ANTHRO 3610 - Culture and Environment

An introduction to the ecology of human culture, especially how traditional cultural ecosystems are organized and how they change with population density. Topics include foragers, extensive and intensive farming, industrial agriculture, the ecology of conflict, and problems in sustainability.

BIOL 3172 - Biology for Climate Change Solutions

Human-induced climate change poses a pressing and pervasive threat to both human populations and to the biological world. The challenges of climate change are manifest and well known, increasing temperatures, greater variability of weather, sea level rise, leading to a host of consequences. Adapting to and mitigating climate change are essential activities for confronting the threats of climate change. The biological sciences offer great potential for addressing these threats. This course focus on efforts in biological research to adapt and to mitigate climate change. Topics will range across the biological sciences from microbial engineering and biotechnology to zoonotic diseases and one health, to ecosystem function and conservation of biodiversity. The course consists of lectures, discussion of assigned readings, and class projects. Class projects focus on science topics that addresses new approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation and constitute both of a written paper and class presentation. The goals of this class are: (1) to develop an understanding of basic climate science and the biological aspects of climate change, ( 2) to develop knowledge of the biological efforts towards adaption and mitigation for climate solutions. The class is open to both non-science and science majors. The course does not count for the biology major. 3 units credit. Class cannot be taken pass fail. Small class. Not for biology major credit

ECON 3350 - Environmental Policy

Course will examine the relationship between environmental economics and environmental policy. The course will focus on air pollution, water pollution, and hazardous wastes, with some attention given to biodiversity and global climate change. The course will examine critically two prescriptions that economics usually endorses: (1) balancing of benefits against costs (e.g., benefit-cost analysis) and the use of risk analysis in evaluating policy alternatives; (2) use of market incentives (e.g., prices, taxes, or charges) or property rights instead of traditional command-and-control regulations to implement environmental policy. Prerequisite: Econ 1011.

PHFN 5002 - Environmental Health

This course presents a broad survey of the major environmental health issues facing contemporary society in first and third world countries. The course provides an overview of the interaction of the physical, psychological, and social environments of individuals in which they work and live. The course presents ecological concerns along with factors related to personal and community health.

PubHlthSoc 1011 - First-Year Seminar: Environmental Justice and Public Health

Environmental justice has become a pervasive conversation topic as the effects of climate change become more and more prominent in daily life. Yet environmental justice has a longer history, one that is closely related to the global health developments. In this course, we will explore what environmental justice means, how it functions as a form of public health and health activism more broadly, and why the future of public health so heavily depends on it. Through these questions, students will further learn about how issues of environment and health are deeply intertwined with social, racial, and gendered inequities. As we will explore together, this relationship has led to conflicting political and economic priorities as well as the deliberate placement of environmental hazards next to or within working-class, Black and Brown, and other marginalized communities. The class is limited to first-year students.