Environmental Studies

Professors Straub (Religion) and Wenzel (Chemistry)(on leave, fall semester); Associate Professors Kinsman (Biology), Smedley (Physics), Chair, Richter (Political Science), Eusden (Geology), and Hughes (Economics); Assistant Professors Ongley (Geology), Austin (Chemistry), and Bohlen (Environmental Studies)

Environmental studies encompasses a broad range of problems that arise from the interaction of human beings with the natural world, whose solutions often require multidisciplinary understanding. Recognizing the relevance of social, aesthetic, ethical, and technical perspectives, the environmental studies curriculum provides a framework for an interdisciplinary major that blends course work in the disciplines with interdisciplinary environmental studies courses.

Major Requirements. A student majoring in environmental studies must fulfill "core" course requirements, as well as the requirements of a "track." Students may choose one of the following four tracks: Culture, Society and Environment; Earth and Ecosystems; Environmental and Natural Resource Policy; or Geochemistry.

Core Requirements
1. The following courses are required of all majors:
Environmental Studies 202. Introduction to Environmental Studies.
Environmental Studies 457 and 458. Senior Thesis and Seminar.

2. Quantitative Requirement. Students must take:
Environmental Studies 181. Working With Environmental Data, or another statistics course, subject to approval by the Environmental Studies Committee.

3. Internship Requirement. Students must take an internship in environmental studies, with prior approval of the Environmental Studies Committee. The internship may be fulfilled through a Short Term unit (ENVR s46), an independent study (ENVR 360), or a summer experience.

4. One of the following sets of natural science courses:
a) Biology 101s. Biological Principles / Biology 270 (170). Ecology.
b) Any two of the following:
Geology 103. The Surface of the Earth and Global Environmental Change.
Geology 104. Plate Tectonics and the Earth's Interior.
Geology 105. Planet Earth.
Geology 106. The Hydrosphere.
c) Chemistry 107. Atomic and Molecular Structure/ Chemistry 108. Chemical Reactivity.

5. One social science course from the following list:
Anthropology 102. Archeology and Human Evolution.
Anthropology 252. The Anthropology of Modernity.
Anthropology 253. Western North America: Native Cultures, Histories, and Environments.
Economics 222. Environmental Economics.
Economics 227. East Asian Economic Development.
Economics 309. Economics of Less-Developed Countries.
Economics 336. Population Economics.
Education 233. Environmental Education.
Political Science 115. American Government and Public Policy.
Political Science 118. Law and Politics.
Political Science 171. International Politics.
Political Science 214. City Politics.
Political Science 258. Environmental Diplomacy.
Political Science 393. Environmental Justice.
Sociology 236. Urban Sociology.

6. One humanities course from the following list:
Art 281. Realism, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism.
Art 286. Romantic Landscape Painting.
Environmental Studies 190. Age of Ecology.
Environmental Studies 228. Caring For Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment. This course is the same as Physics 228 and Religion 228.
Philosophy 211. Philosophy of Science.
Philosophy 212. Contemporary Moral Disputes. This course is the same as Religion 212.
Philosophy 256. Moral Principles.
Philosophy 272. Philosophy From Descartes to Kant.
Physics 228. Caring For Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment. This course is the same as Environmental Studies 228 and Religion 228.
Religion 212. Contemporary Moral Disputes. This course is the same as Philosophy 212.
Religion 215. Environmental Ethics.
Religion 228. Caring for Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment. This course is the same as Environmental Studies 228 and Physics 228.
Rhetoric 278. The Rhetoric of Nuclear Culture, 1939-1964.

Track Requirements

I. Culture, Society, and the Environment

The interrelationships between humankind and the natural environment are conditioned in large part by cultural and social contexts. To study the environment requires studying the traditions and present dynamics of the human interpretations of the natural world. Religious, philosophical, literary, and artistic traditions, and above all, science inform our understandings, appreciations, and evaluations of nature. So also do the political and economic ideologies and policies of our communities.

Students choosing this track must satisfactorily complete eight courses from the following lists. When combined with the core requirements, students must have a total of at least fifteen courses to satisfy the environmental studies major.

