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Environmental Studies Courses
envsty 101 The Nature of Environmental Problems +
Description:
An introduction to environmental issues and analysis emphasizing comparisons between the sustainable characteristics of ecosystems, both natural and human, and the human impacts on the Earth's life support systems. Topics include human population growth, food production, use of natural resources, pollution, loss of bio-diversity, and conservation strategies. More Info
Offered in:envsty 102 Introduction to Biomimicry +
Description:
This course is an introduction to the field of biomimicry. ''Biomimicry'' (from Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a multidisciplinary science that studies nature's best ideas and then translates these designs, functions and processes into human world to solve problems. Biomimicry asks the question: What would nature do? How can we learn from nature, not just about nature? The goal is to create resilient products, processes, and policies by learning from and ''listening to'' nature, to wisdom held in species and ecological systems that has been evolving and accumulating over the past 3.8 billion years. Biomimicry is neither aesthetic nor technological, or just a form. Rather, it focuses on sustainable adaptability, adaptive growth and resiliency. Natural systems and organisms provide stunning examples of effective adaptation, communication, collaboration, resource production and storage, and energy-efficient designs that support multifunctioning processes. Animals, plants and microbes are consummate engineers; they have found what works, what is appropriate, and most importantly, what is resilient for all not just for each of them. For example, biomimicry helps create a solar cell that is inspired by a tree and its leaf with chloroplast and chlorophyll, a passive cooling system for buildings inspired by a termite mound; many species can accumulate, store and share water from air, or developed new strategies for restoring degraded ecosystems. People are nature, and human cultures with long term residency in particular ecosystems hold crucial (traditional) knowledge for living sustainably in each context. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 111L Environmental Concerns and Chemical Solutions +
Description:
Human society is constantly facing such environmental issues and problems as ozone depletion, air pollution, acid rain, environmental toxins, and renewable energy resources. This course provides students with a foundation in chemistry that can be used to examine these and other environmental concerns. A combination of lecture and group discussion illustrates the science behind these issues, and helps students develop an unbiased view. More Info
Offered in:envsty 116L Quantitative Reasoning and the Environment +
Description:
The dynamic and continually changing environment can be understood through examining measurements that quantify change. This course introduces methods of quantitative reasoning used to understand our environment. Through a wide variety of examples, the course builds connections between quantitative concepts and environmental applications. Physical and social scientists measure properties of the environment to gain an understanding of the past and present, then they use these measurements to compare changes in the environment both spatially and throughout time. This course will examine topics such as population dynamics, changes in weather and climate, toxicity in water and air and the occurrence and intensity of natural disasters. Using real world data, the course will develop quantitative and technical skills for critical analysis of environmental challenges. Some of the quantitative topics presented include estimation, number sense, graphing data, linear and exponential growth and descriptive statistics, including central value analysis. This course meets the core theme of better understanding environmental science by addressing quantitative studies applied to climate change, sustainability, environmental justice and pollution.ENVSCI 116L and ENVSTY 116L are the same course More Info
Offered in:envsty 120L Boston: Social Justice and the City +
Description:
This course applies the city of Boston as the object of study for an trans-disciplinary introduction to Community Development and Environmental Studies. The largest city in New England, Boston has anchored economic transformation, political importance, and social creativity since the 1600s; it has also presided over the dramatic reworking of the region's geography over those centuries. In particular, Boston has become a city transformed over the last few decades, more-so than in any era since its founding. Whether its rapidly increasing population, its revitalized and innovative economy, or the renewed appreciation for the natural environment and its unique location, the city is changing quickly. At the same time, Boston faces significant challenges stemming from its unique history and present-day condition, for instance: the rising cost of housing alongside gentrification and displacement, traffic and transit congestion, underinvestment in essential urban infrastructure, and the impacts of climate change and sea level rise on its coastal location. This course examines these issues by focusing on particular neighborhoods and communities to understand the opportunities and obstacles facing the creation of a sustainable, equitable, and resilient Boston. After introducing key concepts in understanding cities, communities, and the environment, the course uses place-based, neighborhood case studies to understand Boston today and into the future. Readings and lectures will provide a conceptual and critical framework to merge classroom learning with fieldwork out in the city itself. With this foundation, the course will also introduce field research methods of observation and analysis. More Info
