine our global modes of production, industrial, agroecological, and we link our analysis to the most recent programs and policies regarding agriculture promoted by the FAO of the United Nations. In addition, we take on some of the most pressing agriculture issues including climate change, livestock, water, agricultural certifications, genetic engineering, markets, and gender/intersectionality. We mainstream social justice and intersectionality in our class to ensure that we understand how programs and policies affect countries, regions, territories and people differently.