1) Required Courses/Units:
Biology 200. The Social Context of Science, or Philosophy 211. Philosophy of Science.
Economics 222. Environmental Economics, or Political Science 258. Environmental
Diplomacy.
Religion 215. Environmental Ethics.

2) Laboratory Science. Students must take one of these:
Biology 124 (Biology 224). Plants and Human Affairs.
Biology 313. Marine Ecology.
Chemistry 212. Separation Science.
Geology 210. Sedimentology.
Geology 230. Structural Geology.
Geology 266. Groundwater Hydrology.

3) Elective Courses. Students must complete two courses in one of these groups, and one course in another of the groups:

Group A:
Anthropology 228. Person and Community in Contemporary Africa.
Anthropology 239. Hill Farm, Paddy Field, City, World: Person and Society in Southeast Asia.
Anthropology 253. Western North America: Native Cultures, Histories, and Environments.
Anthropology 336. Ethnohistory of the Andes.
Economics 227. East Asian Economic Development.
Economics 229. Economics of Greater China.

Group B:
Art 226. Philosophy of Art. This course is the same as Philosophy 241.
Art 285. Renaissance and Post-Renaissance Gardens and Landscape Architecture.
Art 286. Romantic Landscape Painting.
English 243. Romantic Literature (1790-1840).
Philosophy 241. Philosophy of Art. This course is the same as Art 226.
Russian 273. Country Life in Russian Literature and Culture.

Group C:
Anthropology 252. The Anthropology of Modernity.
Chemistry s24. Seminar in Sustainable Development.
Education 233. Environmental Education.
Environmental Studies 228. Caring for Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment. This course is the same as Physics and Religion 228.
Philosophy 212. Contemporary Moral Disputes. This course is the same as Religion 212.
Physics 228. Caring for Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment. This course is the same as Environmental Studies and Religion 228.
Political Science 393. Environmental Justice.
Religion 212. Contemporary Moral Disputes. This course is the same as Philosophy 212.
Religion 228. Caring for Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment. This course is the same as Environmental Studies and Physics 228.

II. Earth and Ecosystems

Students selecting this track seek an understanding of the scientific interdependence between the earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. The geological and biological sciences form the core of this track, which stresses field oriented and laboratory-supported inquiry of the interrelationships between the functioning of the earth's systems and ecosystems. An understanding of how these two systems together affect and are affected by humans is an integral part of this track. Areas of field study include the forests, rocky coastline, and rugged Alpine zones of Maine and New England, the rainforests of Latin America, and the lakes, glaciers, and oceans of the Arctic. Students may explore a variety of phenomena which include but are not limited to the following: relationships between plant or animal communities and rocks or sediments or soils, limnological studies, global climate change, coastal processes and environments, oceanography, terrestrial and wetland ecology and geology, water resources, and watershed processes.

Requirements: Chemistry 107,108, Economics 222, and at least six courses from the two groups below, with at least two courses from each group:

Group A:
Biology 110 (Biology 210). Oceanography.
Biology 313. Marine Ecology.
Biology 336. Field Ecology.

Group B:
Environmental Studies 302. Wetland Science and Policy.
Geology 210. Sedimentology.
Geology 230. Structural Geology.
Geology 266. Groundwater Hydrology.
Geology 310. Quaternary Geology.

III. Environmental and Natural Resource Policy

Forming a coherent environmental policy requires many types of expertise. The process must be informed by the history and cultural context of resource use. Policy-makers must understand the affected ecosystems, and their relation to the human political, economic, and social systems that rely on them. Environmental policy must also be consonant with the values of the society that enacts it. Because of the number and complexity of these interrelationships, students in this track are encouraged to study widely in the curriculum to develop the understanding and the analytical tools required for uncovering these connections between human activity and the natural world.

Students must take a total of eight courses from the following lists. When combined with the core requirements, students must have a total of at least 15 courses to satisfy the environmental studies major.

1. Required Courses (students must take all of these courses):
Economics 222. Environmental Economics.
Religion 215. Environmental Ethics.
Political Science 258. Environmental Diplomacy, or Political Science 171. International Politics.

