Spring 2025 NRES 598
Gender & Environment in the Amazon (3 credit hours)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Day, Time
Room Turner Hall
Instructor:
Professor McKenzie Johnson (she/her)
Turner Hall S-512
Office Phone: 217-300-8308 Email: mfj4@illinois.edu
Office Hours:
Wednesday 2:00-3:00 or by appointment
1. Course Description
What is this course about?
Scholarship across environmental justice, political ecology, gender studies, and environmental politics is increasingly drawing attention to the problem of violence against land and environmental defenders. Recent work suggests that women and Indigenous environmental defenders are particularly prone to experiencing diverse forms of violence, but especially sexual violence, loss of land/resource rights, and assassination. In this course, we will engage with literature at the intersection of gender, environment, and violence, with a specific focus on environmental defenders in the Amazon (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Perú). In addition to creating a theoretical foundation, this course will provide an opportunity for students to be involved in organizing and hosting a workshop with women defenders from Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil in May 2025. Students will read relevant literature on academic workshops and conflict-sensitive engagement to prepare for this event.
