Blood diamonds. Resource curse. Land grabs. Tragedy of the commons. These concepts are often used to frame discussions about natural resource politics and environmental management in Africa. Time and again, we hear that corruption (in government) and overexploitation (by poor citizens) are preventing sustainable development, putting biodiversity conservation at risk, and providing fodder for ongoing conflict. This course prompts students to critically engage with these narratives through an appraisal of popular media, policy documents, and relevant scholarship in the fields of political economy, geography, anthropology, political ecology, and development studies. In doing so, we aim to uncover substantiations, deviations, and contradictions in cases across the African continent. Students will leave the course better equipped to interrogate the ways in which environmental and development challenges are shaped and landscapes produced by the complex interplay of local, national, and global forces.