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Course Criteria
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4.00 Credits
In the minds of many Americans, cities are places where nature is absent-places where nature exists only in the crevices and on the margins of spaces dominated by technology, concrete, and human artifice. This course confronts this assumption directly, drawing on the scholarship from the relatively young field of urban environmental history to uncover the deep interconnections between urban America and the natural world. Among the other things, we will examine how society has drawn upon nature to build and sustain urban growth, the implications that urban growth has for transforming ecosystems both local and distant, and how social values have guided urbanites as they have built and rearranged the world around them. Using the Twin Cities has a backdrop and constant reference point, we will attempt to understand the constantly changing ways that people, cities, and nature have shaped and reshaped one another throughout American history. Alternate years. (4 credits)
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4.00 Credits
Although the United States accounts for just five percent of the world's population, it consumes roughly twentyfive percent of the world's total energy, has the world's largest economy, and is the world's largest consumer angenerator of waste. Relative to its size, its policies and actions have had a significantly disproportionate impact on global economic development and environmental health. Mixing broad themes and detailed case studies, this course will focus on the complex historical relationship between American actions and changes to the global environment. Alternate years. (4 credits)
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4.00 - 9.00 Credits
At the dawn of the twentieth century, automobiles were newfangled playthings of the very wealthy; by century's end, they had become necessities of the modern world. This momentous change brought with it a cascading series of consequences that completely remade the American landscape and touched nearly every aspect of American life. This course will explore the role that cars and roads have played in shaping Americans' interactions with the natural world, and will seek an historical understanding of how the country had developed such an extreme dependency on its cars. In the process, we will engage with current debates among environmentalists, policymakers, and local communities trying to shape the future of the American transportation system and to come to grips with the environmental effects of a car-dependent lifestyle. Alternate years. Not offered in 2008-09. (4 credits)
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4.00 Credits
This course examines how the concept of culture can contribute to our understanding of environmental issues, in terms of how human beings adapt to their environment and the way in which they understand and give meaning to the world they live in. It examines the nature of the political, cultural, and socio-economic structures that together generate contemporary environmental problems. It aims to develop an anthropological understanding of the environment and to understand the way the "environmental crisis"-of resource scarcitand ecological degradation-is the outcome of particular structures of power, economic relations and consumption. Alternate years. (4 credits)
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4.00 Credits
This course thoroughly examines the concept of sustainable development. We will define the term, examine its history, and evaluate its political, philosophical, scientific, and economic significance. Implementation of sustainable development in both the world's North and South are considered. Close attention is given to nongovernmental organizations and nation states, the loss of global biodiversity, and existing and proposed remedial actions. Prior coursework in international, development, political, scientific, and/or environmental issues is strongly recommended. Offered Spring 2009. (4 credits)
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3.00 Credits
A concern for the relationship between nature and society has been one of the pillars of geographic inquiry and has also been an important bridge between other disciplines. By the 1960s, this area of inquiry was referred to variously as "human ecology." Over the last decade, certain forms of inquiry within this tradition haveincreasingly referred to themselves as "political ecology." The purpose of this seminar is to review major workswithin the traditions of cultural and political ecology; examine several areas of interest within these fields (e.g., agricultural modernization, environmental narratives, conservation, ecotourism); and explore nature-society dynamics across a range of geographical contexts. Towards the end of the course we will explore how one might begin to think in practical terms about facilitating development in marginal environments. Prerequisite: Geography 232 or permission of instructor. Fall semester. (4 credits)
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3.00 Credits
In this seminar, students will explore the difficult and often controversial issues surrounding environmental problems. Through readings, discussions, guest speakers, field trips, independent research, writing, and oral presentations, students will develop a clearer understanding of the underlying causes and long term implications of some of the environmental problems facing the world today. Both local and global environmental problems will be examined in the seminar. Taking advantage of the diverse academic backgrounds of the student participants, the seminar will bring together the knowledge, perspectives, and insights of the natural and social sciences and the humanities. Prerequisites: Senior standing in the environmental studies major. Every spring. (4 credits)
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8.00 - 10.00 Credits
This course explores interdisciplinary approaches to environmental leadership by integrating a weekly seminar session and an intensive internship experience (8-10 hours/week) with an environmental organization or business in the Twin Cities metro region. An internship is an excellent way for students to apply knowledge learned in the classroom and laboratory, to learn more in an environmental area, and to explore career options. The classroom component of the course will complement the internship experience through reflective writing, mentor profiles, and individual and group projects. Internships will be pre-selected and students may choose from a range of organizations. Required for environmental studies majors. It is recommended that students complete this course during the fall of their junior year. Grading on S/D/NC option only. Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor or two of the following: Environmental Studies 133, 215, 234. Concurrent registration with Environmental Studies 490 required. Every fall. (4 credits)
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3.00 Credits
Environmental Leadership Seminar
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3.00 Credits
This is an opportunity for students to do independent study or research on an environmental topic. Given the nature of independent projects, students need to demonstrate that they have the necessary background, including appropriate coursework, in the area they are interested in studying. Prerequisite: Sponsorship by an environmental studies faculty member or a faculty member of the environmental studies coordinating committee. (2-4 credits)
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