Michael R. Dove
Margaret K. Musser Professor of Social Ecology; Professor of Anthropology, Curator of Anthropology Peabody Museum
Teaching Statement
General
A distinguishing characteristic of my teaching is a focus on the environmental relations of local communities, while recognizing that it is equally important to understand the ways that such local systems are entwined with extra-local, national, and global markets, politics, and ideologies. I emphasize problematizing where necessary the orthodox approaches to conservation and development. My teaching encompass communities, local and national governments and NGOs, and addresses such topics as political ecological theory, indigenous environmental knowledge, natural disasters, agrarian society, and field methods. I strongly encourage my advisees to carry out their own independent summer research projects. I help them with their research, not the reverse. Most of my advisees carry out research internationally, have excellent records of obtaining support for this both within and beyond Yale, and have won numerous awards in recognition of their research achievements.
Joint Doctoral Degree
I coordinate a combined doctoral degree between F&ES and Yale’s Department of Anthropology, the only one of its kind in the country. The purpose of this program is to (1) combine the inter-disciplinary character and possibilities of F&ES, especially in terms of bridging the social and natural sciences, with the disciplinary identity and strengths of the Anthropology Department; (2) combine the strengths in ecological and environmental studies of F&ES with the social science strengths of the Anthropology Department; and (3) combine the emphasis within F&ES on linking theory with policy and practice with the Anthropology Department’s strengths in theory. Graduates of this program can apply for teaching positions as anthropologists and/or environmental scientists, and they have the credentials to apply for policy-oriented positions with international institutions as well as academic positions in teaching and research.
Courses
There is every year a critical mass of 30-50 students here working on these issues–perhaps unique in world and with a tradition of supportive versus competitive peer dynamics. Carpenter, Doolittle, and Dove Master’s advisees can take a unique 1-credit Master’s lab for presentation and discussion of research proposals and products. There is also a 1-credit Dove/Carpenter doctoral lab, with students from F&ES, Anthropology, History, Sociology.
F&ES D0055a Dove/Carpenter Social Ecology Doctoral Lab.
F&ES 1160a,b, Project in Social Ecology. Michael R. Dove.
F&ES 2160a,b, Master’s Project in Social Ecology. Michael R. Dove.
F&ES 80054a/ANTHRO 541a/HIST 965a/PLSC 779a, Agrarian Societies: Culture, Society, History, and Development, Michael R. Dove, James C. Scott, & faculty.
F&ES 80069a Carpenter/Doolittle/Dove Master’s Lab.
F&ES 80153b/ANTHRO 610b, Society and Environment: Advanced Readings, Michael R. Dove & Carol Carpenter. (Alternate years.)
F&ES 80157b/ANTHRO 598b, Sustainable Development and Conservation: Advanced Readings, Carol Carpenter & Michael R. Dove. (Alternate years.)
F&ES 83050a/ANTHRO 581a, Society and Environment: Introduction to Theory and Method, Michael R. Dove.
A distinguishing characteristic of my teaching is a focus on the environmental relations of local communities, while recognizing that it is equally important to understand the ways that such local systems are entwined with extra-local, national, and global markets, politics, and ideologies. I emphasize problematizing where necessary the orthodox approaches to conservation and development. My teaching encompass communities, local and national governments and NGOs, and addresses such topics as political ecological theory, indigenous environmental knowledge, natural disasters, agrarian society, and field methods. I strongly encourage my advisees to carry out their own independent summer research projects. I help them with their research, not the reverse. Most of my advisees carry out research internationally, have excellent records of obtaining support for this both within and beyond Yale, and have won numerous awards in recognition of their research achievements.
Joint Doctoral Degree
I coordinate a combined doctoral degree between F&ES and Yale’s Department of Anthropology, the only one of its kind in the country. The purpose of this program is to (1) combine the inter-disciplinary character and possibilities of F&ES, especially in terms of bridging the social and natural sciences, with the disciplinary identity and strengths of the Anthropology Department; (2) combine the strengths in ecological and environmental studies of F&ES with the social science strengths of the Anthropology Department; and (3) combine the emphasis within F&ES on linking theory with policy and practice with the Anthropology Department’s strengths in theory. Graduates of this program can apply for teaching positions as anthropologists and/or environmental scientists, and they have the credentials to apply for policy-oriented positions with international institutions as well as academic positions in teaching and research.
Courses
There is every year a critical mass of 30-50 students here working on these issues–perhaps unique in world and with a tradition of supportive versus competitive peer dynamics. Carpenter, Doolittle, and Dove Master’s advisees can take a unique 1-credit Master’s lab for presentation and discussion of research proposals and products. There is also a 1-credit Dove/Carpenter doctoral lab, with students from F&ES, Anthropology, History, Sociology.
F&ES D0055a Dove/Carpenter Social Ecology Doctoral Lab.
F&ES 1160a,b, Project in Social Ecology. Michael R. Dove.
F&ES 2160a,b, Master’s Project in Social Ecology. Michael R. Dove.
F&ES 80054a/ANTHRO 541a/HIST 965a/PLSC 779a, Agrarian Societies: Culture, Society, History, and Development, Michael R. Dove, James C. Scott, & faculty.
F&ES 80069a Carpenter/Doolittle/Dove Master’s Lab.
F&ES 80153b/ANTHRO 610b, Society and Environment: Advanced Readings, Michael R. Dove & Carol Carpenter. (Alternate years.)
F&ES 80157b/ANTHRO 598b, Sustainable Development and Conservation: Advanced Readings, Carol Carpenter & Michael R. Dove. (Alternate years.)
F&ES 83050a/ANTHRO 581a, Society and Environment: Introduction to Theory and Method, Michael R. Dove.