2. Laboratory Science (students must take one of these):
Biology 313. Marine Ecology.
Biology 124 (224). Plants and Human Affairs.
Chemistry 212. Separation Science.
Geology 210. Sedimentology.
Geology 230. Structural Geology.
Geology 266. Groundwater Hydrology.

3. 300-Level Courses (students must take two of these):
Anthropology 339. Production and Reproduction.
Economics 309. Economics of Less-Developed Countries.
Economics 348. Urban Economics.
Environmental Studies 302. Wetland Science and Policy.
History 342. The United States in the Sixties and Seventies.
Mathematics 341. Mathematical Modeling.
Political Science 310. Public Opinion.
Political Science 393. Environmental Justice.

4. Electives
Anthropology 239. Hill Farm, Paddy Field, City, World: Person and Society in Southeast Asia.
Anthropology 252. The Anthropology of Modernity.
Anthropology 253. Western North America: Native Cultures, Histories, and Environments.
Biology 110 (210). Oceanography.
Economics 260. Intermediate Microeconomic Theory.
Education 233. Environmental Education.
Environmental Studies 360. Independent Study (with advance permission of the Environmental Studies Committee).
History 261. American Protest in the Twentieth Century.
Political Science 212. City Politics.
Political Science 258. Environmental Diplomacy.
Sociology 236. Urban Sociology.

IV. Geochemistry

The transport and interaction of chemicals in the lithosphere and hydrosphere, including those involving anthropogenic substances, have important environmental effects, both benign and deleterious. Understanding and predicting the effect of these changes requires knowledge of the relevant chemistry and geology. The core courses in this track provide the scientific background needed to understand this aspect of environmental science; the required thesis provides an opportunity for a practical synthesis of the two sub-fields via the application of basic chemical and geological skills to the study of a practical geochemical problem.

Requirements. All students must take Economics 222 plus any seven of the courses from the list below, with no more than four courses in geology to meet the minimum number of courses:

Biology 110 (Biology 210). Oceanography.
Chemistry 203. Thermodynamics and Kinetics.
Chemistry 212. Separation Science.
Chemistry 215. Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry.
Chemistry 223. Analytical Spectroscopy and Electrochemistry.
Environmental Studies 302. Wetland Science and Policy.
Geology 223. Rock-forming Minerals.
Geology 230. Structural Geology.
Geology 266. Groundwater Hydrology.
Geology 362. Problems in Hydrogeology and Environmental Chemistry.
Geology 363. Low-Temperature Aqueous Geochemistry.

General Education. The quantitative requirement may be satisfied by Environmental Studies 181. Environmental studies courses that are cross-listed with a department may count toward general education, such as Environmental Studies/Physics/Religion 228, or Chemistry/Environmental Studies s24. Environmental Studies 190, 202, 302, and s11 do not fulfill general education requirements.

Courses
181. Working with Environmental Data. This course uses lectures, problems, and projects to introduce students to experimental design, data collection, and data analysis. The course introduces basic principles of statistical thinking and trains students to be informed consumers of statistics commonly encountered in environment science and policy contexts. The course covers basic concepts in probability and statistics, principles of experimental design, measures of location and dispersion, statistical estimation, and testing of hypotheses. Parametric, non-parametric, and resampling approaches to analysis of frequencies, comparisons of means, and examination of relationships between variables (regression and correlation) are addressed. Recommended background: a working knowledge of algebra. Required of all majors. Not open to students who have received credit for Biology 244, Psychology 218, Mathematics 315, Economics 250, or Sociology 305 or 306. C. Bohlen.

190. Age of Ecology. Over the past half-century, the environmental movement has prompted reflection on humans' rightful place within nature. The evolution of ecological ethics and values can be traced through the works of pioneering environmental writers such as Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Wendell Berry, Edward Abbey, and Donella Meadows. In this course we explore how their lives and writings represent diverse responses to the moral and practical challenges of living in an ecological age. Not open to students who have received credit for Environmental Studies 210. F. Schauffler.