Offered in:envsty 130L Sustainable Urban Development in Local Contexts Globally +
Description:
This survey course explores multiple dimensions of global sustainable urban development and provides strategies for planning, building, managing, and living in cities while protecting the environment. This survey of the contested nature of sustainable urbanization is accomplished through diverse topics which include but not limited to: the city and vulnerable populations; gender equal cities; strengthening resilience in cities to reduce the risk and the impact of disasters; the inter-connected crisis in infrastructure, urbanization, poverty, social injustice, and sustainable growth of smart cities. sustainable Urban Development in Local Contexts Globally will specifically and directly address race, gender, socio-economic class, and cultural (ethnicity and national origin) diversity as a central theme through a category of difference, as a system of relationality or intersectionality, and as a global/transnational system. More Info
Offered in:envsty 150L Introduction to Climate Change +
Description:
Introduction to Climate Change covers the processes involved in Earth's climate and the history of climate up to the present day, with a key goal of gaining insight into ongoing climate change and the future. Students will develop a basic but robust understanding of the major controls on climate, in part as a foundation for considering climate-related issues in various disciplines and areas of human concern. We will also nurture a sense of curiosity and wonder about this amazing planet that we call home.This course is designed to be accessible to students concentrating in the social sciences, humanities, or arts. At the same time, science and engineering-oriented students will find this course to be a usefully broad introduction to climate change, providing context for more specialized courses of study. For all students, our goal is to enrich your intellectual life and help you become an informed citizen. More Info
Offered in:envsty 179GL First-Year Seminar in the School for the Environment +
Description:
This is a one semester four-credit version of the School for the Environment's First-Year Seminar requirement. Course content will vary by instructor, but will focus on current issues in sustainable human, built, and natural systems of coastal New England. Using this approach, students will become increasingly familiar with the experienced in interdisciplinary discourse, the different ways of knowing, and the interplay between the arts, humanities, economic development, and natural and social sciences that comprise the study of sustainable human, built and natural systems. Successful completion of this course will fulfill the students First-Year Seminar requirement which focuses on the capabilities of careful reading, clear writing, critical thinking, information technology, oral presentation, teamwork, and academic self-assessment. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 185GL The Urban Ocean +
Description:
With the Atlantic Ocean on UMass-Boston's doorstep, this place-based course immerses students in the history, culture, and science of Boston Harbor and its Islands to understand the natural and anthropogenic factors shaping our waterfront. The impacts of anthropogenic development and climate change extend from the bustling city of Boston to the outer reaches of Boston Harbor Islands and the consequences of these impacts are shared across UMass-Boston's neighboring communities (e.g. Quincy, Dorchester, and East Boston) and abiotic and biotic communities. Thus, this course will investigate the evolving relationships between people, plants, and animals across this aquatic landscape from a transdisciplinary basis, the integration of knowledge systems to move beyond discipline specific problem-solving approaches. Students will learn how to conduct archival research and scientific experiments, participate in service-learning opportunities, and engage in roundtable discussions with local indigenous communities, environmental organizations, and researchers. The culmination of these activities will introduce students to methods they can employ for their final project: a proposal on a research topic they would like to lead at the Living Laboratory on Rainsford Island, Boston Harbor Islands. Throughout the course, students will reflect on their own relationships with water and their surroundings and the role they want to play as stewards of Boston Harbor, its Islands, and UMass-Boston. This course was developed through the ''Living with the Urban Ocean'' grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 210 Second-Year Seminar: Conflict and Resolution +
Description:
Environmental problem solving involves stakeholder interactions in which conflict can arise and must be resolved in order to provide a solution. In this seminar, students will be introduced to the basic understanding of conflict and a working knowledge of the three major forms of dispute resolution - negotiation, mediation, and arbitration that are needed in adaptive management and stakeholder negations associated environmental problems. This course will prepare students for upper-level conflict resolution courses. Coursework will include readings, written reflective exercises with peer-review feedback, and role-playing activities. This course is designed forvertical alignment and cohort developing in the environmental studies and sustainability major. More Info
Offered in:envsty 222L Religion and the Environment: Global Stewardship and Practices of Faith Communities +
Description:
