Introduction to Environmental Studies explores the human condition within an environmental context by emphasizing critical environmental problems facing humans on both global and regional scales, and by applying interdisciplinary approaches. Issues, their causes, and potential solutions will be analyzed with respect to ethical, social, historical, political, scientific, and technological factors. Key concepts and themes include climate change, natural resource use and waste, population and consumption, urban and built environments, food, energy, globalization, markets, politics, environmental justice and inequality, and environmentalism.

Environment and Society examines the social, cultural, political, and ethical issues related to the environment. The main purpose of this course is to get you to think critically about environment and society relations—how humans interact with the environment and one another—and the consequences of those interactions on individual, local, national, and regional levels. It is organized around the concepts of sustainability and resilience, which combine interdisciplinary insights from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Other key themes include the Anthropocene, industrialization and impacts of capitalism, and intersectionality and environmental justice.

Technology has an impact on every aspect of our social lives. With each advance, unanticipated problems emerge, leading to complex debates about addressing the negative consequences. This course highlights the social, ethical, and humanistic challenges of assorted technologies, past and present. We will investigate how various technologies developed and compare the expected effects of the new technologies with the actual results.

This course will examine contemporary energy issues, with particular emphasis placed on the environmental implications associated with energy consumption and production. Students will learn about how social, political, economic, and historical factors affect various energy technologies and fuels (including nuclear, coal, oil, natural gas, solar, biomass, and wind) and the environmental tradeoffs associated with each of these energy systems.

Governments and organizations use a variety of tools, including laws and regulations, to take action on issues related to people and the environment. This course introduces students to environmental policies on numerous topics in a variety of institutions, contexts, and scales (such as local, state, federal, international). Students will examine how societal values inform the development, content, and impacts of environmental policies. Key topics include climate change, air and water pollution, and community sustainability.