3+1 Program,
Major,
Minor
Environmental Sustainability
Programs
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Earth and Environmental Science, -
Environmental Sustainability, Major,Minor -
Sustainability and Management Applied Minor, Applied Minor
Courses
ENSU 105: American Literature & Ecology
Credits 4A study of American environmental literature and its imaginative forms in relation to environmental philosophy, including changing ideas of nature and wilderness; representations of space and place; the deep ecology, ecofeminism and environmental justice movements; and the overall relation between human language and value and the non-human world. Attention also to cultural issues of ecology, such as how our ecological understandings affect our sense of identity and our social and economic practices. May include writers such as Thoreau, Abbey, Muir, Snyder, Aldo Leopold, Terry Tempest Williams, Leslie Marmon Silko and Mary Oliver.
ENSU 120: Miller Farm Sustainable Agriculture
Credits 1This course is a primarily student-taught experience that will lead participating students through the farming practices of Miller Farm. This is an opportunity for students to get their hands in the dirt and gain some practical gardening skills they can keep for their whole lives. This is also a launching pad for students to dive deeper into Miller Farm Projects and/or create a career in agriculture.
ENSU 141: Environment, Society and Sustainability
Credits 4This course provides an introduction to environmental sustainability via an integrated approach linking social and natural sciences, with an emphasis on perspectives and methods from social sciences. Specific topics of focus: historical influences on environmental thought, systems thinking, water, food and agriculture, population, waste management, environmental policy, and urban planning.
ENSU 151: Environment, Science and Sustainability
Credits 4This course provides an introduction to environmental sustainability via an integrated approach linking social and natural sciences, with an emphasis on perspectives and methods from natural sciences. Topics include: history of environmental sciences, carbon cycling and climate change, renewable/non-renewable resources, pollution and human health, land conservation/restoration, and human-wildlife conflict.
ENSU 210: Outdoor and Environmental Education
Credits 3This course will explore the history and theory of outdoor and environmental education, giving students a sense of the philosophical roots and influences that define the various methodologies. In addition to engaging with contemporary debates and issues, this course provides a foundation for students interested in a variety of teaching approaches, including both formal and informal educational contexts such as summer camps, museum studies, adventure-based learning and sustainability education.
ENSU 310: Application of GIS
Credits 4This course is designed to provide a foundational knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and its applications to the Social Sciences. Students in this course will use ArcGIS. The course will cover basic GIS concepts such as mapping, projections, geo-referencing and spatial analysis. It will be taught using a combination of lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on, interactive tutorials in the classroom. Students will constantly apply spatial analytical tools to address questions, solve problems and complete independent projects in and outside the classroom. Prerequisite: Sophomore or Junior standing.
ENSU 315: Engaging Audiences with Outreach and Interpretation
Credits 4This course is designed for anyone who wants to lead educational programs for the public or school groups, particularly in settings outside of a classroom. It combines the theoretical foundations of the interpretive profession and the science of teaching and learning with practical skills in delivering quality educational programming for visitors to parks, museums, libraries and other cultural institutions. We will learn about the history, definition, and principles of interpretation; making your programs purposeful, enjoyable, relevant, organized, and thematic; using tangible objects to connect audiences to intangible ideas and universal concepts; audience evaluation; the science of how people learn; reflecting on your teaching practice; presentation and communication skills. Students will complete the requirements to become a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association of Interpretation (official certification from the national board requires an additional fee, though students may also take the course without becoming certified). The course will involve highly active, hands-on learning, and field trips to informal education sites such as museums and nature centers.
ENSU 320: Pedagogies of Place
Credits 3An introduction to environmental philosophy. Explores the formation of our relationship with the natural world and the roles of education and schooling. Concepts of nature, wilderness, ecology and environmentalism considered and critiqued in light of their functioning as "normative ideals" for a right relationship with the more than human world.
ENSU 322: Climate Policy & Energy Policy
Credits 3Examines the basic causes of global weirding (e.g., industrialization, electrification, transportation), the key impacts of global weirding (e.g., water scarcity, extreme weather events, rising sea level), mitigation strategies in various sectors (e.g., food production, water systems, and urban planning), and prominent policy solutions (e.g., carbon tax, cap and trade system, feed-in-tariffs, renewable energy portfolios, clean energy research and development). Students will engage in an extended simulation that will investigate the political constraints to adopting various policy solutions.