This course examines the influence of religious traditions on environmental ethics across cultures. The course draws on sacred texts of Judeo-Christian, Muslim, Jain, Hindu, and possibly other faiths, and secular perspectives of environmental ethics. From these standpoints, students examine global case studies, from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, America and possibly elsewhere. Students explore how spiritual understandings of the world influence human behavior toward the planet and the ecosystems we inhabit. Through comparisons between religious traditions across cultures and their relationship with environmental ethics, students develop an understanding of how faith systems influence our treatment of the Earth. . More Info
Offered in:envsty 230 Introduction to Sustainability +
Description:
In this course, students will be introduced to the basics of sustainability science, a problem-driven, interdisciplinary scholarship seeking to facilitate the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective interventions that foster shared prosperity and reduce poverty while protecting the environment. Students will explore the dual challenge of the need to understand how societal dynamics and environmental dynamics interact over time AND how they help induce or inhabit the functioning of socio-ecological systems. This course introduces students to theories, concepts, mechanisms, analytical frameworks and tools, research designs, and basic data to help advance the understanding of the dynamic relationship between societal changes and environmental changes. Topics explored will include systems dynamics, historical perspectives on natural resource use, economic growth, and sustainability, quality of life, and use of renewable and non-renewable resources. Students will write a 6 to 10 page final paper on sustainability science problem suitable for Writing Proficiency Portfolio. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 267L Introduction to Coastal Biological Systems +
Description:
This course will survey coastal marine habitats in terms of the organisms that inhabit these regions; the biological processes that dominant within those environments and the impacts of that habitat on humans. The objectives of the course will be for the students to gain an appreciation and understanding of the diversity and function of coastal marine systems in terms of the biological organisms and biological processes that are found there. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 270GL Writing and the Environment +
Description:
This interdisciplinary course will connect humanistic and scientific approaches to examining the way we live with the natural world. It investigates ecological perspectives on the relationship between human beings and nature that reflect both traditional cultures and Western industrial modernity. Students will be invited to understand the value of site-based work, to consider the campus's connections to its surroundings, and to grasp the patterns of culture characteristic of coastal zones and port cities. The course will demonstrate that both humanistic and scientific approaches are necessary to solve real-world problems. More Info
Offered in:envsty 280 Special Topics in Environmental Studies +
Description:
The course covers a variety of areas in environmental studies. The topic is announced during preregistration period. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 301 Internship in Environmental Studies +
Description:
The internship requires a minimum of 100 hours of service doing environmental work with government, non-government, corporate, or research organizations. The program can assist students in finding appropriate internship placements. Each student's supervisor at the placement organization provides a report on the intern's performance and students submit a paper to the program director describing their internship experience. More Info
Offered in:envsty 310 Third-Year Seminar: Professional Development +
Description:
In this seminar course students will develop professionally by learning about resumes, personal statements, job cover letters, public presentations, interview skills and etiquette, reading and evaluating the primary literature, writing reports/proposals, learn how to prepare an internship, job, or graduate school application package. After learning about these topics, students will write and evaluate resumes, personal statements, cover letters, make and present a presentation to the general public, and conduct a mock interview. This course also is designed for vertical alignment and cohort development in the environmental studies and sustainability major. More Info
Offered in:envsty 321L Spiders of Nantucket +
Description:
This course will introduce students to important field and laboratory-based methods for assessing biodiversity and estimating species richness, with applications for natural resource management and conservation. The spiders of Nantucket will serve as a model for diving into biodiversity field and laboratory methods due to their rich diversity over the island and distinct species-specific characteristics that allow for training in taxonomy. In this course, students will learn about spider biology, anatomy, life history, classification and taxonomy, and ecology through classroom lectures and discussions, field sampling, and laboratory processing and identification activities. Students will become familiar with the primary literature and scientific writing through two writing assignments.ENVSTY 321L and ENVSCI 321L are the same course. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 323 Introduction to Permaculture +
Description:
