Community-Engaged Environmental Studies Practicum In this course students work in small groups with one of a variety of partners and organizations to complete a semester-long, community-engaged project. Project themes vary by term and typically focus on local and regional environmental issues that have broader application. Projects rely on students’ creativity, interdisciplinary perspectives, skills, and knowledge developed through their previous work. The project is guided by a faculty member and carried out with a high degree of independence by the students. Students will prepare for and direct their project work through readings and discussion, independent research, collaboration with project partners, and consultation with external experts. The course may also include workshops focused on developing key skills (e.g., interviewing, public speaking, video editing). The project culminates in a public presentation of students’ final products, which may various forms such as written reports, policy white papers, podcasts, or outreach materials. (Open to Seniors)

What on Earth is Environmental Studies Teaching You? The task of teaching about contemporary ecological crises, from global warming to global biodiversity loss, presents a vital educational challenge. Instructors across diverse subdisciplines of environmental studies (ES) are now revisiting fundamental questions concerning what to teach, how to teach, and even why to teach as their traditional subject matter transforms around them. In this course, we will investigate how ES educators and ES students are together grappling with the implications of what they are studying. Teams of students will carry out collaborative research projects analyzing these questions in the context of Middlebury’s very own ES program. Through direct engagements with current and past ES students and faculty, comparisons with other institutions, and targeted course readings exploring key facets of this bewildering “learning challenge,” we will begin to imagine what an education truly proportionate to the radical implications of this fateful planetary moment might look like. This course counts as a social science cognate for Environmental Studies majors./

Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene We live in a moment defined by environmental change. Yet the causes and consequences of these transformations are profoundly uneven. Across race, class, gender, and other forms of difference, “environmental problems” manifest in radically unequal ways, disproportionately burdening some while benefiting others. In this class we will dwell on this central tension in thinking about present socio-environmental crises and what to do about them, from toxic landscapes and biodiversity loss to global hunger and a warming climate. Certainly, these problems pose urgent, even existential problems that demand intervention. Yet common refrains about ‘how to save the environment’ always come with baggage. They have deep histories and hidden assumptions about causes and solutions, justice and inequality, politics and social change, which we will wrestle with together in this course.

Global Political Ecology From global land grabs and agrarian revolutionary movements to clashes over energy infrastructure and the establishment of protected areas, today’s “environmental issues” are suffused with political relations and deeply entangled with the historical formations of capitalism, colonialism, the state, and science. In this seminar we will analyze how “social” questions of power, political economy, and social struggle, pervade the “natural” (and vice versa). Such questions are invariably messy and full of surprises, confounding reduction to universal theories extended from afar. Often, they require a close in-the-weeds look. That is what this class will invite you to do. The field of political ecology offers a rich repertoire of approaches for developing empirically grounded, historically contextualized, and theoretically nuanced forms of analysis that grapple with the situated complexities of resource and environmental issues. (formerly ENVS 0385)

The Politics of Hope We are frequently told we must “never give up hope,” but what is at stake in hoping? In this seminar we will interrogate this ubiquitous demand to hope. We will explore contemporary debates about the possibility of hope in the face of uncertain planetary futures to consider the politics of how, in what ways, toward what ends, and why we hope. At what point does hope become misplaced, turning into a “cruel optimism”? How is hope mobilized politically? How are different futures—optimistic and pessimistic, utopian and dystopian, redemptive and apocalyptic—distributed among different groups? And what might happen if we let go of commonly held yet narrowly conceived hopes and tried imagining something different?

Global Political Ecology From global land grabs and agrarian revolutionary movements to clashes over energy infrastructure and the establishment of protected areas, today’s “environmental issues” are suffused with political relations and deeply entangled with the historical formations of capitalism, colonialism, the state, and science. In this seminar we will analyze how “social” questions of power, political economy, and social struggle, pervade the “natural” (and vice versa). Such questions are invariably messy and full of surprises, confounding reduction to universal theories extended from afar. Often, they require a close in-the-weeds look. That is what this class will invite you to do. The field of political ecology offers a rich repertoire of approaches for developing empirically grounded, historically contextualized, and theoretically nuanced forms of analysis that grapple with the situated complexities of resource and environmental issues.

Theories of Change Clashing perspectives regarding how to envision and enact “social change” have long riven the environmental movement, animating deep disagreement among activists. In this seminar we will explore these debates by (1) analyzing various efforts aimed at “changing the world” and (2) troubleshooting their different methods, strategies, and underlying beliefs and assumptions about how they think social change “works.” Through close analysis of these initiatives, we will examine how activists, organizers, and other self-described practitioners of social change conceive of social change: what it is, what it looks like, how it happens, and how to do it.

Global Political Ecology From global land grabs and agrarian revolutionary movements to clashes over energy infrastructure and the establishment of protected areas, today’s “environmental issues” are suffused with political relations and deeply entangled with the historical formations of capitalism, colonialism, the state, and science. In this seminar we will analyze how “social” questions of power, political economy, and social struggle, pervade the “natural” (and vice versa). Such questions are invariably messy and full of surprises, confounding reduction to universal theories extended from afar. Often, they require a close in-the-weeds look. That is what this class will invite you to do. The field of political ecology offers a rich repertoire of approaches for developing empirically grounded, historically contextualized, and theoretically nuanced forms of analysis that grapple with the situated complexities of resource and environmental issues. (ENVS 0208 or ENVS 0211 or PSCI 0214) 3 hrs. sem

Dan Suarez

Reviews and ratings for Dan Suarez at Middlebury College.Dan Suarez teaches Conservation & Env Policy, Community Engaged Practicum, What is ES Teaching You? and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Dan Suarez good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

This class had a lot of difficult and heavy subject matter. Professor Suarez is very passionate about what he does and cares a lot about his students retaining the material. His projects are very unique and effective in getting the points across. Prepare to be angered by a lot of things you see. Everyone should take this class.

I had a specific learning need that Professor Suarez accommodated very graciously in this course. I was in his office hours pretty much every week and gained a lot from it but that is definitely not required to get valuable takeaways from this course. I thought the reading selections were very well thought out and I skipped few readings, even later in the semester. 

Suarez is clearly enthusiastic about the material and knowledgeable about the content he assigns. There's a lot of reading and discussion, but it is usually interesting. Sometimes, though, it does get very dense and can weigh on you as he discusses pretty deep and impactful topics. There is one discussion post per week or two if you divide up the readings and do it before class, which can get to be a lot, but usually, it is fine as it is generally graded on if you did it or not and if you thought even a little bit on the content. 