Through the interdisciplinary approach of political ecology, this seminar introduces students to key environmental challenges facing the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The course draws upon scholarship in environmental studies, political economy, international relations, history, geography, and anthropology, as well as literary works, to understand human-environment interactions in the region. Students will learn how power and inequality, such as through colonialism and conflict, shape how people experience environmental issues in their everyday lives. The course expands beyond the study of strategic resources like oil and water to consider the complex web of social imaginaries and political interests impacting MENA ecologies.