Permaculture is the design of food systems and social structures to provide for human needs while restoring ecosystem health. This course will offer a foundation in permaculture history, principles, ethics, design process and application of permaculture design methodology and best practices for whole systems design. The course integrates both research and practical applications to design food systems that have the resiliency of natural ecosystems. Examining the interconnections between environmental, social and economic components, permaculture is informed by the disciplines of systems ecology, ecological design and ethno-ecology. The essential components of diverse food production systems will be discussed in detail, including: patterns in nature, water management, soil rehabilitation, food forests, carbon farming, land restoration techniques and community resiliency. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 331 Feeding the Next Two Billion: Solutions for Food Security +
Description:
Currently, there are 7 billion people on planet earth. At this population level, humans have already exceeded the earth's natural carrying capacity, and as a result, food security is a significant issue across the globe. By 2050, it is estimated that there will be an addition 2 billion more people on the earth. With a growing middle class and the push towards more westernized diets, it is not clear how we will meet the food security challenge. This class will provide students with a knowledge base regarding global food production and from this, students will work to understand feasible solutions for feeding two billion additional people. Students also will understand tradeoffs in food systems and will work to develop new solutions for food security. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 345L Environmental Communication +
Description:
In this course, students will learn how the process of communication constructs our values and relationships with the biophysical world and each other. We explore the contested meanings of nature and the environment and the communication practices that challenge dominant Western notions of the environment individually, ideologically and institutionally. We foreground how racial, ethnic, socioeconomic class, and gender groups experience ecological disasters intensified by climate change. In addition to examining the disproportionate impact on low-income, communities of color, and Indigenous peoples, we will examine how these communities are leading resistance to ecological disasters and environmental violence. We will examine the power dynamics of environmental issues via media and film, journalism, public relations, advertising, rhetoric, and public participation and activism to understand how communication can create a more just and sustainable world. Students will interpret and analyze the voices of individuals and groups struggling to define major environmental topics, such as: climate change and pollution, energy, water, food and agriculture, biodiversity and extinction, ocean life, wilderness habitat, war, and consumerism. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 350L Green Germany: Environmental Thought and Policy +
Description:
This course will introduce students to German conceptions of nature and to the environmental debates and policies that have emerged from those ideas. Over the course of the last two centuries, environmental thought has had a major impact on German politics, history and culture. Comparing German perspectives and policies to those of other countries, this course will foster an understanding of the factors that have shaped German national identity, sustained the country's environmental movement and elicited Germany's current image as a world leader in environmental policy. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 351L Architecture and Human Built Environment Interactions +
Description:
This course introduces students to the connections between architecture and human-made places and spaces and emphasizes student engagement and creative problem-solving. This course is a multidisciplinary and multilayered exploration of how architecture and urban design respond to, and interact with, the numerous forces, such as the culture and environmental contexts, that shape their development and uses case studies from the United States and around the world as examples. Moreover, a broad range of the works of socially-mined architects will be discussed for increasing the awareness of the built environment. Topics will include environmentally conscious architecture, regionalism in architecture, the critical role of architects in reconstruction the built environment after catastrophes, and, how architecture and urban design can foster healthy urban environments. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 356L Economic Development and Environmental Justice +
Description:
This course looks at the interaction between human and ecological systems and economic development. We begin with an historical overview of the effect of human communities on the environment. We will also try to understand all of this in the context of onademics and racism, particularly anti-Black racism. We will examine the environmental impacts of European expansion from the 1600s to the present, as well as native communities land management systems and relationship to the environment. By analyzing the discourse of sustainable development, we will be able to understand how emerging international political agendas are linked or not to reconciling the goals of economic development, environmental quality and social/racial justice. We will also review case studies that highlight the theories and practices of economic development and environmental justice. The cases include settlement systems/settler colonialism, environmental factors and conflict, sustainable systems, vulnerability, and water and food issues. Through this process we hope to draw lessons and create new knowledge relevant to the different experiences of women and people of color in the global environment and economy. More Info