202. Introduction to Environmental Studies. This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to environmental studies. Perspectives from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities are used to explore the human environment relationship. Lectures, discussions, laboratory exercises and field trips are used to provide a technical understanding of selected environmental issues and to provide an analytic framework for examining environmental problems as reflections of underlying social, economic, and political processes. The course addresses human population and resource consumption as drivers for environmental change and examines the effects of environmental change on human economic and social systems. Course content varies to reflect current issues. Prerequisite(s): Any natural-science set except physics sets, and Anthropology 102. C. Bohlen.

228. Caring for Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment. This course considers scientific and religious accounts of the origin of the universe, examines the relations between these accounts, and explores the way they shape our deepest attitudes toward the natural world. Topics of discussion include the Biblical creation stories, contemporary scientific cosmology, the interplay between these scientific and religious ideas, and the roles they both can play in forming a response to environmental problems. This course is the same as Religion 228 and Physics 228. Enrollment limited to 30. T. Tracy, J. Smedley.

302. Wetland Science and Policy. This course is an introduction to wetland ecosystems, wetland management, and current controversies over wetland policy. The course emphasizes hydrological, geological, and ecological processes that structure wetland ecosystems, the connections between wetlands and adjacent ecosystems, and how those ecological relationships affect wetland management. The emphasis is on wetlands as dynamic components of a complex landscape that may itself be changing in response to human actions. Prerequisite(s): One natural-science set except physics sets. C. Bohlen.

360. Independent Study. This course provides an opportunity, on a tutorial basis, for a student to investigate a selected topic of individual interest. A report is required at the end of each semester of work. Topics are selected jointly by the student and tutor, and must be approved by the Program Chair. Students are limited to one independent study per semester. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff.

Short Term Units

s40 Ecological Restoration. This unit examines ecological restoration, rehabilitation, and recovery within a broad environmental management context. Field trips, case studies, and a class project planning a restoration effort are used to explore why restoration is undertaken, how it is carried out, how one can assess the value or benefits of restoration, and how it fits into larger environmental and social contexts. Students see restoration efforts from forests, wetlands, lakes, estuaries, and flowing waters, as well as sites at which recovery processes are occurring without human intervention. Landscape-scale restoration efforts from the Chesapeake Bay and Mississippi watersheds are also examined. Recommended background: one of the following: Biology 270 (170), or Geology 103 or 106. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Bohlen.

s24. Seminar in Sustainable Development. The concept of sustainable development is examined and the implications this concept has for a number of areas of human interest are investigated. These areas include population, ethics, equity, food supply, water supply, pollution, radioactivity, energy, and economics. The relationship between scientific uncertainty and sustainable development is highlighted. Questions relating to social, cultural, and political feasibility are addressed. Students present and discuss selected topics, in a seminar format, drawing from the U.N. Report which culminated in the publication of Our Common Future as well as from primary literature and other selected textbooks. This unit is the same as Chemistry s24. Enrollment limited to 20. R. Austin.

s38. Environmental Issues in Developing Economies. Is poverty a cause of environmental degradation in developing countries? Or is the quest for economic growth to alleviate poverty the source of these countries' environmental problems? How does the interaction between the developed and developing worlds affect the environment? What role can developing countries play in addressing global environmental problems? Can a modern economy develop in a sustainable way? In this unit, students examine the link between economic development and the environment from a number of perspectives. Using case studies of particular countries, and cross-country comparisons of certain industries, students examine the prospects and problems facing the developing world. Prerequisite(s): Economics 101. This unit is the same as Economics s38. Enrollment limited to 20. J. Hughes.

s46. Internship in Environmental Studies. Projects could include engaging in hands-on conservation work, environmental education, environmental research, political advocacy, environmental law, or other areas related to environmental questions. Specific arrangement and prior approval of the Committee on Environmental Studies is required. Staff.

s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted by the Environmental Studies Program Committee only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the Short-Term and has secured the sponsorship of a faculty member to direct the study and evaluate results. Students are limited to one individual research unit. Open to first-year students. Staff.

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