Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary major that includes courses from several different departments and disciplines. In addition to the courses listed below, students may choose additional courses to fulfill major electives with the approval of their major advisor.
AH 3175E Environmental Health
Three credits. Prerequisite: BIOL 1102 or equivalent; CHEM 1122 or equivalent; open to Allied Health Sciences majors, BGS students, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies and Engineering majors, others with instructor consent; open to juniors or higher. Recommended preparation: a course in animal anatomy and physiology.
Course will focus on the environmental health consequences of exposure to toxic chemicals, food contaminants and radiation. Basic principles of toxicology will be discussed, followed by lectures on specific topics such as: cancer, occupational hazards, radiation, genetic biomonitoring, risk assessment techniques, risk/benefit analysis, social/legal aspects of regulating toxic chemicals, and other related topics.
ARE 3434E Environmental and Resource Policy
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
Economic and policy aspects of natural resource use and environmental quality issues. Designed for students with diverse departmental affiliations.
ARE 4462 Environmental and Resource Economics
Three credits. Prerequisite: ARE 1150 or ECON 1200 or ECON 1201; MATH 1071Q or 1110Q or 1126Q or 1131Q; open to juniors or higher. Credit may not be received for both ARE 4462 and 5462.
Natural resource use and environmental quality analysis using economic theory. Reviews of empirical research and relevant policy issues.
BIOL 1102 Foundations of Biology
Four credits. Three class periods and one 2-hour laboratory period. Not open for credit to students who have completed a year of advanced biology in high school. Students may not receive more than 12 credits for courses in Biology at the 1000’s level.
A laboratory course designed for non-science majors; surveys major biological principles with emphasis on their importance to humans and modern society. A fee of $10 is charged for this course. CA 3-LAB.
BIOL 1108 Principles of Biology
(107, 108) May be taken in either order. Four credits. Three class periods and one 3-hour laboratory period. Students may not receive more than 12 credits for courses in biology at the 1000’s level.
Designed to provide a foundation for more advanced courses in Biology and related sciences. Topics covered include ecology, evolution, genetics, and plant biology CA 3-LAB.
ECON 3466E Environmental Economics
Three credits. Prerequisite: ECON 2201.
Application of economic reasoning to environmental issues. Topics include air and water pollution and the management of natural resources; market failure and environmental regulation; market-based mechanisms; cost-benefit analysis, environmental valuation, and program evaluation; environmental justice from an economic perspective.
EEB 2208E Introduction to Conservation Biology
Three credits.
Patterns of biodiversity and extinction; causes of extinction and population declines; ecological restoration; conservation planning; protection of ecosystem services; implementing conservation actions; conservation economics; conservation law; effects of global change.
ENGL 3240E American Nature Writing
Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Study of writings, from the colonial era to the modern, reflecting diverse ways of imagining humanity’s relation to the natural environment.
ENGL 2635E Literature and the Environment
Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors and higher, others by consent.
Ecocritical approaches to literary treatment of global environmental issues.
ENGL 3715E Nature Writing Workshop
Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to sophomores or higher; open only with consent of instructor. Recommended preparation: ENGL 1701.
For student writers of proved ability who wish training in techniques of nature writing. Emphasis on nonfiction or poetry.
EVST 1000E Introduction to Environmental Studies
Three credits.
Interdisciplinary survey of relationships between humans and nature; investigation of specific environmental themes and contemporary issues.
EVST 3412/POLS 3412 Global Environmental Politics
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
Politics of how humans and natural systems interact. Managing the global environment, regulating resource commons, and coordinating to solve environmental problems.
EVST 3991 Supervised Field Work
One to twelve credits. Hours by arrangement. Prerequisite: Open only with consent of the Program Director. May be repeated for up to a total of 12 credits. A total of 6 credits may be counted toward the major.
Designed to provide students experience in research, policy and activism settings not generally available on campus. Students will work with professionals in the environmental field who will provide evaluations to the program director. Student evaluation will be based upon the recommendation of the field supervisor. Students will be required to sign a Supervised Field Work contract detailing expectations for the credits earned.
EVST 3993 Foreign Study
One to fifteen credits. Hours by arrangement. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher; consent of Program Director required, normally to be granted before the student’s departure. May count toward the major with consent of the advisor up to a maximum of six credits. May be repeated for credit.
Special topics taken in a foreign study program.
EVST 3999 Independent Study
Credits and hours by arrangement. Prerequisite: Open only with consent of instructor and program director. May be repeated for credit with a change in subject matter.
EVST 4000W Environmental Studies Capstone Research Project
Three credits. Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; consent of instructor required; open to juniors or higher.
Individual student research projects integrate knowledge and perspectives on environmental issues. Extensive reading, research, written work and presentation/oral communication required.
GEOG 2300 Introduction to Physical Geography
The physical elements and processes of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere are considered in relation to one another and to the distribution of the world’s environments. Emphasis on the basic concepts and theories of physical geography. CA 3.
GEOG 2400E Introduction to Sustainable Cities
Three credits.
Pathways to make cities more sustainable from social, economic, and environmental perspectives. Topics include sustainable transportation, renewable energy, recycling of waste, and green infrastructure in contemporary metropolitan areas in developed and developing nations. CA 2. CA 4-INT.