Offered in:envsty 364L Environmental Justice +
Description:
Environmental justice is defined by the state of Massachusetts as the equal protection and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits. This course provides an overview of environmental justice as an aspect of U.S. environmental policy. The goal of the course is to give students the ability to develop and articulate informed opinions about environmental justice, to understand how the concept came into use, and to think critically about measuring and solving environmental justice problems. The course uses written assignments, case studies, and role-playing exercises to help students develop the analytical skills necessary to tackle this topic.ENVSTY 364L and UPCD 364L are the same course. More Info
Offered in:envsty 371 Telling the Story: broadcast multi-media communications about natural, built, and human environments +
Description:
Through lecture and hands on studio activities, students in this course will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to create and publish audio files necessary for communicating their stories about natural, built, and human environments to a broad audience such as stakeholders and community members. This course will train students in foundational communications skills such as finding, developing, and storyboarding stories and train students in current technical best practices such as rights and responsibilities and recording, editing, and posting audio files. Studio time will consist of mixture of directed and independent activities. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 380 Special Topics in Environmental Studies +
Description:
The course covers a variety of areas in environmental studies at an advanced level. The topic is announced during preregistration period. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 395L Immersive Field Trip: Exploring Individuals, Societies, and Natural Systems +
Description:
This course will provide students with an immersive experience in which students will gain knowledge of individuals, societies, and natural systems away from their home institution. Domestic or global learning will occur as students gain intellectual and practical skills, gain personal and social responsibility, and integrate their learning through synthesis and advanced learning across general and specialized studies. Some sections may also partake in civic engagement and service learning. Each section of the course will visit international or domestic locations and situations based on instructor expertise and opportunities. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 401 Environmental Problem Analysis and Policy Formulation +
Description:
This is the capstone course for students who enroll in the Environmental Studies Program. Students in this small seminar analyze a particular environmental problem, often one directly associated with UMass Boston or its immediate community. Students examine the technical, social, and political aspects of the problem, determine whether policy changes or other initiatives are necessary, and develop a plan of action. Recent topics have included reducing the environmental 'footprint' of UMass Boston and evaluating watershed management for communities near Boston. More Info
Offered in:envsty 410 Fourth-Year Seminar: Environmental Issues +
Description:
In this fourth-year seminar, students will be exposed to current global environmental issues in a discussion and debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Issues covered will fall under fie topic areas: environmental philosophy, principles versus politics, energy issues, food and pollution, and toxic chemicals. Each issue reading is framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and issue pro and con stance, and an issue post-script. Students will write issue or analysis reports for each issue and discuss the issue in class via general discussion, panel discussions, role-play discussions, and debates. This fourth-year seminar course also is designed for vertical alignment of the curriculum and cohort development for environmental studies and sustainability majors. More Info
Offered in:envsty 478 Independent Study +
Description:
Research and reading in a selected area of environmental studies, guided by a faculty advisor. More Info
Offered in:envsty 479 Independent Study +
Description:
Study of a particular area of this subject under the supervision of a faculty member. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
envsty 481L Introduction to Environmental Management and Clean Energy +
Description:
This course examines the rapidly growing field of environmental management in the context of climate change and corporate sustainability. We will assess the strategies pursued by business as it engages with the challenges and opportunities presented by various environmental issues, including resource scarcity, increasing demand for clean energy and energy efficiency, air and water pollution, hazardous waste, environmental reporting and disclosure and working with environmental organizations and regulatory authorities. We will discuss the impact of regulatory, market, and voluntary approaches to addressing environmental concerns through improved organizational environmental performance. The course will introduce students to the relevant scientific, economic, and policy aspects of climate change and consider their physical, regulatory, and market impacts on business in various sectors. The students will have an opportunity to use this newly acquired knowledge by construction and actionable environmental management plan for an individual business sector of their choice. More Info
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