Prerequisites

Course Credits

4.00

Description

An interdisciplinary course that focuses on the social science and humanities disciplines as they are related to the natural environment. Students will study texts from those disciplines to acquire a deeper understanding of the values and beliefs that underlie environmental issues. The course will also investigate the policy-making processes and institutions through which those issues are decided, and the social inequalities in the distribution of environmental problems. Texts to be studied will range from literature, philosophy and film to policy statements, impact reports, community advocacy materials, and investigative journalism.

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Course Credits

4.00

Description

Environmental justice is an important rising issue within the environmental movement. A course on the path to environmental justice would analyze the evolution of the movement (certainly intrinsically related to discussion of civil rights and equal protection) beginning with a discussion of activists and a series of early environmental injustices. It would move through early legal and legislative attempts at preventing such injustices and their tempered success. Finally the course would move into the present day fight for environmental justice encompassing a discussion of Title VI and the role of federal agencies. Underlying the entire course would be acknowledgement of the interplay between the judiciary, legislative branch, executive branch and both domestic and international not-for-profit organizations.

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Class will meet for 75 minutes a week and then travel over spring break. Instructor's consent is required

Course Credits

4.00

Description

This course will focus on the history and lasting affect of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on the physical and political landscape of the United States. From 1933 to 1942 more than 3 million men served in the CCC, and this course will track the progression of their work from the planting of billions of trees to the development of recreational opportunities on federal and state lands. Over time, CCC work progressed from the conservation of natural resources to the conservation of human resources and promotion of recreation on public lands. As the CCC changed over time, so too did public opinion concerning the CCC's work and mission. This class will explore opposition to CCC projects by significant figures in America's environmental movement such as Aldo Leopold and Bob Marshall, and the resulting influence on the environmental movement in America. We will also look at the role the CCC played in redefining conservation and creating a mainstream environmental movement. In addition, this class will consider the affect that the CCC had on New Deal politics. Finally, this class will study the lasting legacy that the CCC left on the American landscape through the development of other conservation corps programs. Students will also read first hand accounts, view films, and possibly hear directly from a CCC veteran. As a class connected with an Alternative Spring Break trip, this experiential education offering will allow students to experience and complete similar work to that completed by CCC members. During Alternative Spring Break, students will visit important CCC history sites such as the first CCC camp in the country and a major national park development project. During the course, assignments will challenge students to identify CCC sites in Massachusetts or their home states. Local site visits are a possibility for this class. Other assignments will challenge students to identify modern environmental organizations who can trace their origins to the CCC (either by mimicking the CCC model or by opposing the CCC), and investigate how their current work is related to those beginnings.

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Course Credits

4.00

Description

A course on water law and policy would help cultivate students‚?? ability to look holistically at issues by providing a singular resource focused semester utilizing the interdisciplinary framework. This course would analyze the interplay between the courts, the differences between local, state and federal laws, the impact of federal court decisions and Congressional appropriations on the environment and the, very important but often overlooked, impacts of watershed associations in the protection of our surface and groundwater supplies. This course would include discussions with representatives from watershed associations and government agencies and perhaps a trip to the local watershed.

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Course Credits

4.00

Description

A course about how the constitution, common law and statutory law provide for environmental protection and pollution prevention. Students will learn basic skills needed to understand how environmental law works, including constitutional clauses and amendments, landmark civil litigation, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, landmark civil litigation, and hazardous waste law.

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Course Credits

4.00

Description

A course examining a contemporary environmental issue from various disciplinary perspectives. Using a case-study approach, students will develop a proposal to address the identified issue from the perspectives of policy, ethics, justice, science and culture. As appropriate, the proposal will be field tested, demonstrated, or presented to the local community. Possible topics include sustainable development, urban air pollution, sustainable farming, or water conservation.

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Course Credits

1.00- 4.00

Description

A continuation of ENST 401

Term Offered

Prerequisites

This class fulfills the Expanded Classroom Requirement. Junior standing or above required or consent of the instructor.

Course Credits

4.00

Description

One course to be taken as a practicum or internship. The choice of internship or practicum is to be determined in consultation with the program director.

Term Offered

Course Types

Expanded Classroom Requirement

Prerequisites

Course Credits

4.00

Description

The rise of the Green Party, from its grass-roots beginnings to participation in the federal government. Background on the development of "green" consciousness in Germany and Europe since the early 20th century. Present governmental policies and programs (e.g., alternative energy sources, organic farming, recycling, dismantling of nuclear power). Cross-listed GER 420 and GVT 420

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Course Credits

4.00

Description

As a result of new environmental and energy concerns championed by the media, politicians and the public government regulators in the US and around the world are being forced to rethink their priorities and react to these outside influences rather than rely on the process they have used for decades. But as we shift to notions such as the precautionary principle and embrace renewable power as a solution to climate change, is this reactionary approach relying too much on what the media and others say and too little on the facts? Are government agencies equipped to analyze these issues and disagree with rising public opinion? Is this a good way to develop public policy? Through discussion and analysis, we will critically examine all sides of these and other current issues and get "behind the headlines" using real world examples to try to separate fact from hype. We'll also probe the roles that politicians, lobbyists, and the media have in framing the debate.

Term Offered

Course Types

Social Science

Prerequisites

An indpendent study form must be submitted to the CAS Dean's Office.

Course Credits

1.00- 4.00

Description

This is an independent study in environmental studies. Topics will vary.

Term Offered

Prerequisites

Course Credits

1.00- 4.00

Description

Honors-level study of a topic in Environmental Studies

Term Offered