Charles Springwood is Professor of Anthropology and the Acting Director of Environmental Studies. His Environmental Studies course Consuming Passions: The Anthropology of Food (ENST/ANTH 288) examines everyday values about food and eating in relation to the larger question of a global political economy and the use and abuse of the environment. A cultural anthropologist specializing in Japan, North America, and Mexico, Professor Springwood's research interests focus on the politics of culture. In particular, he examines various social worlds by looking for the intersections of power, knowledge, race, class, and gender. As such, he is drawn to questions about how people, as members of social groups, variously engage, and too often, abuse the environment. Professor Springwood seeks answers to these questions through teaching about food.