A sociological approach to human-environment relations Environment and Society relates to a diverse audience and encompasses viewpoints from a variety of natural and social science approaches. This integrative book about human-environment relations connects many issues about human societies, ecological systems, and environments with data and perspectives from different fields of study. Its viewpoint is primarily sociological and it is designed for courses in Environmental Sociology and Environmental Issues, or taught in departments of Sociology, Environmental Studies, Anthropology, Political Science, and Human Geography. Learning Goals Upon completing this book, readers should be able to: Understand how environmental problems relate to human behavior, culture, and social institutions - Evaluate suggestions for changing the human-environment relationship to a more “sustainable” environment, society, and world order - Recognize the importance of worldviews and paradigms that have implicit basic assumptions about the “way the world works” and see how they shape the scholarship of experts in different fields - Examine the work and perspectives of economists, political scientists, anthropologists, geographers and policy analysts as they address environmental and ecological issues Note: MySearchLab does not come automatically packaged with this text. To purchase MySearchLab, please visit: www.mysearchlab.com or you can purchase a ValuePack of the text + MySearchLab with Pearson eText (at no additional cost). ValuePack ISBN-10: 0205863639 / ValuePack ISBN-13: 9780205863631 Charles Harper is a professor of sociology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. As a member of the faculty there since 1968, he has developed and taught numerous courses in the sociology department. Dr. Harper’s teaching and scholarly interests inolve the study of social change, globalization, the sociology of religion, social theory, and environmental sociology. He has published papers in a variety of academic journals. Along with Environment and Society , Dr. Harper is the author of two other textbooks. Co-authored with Kevin Leicht, his book Exploring Social Change: America and the World (Prentice Hall, 2007) is now in its Fifth Edition. Another book, Food, Society, and Environment (Prentice Hall, 2003) was co-authored with Bryan F. LeBeau. . As an undergraduate, Dr. Harper studied biology and the natural sciences. He received a bachelor’s degree from Central Missouri State University, a Master’s degree in sociology from the University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He and his wife, Anne, live close to Creighton’s campus near a “clan” of adult children, stepchildren, and grandchildren. He also enjoys traveling, bicycling, and reading.