ENSU 323: Environmental Ethics
Credits 3Amidst the myriad local, regional and worldwide debates concerning what might be appropriate responses to environmental challenges, it is important for us, individually and collectively, to develop reasoned, ethical responses to these issues. By reading historical and contemporary texts, and by using media including film and other artworks, the class will explore different environmental topics from a variety of cultural perspectives.
ENSU 326: US Environmental & Natural Resource Policy
Credits 3This course introduces the policy process in the context of the United States. Students will examine the major environmental and natural resource policies in the United States and consider challenges and opportunities related to environmental and natural resource policy.
ENSU 327: Urban Politics, Policy & Sustainability
Credits 3By the end of the semester, students will have a solid grounding in the basic theories of urban planning. They also will gain an understanding of the historical development of the city, both globally and in America. In addition, they will learn about evolving structure for regional municipal governing. Finally, they will learn about urbanism's role as a solution to the climate crisis.
ENSU 345: Eco-Spirituality: Global Traditions
Credits 4A course on the intersection of religion and ecology, focusing on (1) how diverse religious traditions understand and influence human relationships to the natural world; and (2) how responses to current ecological crises are informed and/or challenged by religious worldviews.
ENSU 353: Environmental Application
Credits 3This course develops an interdisciplinary research “toolkit” with which to approach environmental problem solving. Students learn and practice using methods from the natural or social sciences that are commonly used in environmental careers, as well as interdisciplinary techniques. The course culminates with a student-directed, applied, interdisciplinary project.
ENSU 354: Topics in Peace and Justice in Literature
Credits 4This course will explore representations of race, ethnicity, and nature in American literature—including literature written both by and about Native Americans, Whites, African Americans, and Latino/as—from the colonial period to the present day. In so doing, we will investigate the complex ways that race, ethnicity, and nature have intersected in American literary, social, and environmental history and the significance of that history for environmentalism and social and environmental justice today. Counts towards the major for the ENSU Environmental Justice and Culture track.
ENSU 363: Bioethics
Credits 4Introduces students to the major theoretical discussions and practical actions in the field of bioethics, with a focus on the implications that these discourses and practices have for a diverse and multicultural world. Includes an introduction to essential bioethical terminology and to a breadth of ethical theories and perspectives. Specific topics covered may include: human subject research, genetic technologies, justice and health care allocation, end of life alternatives, and so on. Prerequisite: Second-year standing or above.
ENSU 372: Sustainability in the Anthropocene
Credits 4This course engages with a variety of practices, understandings and discourses associated with sustainability, nature, the environment and the Anthropocene in our local community and academic work. The class will discuss ethics of community-based research, collaboratively formulate research questions and approaches for a final project investigating a community sustainability initiative.
ENSU 373: Topics in Literary Theory
Credits 4This course focuses on specific kinds of literary theory, critical techniques, and/or interpretive approaches.
ENSU 382: Topics in Genre in Literature
Credits 4This class will examine some aspect of how genres (types of literature) and/ or narratives work, including narrative forms, structures and other characteristics. The class may focus on a specific genre (e.g. detective novels, fantasy, Southern Gothic) and/ or a type of narrative (e.g. folklore, postmodern, narratives addressed to children).
ENSU 395: Climate Change Ecology
Credits 3 4Climate change has profound ecological consequences for life on earth. This course explores the implications of climate change across levels of biological organization from organisms through populations, communities, and ecosystems. Students will apply ecological theory to understand climate change responses, and will consider intersections with biodiversity conservation and environmental justice.
Note: Climate Change Ecology may also be taught as a 4-credit course, which includes a laboratory.
ENSU 463: Field Study Experience
Credits 1ENSU 486: Student Research
Credits 1ENSU 487: Senior Colloquium
Credits 1The Senior Colloquium is a required part of the environmental sustainability senior capstone experience. The course includes starting to work on your senior comprehensive research paper; preliminary planning for the collaborative spring integrated research project; and career planning and preparation. Prerequisite: Senior standing in the major.