This course explores selected topics in Hispanic language and literatures. Content varies by instructor and may include thematic, historical, cultural, or theoretical approaches. May be repeated to a maximum of six semester hours. This course explores the rich and interconnected aquatic environments of the American tropics, focusing on the rivers, lakes, waterfalls, wetlands, coastal zones, and oceans that sustain extraordinary biodiversity and shape the cultures and livelihoods of human communities. Using Costa Rica as a living laboratory, students will be introduced to a remarkable diversity of ecosystems, including cloud forests, tropical mountains, volcanic landscapes, mangrove forests, tropical dry forests, and the Pacific coastline. Through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates environmental science, ecology, history, culture, and conservation, we will examine the dynamic relationships between people and nature and the ways water connects ecosystems across landscapes. Students will explore how tropical waters support biodiversity, provide essential ecosystem services, and inspire cultural identities while also confronting contemporary environmental challenges such as overfishing, plastic pollution, coral reef degradation, climate change, and the increasing impacts of sargassum blooms in coastal regions. By combining field observations, scientific inquiry, and critical reflection, this course encourages students to develop a deeper understanding of tropical environments and their role in promoting sustainable and equitable futures for both human and natural communities.