This course addresses the broad themes of political ecology as an academic discipline as well as a set of theoretical and methodological tools. Historically political ecology has focused on the rural developing world, but more recent work has branched out into environmental justice and resource use in industrialized societies. The course covers the concepts that have distinguished political ecology from other types of analysis like cultural and human ecology. It also introduces students to the construction of theory including a consideration of space, scale, justice, feminism, property, and nature. Finally, the course presents students with diverse case studies that may include topics like resource use, mining, bio-prospecting, forestry, conservation, fisheries, "sustainable" development, and eco-tourism.