Fall Course: Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change

G461/561: Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (3 credits)

Wednesdays, 2:30-5pm, SB 005

Description: G461/561 introduces the student to issues in global environmental change (GEC), focusing on the human dimensions of landscape change.  This course qualifies towards fulfilling curricular requirements towards the PhD minor in Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (see http://www.indiana.edu/~bulletin/iub/grad/HumanDimensionsofGlobal0506.pdf).

The International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) defines GEC as the “set of biophysical transformations of land, oceans and atmosphere, driven by an interwoven system of human activities and natural processes” and its human dimensions as “the causes and consequences of people's individual and collective actions, including changes that lead to modifications of the earth's physical and biological systems.”  This seminar investigates the human causes of global change, while contextualizing such “driving forces” within the larger body of research on the impacts of global change on society and the environment, and efforts to mitigate such changes.

The following thematic and methodological areas are emphasized:

• The socioeconomic, political and environmental causes and consequences of GEC
  
• Land use and cover change (LUCC) as a predominant form of GEC, and tropical forests, grasslands and urbanizing areas as proximate sources of LUCC
  
• Institutional dimensions of GEC and international environmental regimes
  
• Themes and problems in spatially explicit methodologies in GEC research
  
• Integrated approaches that treat land as a coupled human-environment system
  
• Additional hot topics include: carbon markets and mitigation/adaptation approaches, global land grabs, global change and food security, and others.
  

For more information please contact Dr. Rinku Roy Chowdhury, at rroychow@indiana.edu