GEOG 3400 Climate and Weather
Three credits. Recommended preparation: GEOG 1300 or 2300.
Analysis of atmospheric processes giving rise to weather systems and climate patterns. The dynamic integration of atmospheric systems is emphasized.
GEOG 3350 Global Change, Local Action: A Geography of Environmentalism
Three credits.
How global-local linkages of geographic scope and scale impact human-environment interactions.
GERM 2400E The Environment in German Culture
Three credits. Three lectures/discussions. Prerequisite: Open to sophomores or higher.
Ecological thinking in German culture from the Greeks (Plato) to the Greens (Amery). The second half of the semester consists of student projects on current environmental policies in the European Union. CA 1.
ERTH 1050 Earth’s Dynamic Environment (with Laboratory)
Four credits. Three class periods and one 3-hour laboratory period. Not open to students enrolled in or having passed ERTH 1051 or SCI 1051.
History of planet Earth, emphasizing how rock, air, water, and life interact at different scales to produce the earth’s crust, landforms, life systems, natural resources, catastrophes, and climatic regimes. Provides a scientific context for human-induced global change. Includes laboratory component (see ERTH 1052). A fee of $10 is charged for this course. CA 3-LAB.
ERTH 1051 Earth’s Dynamic Environment (Lecture)
Three credits. Three class periods. Not open to students enrolled in or having passed ERTH 1050 or SCI 1051. Students who complete both ERTH 1051 and 1052 may request ERTH 1051 be converted from a CA 3 Non-laboratory to a CA 3 Laboratory course.
History of planet Earth, emphasizing how rock, air, water, and life interact at different scales to produce the earth’s crust, landforms, life systems, natural resources, catastrophes, and climatic regimes. Provides a scientific context for human-induced global change. CA 3.
ERTH 3010 Earth History and Global Change
Three credits. Two class periods and one 3-hour laboratory period. Prerequisite: ERTH 1050; or ERTH 1051 and 1052.
Reconstruction of earth history from geological data. Processes and events responsible for the stratigraphic record, and techniques used to decipher it. An integrated survey of earth history. One or more weekend field trips may be required.
HIST 2210E History of the Ocean
Three credits.
Cultural, environmental, and geopolitical history of the ocean from prehistory to the present. Examines the impact of migration, industrialization, modernization, and globalization on the relationships between people and oceans. CA 1.
HIST 3540E Environmental History of the Americas
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
Transformations of the North American environment: the effects of human practices and policies, varying ideas about nature across cultures and time periods; and the rise of environmental movements.
HIST 3542E New England Environmental History
Three credits.
Interdisciplinary history of New England’s terrestrial and marine environmental change. Links among land, sea, and human natural resource use and management, including precontact patterns, colonial impacts, agricultural decline, industrial pollution, overfishing, re-forestation, and the rise of eco-tourism.
NRE 1000E Environmental Science
An introduction to basic concepts and areas of environmental concern and how these problems can be effectively addressed. Topics include human population; ecological principles; conservation of biological resources; biodiversity; croplands, rangelands, forestlands, soil and water conservation; pollution and water management; and wildlife and fisheries conservation. CA 3.
NRE 3245E Environmental Law
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
An overview of environmental law including the common law principles of nuisance, negligence, and trespass. Students will become acquainted with legal research techniques; emphasis will be on federal, state, and municipal programs addressing clear air, clean water, hazardous waste, inland wetlands, coastal zone management, and prime agricultural farm land and aquifer protection.
NRE 3000 Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher.
Leadership, management, and workplace skills in professional natural resources management in governmental and nonprofit sectors. Public policy and administration, strategic collaboration and networks, organizational leadership, and conflict resolution will be covered.
NRE 4170 Climate-Human-Ecosystem Interactions
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to juniors or higher. Recommended preparation: introductory courses in climate and environmental science.
Understanding pathways of interactions among climate change, ecological processes, and human activities through time are studied. Feedbacks that either reinforce or limit such interactions will also be discussed.
JOUR 3046E Environmental Journalism
Three credits. Prerequisite: JOUR 2000W or consent of the instructor; open to juniors or higher.
Explores specialized coverage of environmental issues by journalists, emphasizing news reporting with the opportunity to produce print, visual and multimedia news reports.
PHIL 3216E Environmental Ethics
Three credits. Prerequisite: At least one of PHIL 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1106, or 1107; open to juniors or higher.
Inquiry into obligations to, or concerning, the environment, particularly the moral standing of animals, species, ecosystems, and natural objects.
SOCI 2701E Sustainable Societies
Three credits. Prerequisite: Open to sophomores or higher. Recommended preparation: SOCI 1001, SOCI 2709W.
Sociological perspectives on the concepts of sustainability, focusing on issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation, including questions of social transitions based on concepts of social justice, biomimicry, permaculture, and the future of life on earth.
SOCI 2709WE Society and Climate Change
Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to sophomores or higher. Recommended preparation: SOCI 1001. Not open for credit to students who have passed SOCI 3271 when offered as Society and Climate Change.
Sociological perspectives on the social, economic, political, and environmental causes and consequences of anthropogenic global climate change.