Courses in Environmental Studies (Division 366)

123/Geol. 123/AOSS 123. Life and the Global Environment. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in 361. (2). (NS). (BS).
How human beings interact with the natural environment, including the physical and chemical environment and living creatures. Topics include the causes and consequences of climate change, air pollution and energy, and the ozone emergency and its lessons.

124/Geol. 124/AOSS 124. Environment, People, Resources. (2). (NS). (BS).
Human interaction with the environment including the history and politics of environmental change, an introduction to ecology, population and hunger, agriculture, and the exploitation of biological resources.

240(320)/RC Interdiv. 240. Big Questions for a Small Planet: Introduction to Environmental Studies. (4). (Excl).
This course is an introduction to environmental studies. It surveys geological and ecological processes that support life and global dimensions of the relationship between human societies and and their environments. It also examines the interactions of economics, equity, and resource consumption and evaluates several options for sustainable living.

353/Physics 250. Energy, Entropy, and Environment. Two and one-half years of high school mathematics, or any college course in mathematics or natural science. (3). (NS). (BS).
Develops some techniques and concepts of physics, such as the first and second laws of thermodynamics, in order to understand some environmental problems and their possible solution.

356/NR&E 308. Homeplace: Life in the Huron Valley. (3). (Excl).
This course is an interdisciplinary examination of interactions between humans and nature using the Huron Valley as a laboratory. We examine social, biophysical, and humanities influences on our relationship with the environment, and use this study of a particular place as the basis for the discovery of general principles.

359/Geol. 279. Ocean Resources. High school science and math recommended. (3). (NS). (BS).
Survey of oceanography and the resources of the ocean. Consideration of conflicts arising from overexploitation and competing uses of the ocean and its resources.

360/Geol. 280. Mineral Resources, Economics, and the Environment. (4). (NS). (BS). (QR/2).
Survey of major world mineral supplies with emphasis on their geology and the economic and environmental factors that limit their use.

407. Culture as Environment. Environ. Studies 240. (3). (Excl).
An examination of the relation between culture and environment, and the ways in which culture creates environmental attitudes and social proprieties. The course begins with definitions of culture and the history of cultural idealism, and works toward the location of social values within various cultures, including our own.

412. Alternative Patterns of Resource Utilization: The Amish in Twentieth Century America. Environ. Studies. 240. (3). (Excl).
The Amish, a cohesive rural subculture, are used as a case study to examine in detail alternative land and resource utilization that has proved viable in contemporary North America. Value systems, social structures, technology and scale as they influence individual, family and community interaction with the natural environment are examined.

415/RC Nat. Sci. 415. Science and Politics. One college-level science course. (4). (Excl). (BS).
Introduction to historical, political, and technical dimensions of policy systems guiding U.S. scientific research and technical development. Examines issues and controversies and social dimensions of scientific knowledge.

420. Practicum in Environmental Problems. Environ. Studies 240 and cognates pertinent to the study. Permission must be granted by Director prior to enrollment. (1-4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May not be repeated for credit.
Directed research on critical environmental problems.

421. Practicum in Environmental Problems. Environ. Studies 240 and cognates pertinent to the study. Permission must be granted by Director prior to enrollment. (1-4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May not be repeated for credit.
Directed research on critical environmental problems.

450. Human Values and the Environment. Environ. Studies 240 and junior standing. (3). (Excl).
Integration of humanistic and social science perspectives so often lacking in environmental efforts. The interdisciplinary seminar looks at the ways in which culture, values, and the very nature of human beings have shaped our environmental dilemma. This class develops a framework for understanding these dynamics and approaches to reconciling the paradoxes inherent in environmental issues.

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