Geography 590STA - Flows of Power: Puerto Rico

The course is a critical physical geography (CPG) course, meaning it aims to teach you knowledge and skills of both the biophysical and social-cultural /political-economic worlds, to illuminate real-world issues in ways that cannot be done within narrower disciplinary silos; and it is an experiential learning course. CPG integrates critical thinking about social power, physical scientific data and analyses, and a focus on the geographies of landscapes, places, spatial patterns, and human-environment relations. The course applies a CPG approach to thinking about and responding to recent crises related to water and electricity in Puerto Rico, and to the ongoing efforts to respond to these crises. The first 7 weeks establish background knowledge in CPG, water and political geography, political economy of electric systems, and techniques for field social, intercultural, biophysical research. In a required 8-day trip to Puerto Rico ever Spring Break, we visit locations that illustrate damage, repair, and resilience from floods, financial crises, and challenges of the electrical grid. In the final 6 weeks, students complete a community-engaged project building on their own expertise and interests for a Puerto Rican partner, who will be an individual or organization we meet on the spring break trip and who works in a relevant area such as energy, environmental justice advocacy, disaster recovery, or water resources.

There are no specific course prerequisites, but relevant background/skills and interest are needed, and enrollment is by permission of instructor following online student application. Contact the department for the application.
Students should be prepared to attend the Spring break trip to Puerto Rico and the course will have an additional trip expenses of around $4000 for travel, lodging, meals, field supplies and course. If you have any concerns or questions with regards to the trip, please contact the department.