The Amazon is at the center of debates about the environment and
globalization. Environmentalists have been working for decades to
preserve the incredible biodiversity found in the world's largest
tropical rainforest. The Amazon has been a part of the global economy
since the very beginning of European colonization of the Americas. The
rubber boom and the gold boom placed the Amazon squarely in the center
of global trade for a time, yet the vast majority of people living in
the Amazon remain poor.

International and national governments compete with regional and local
governments to control the environmental and economic policies, often
with strongly divergent views. Agribusiness is the newest "boom" and
large farmers are moving into the Amazon. How will these changes
affect the rainforests? Will the people living in the Amazon gain new
economic opportunities from the new agribusiness economy? How much
control should foreigners exert over what people do with the land they
own? We will cover this material in a very interactive way, with
discussion, exams, films, readings, projects, and writing.