This class examines anthropological approaches to contemporary environmental problems. We will consider what it means to live in a world in which competing ideas about nature are in dialogue with each other. We will study the way that the world is transformed by the accelerated circulation of persons, things, and ideas through globalization. We will also learn about the institutions and forces that increasingly mediate anthropogenic impacts on the environment, including the relationship between corporations and their critics, states and their legal systems, the media, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused on environmental issues.