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Environmental Studies

Environmental studies encompasses a broad range of issues that arise from the interaction of humans with the natural world. To understand these issues, students must think across and beyond existing disciplinary boundaries. The environmental studies major provides a framework for students to examine how humans experience, investigate, and interact with their environment. The curriculum includes interdisciplinary course work that encourages students to explore the social, aesthetic, ethical, scientific, and technical aspects of environmental questions and to approach these questions with more focused knowledge and methodological tools through a major concentration.. More information on the environmental studies program including details about requirements is available on the website (bates.edu/environment/).

It is recommended that students complete ENVR 204 and 205 and introductory science as early as possible, preferably within their first two years. These courses are not open to seniors. In addition to ENVR 204 and 205, the environmental studies committee recommends that all students interested in environmental studies take a related course in biology, chemistry, physics, geology or environmental science during their first year.

Students are advised that there may be limits on second majors or minors and on double-dipping certain courses, but these differ by major concentration. For example, the geology minor is not available in combination with the Ecology and Earth Systems concentration; and no more than two courses from a politics major may also count in the Global Environment and Social Change or Global Environmental Politics concentrations. Additional restrictions may apply, so students should examine the concentration requirements and consult with the advisor for the environmental studies major concentration in question.

Students should note that there may be flexibility in requirements due to changes in the curriculum.

Students interested in environmental education are advised to take a minor or general education concentration in education in addition to their major in environmental studies. Students are encouraged to consider study abroad, although the program reserves the right to restrict study abroad to one semester. No more than one course from abroad can count toward the major, regardless of the number of semesters abroad.

Major Requirements for the Class of 2019 and beyond

All students must complete the core courses, including a thesis or capstone semniar; a major concentration; and a 200-hour internship.

Core Courses

All of the following:
ENVR 204. Environment and Society.
ENVR 205. Lives in Place.
ENVR 417. Community-Engaged Research in Environmental Studies.

One of the following:
ENVR 450. Capstone Seminar.
ENVR 457, 458. Senior Thesis.

Major Concentration

Students complete one of the following four concentrations

Concentration 1: Environment and Human Culture

1. One of the following introductory science courses:
BIO 124. Plants and Human Affairs/Lab.
ENVR 203. Scientific Approaches to Environmental Issues/Lab.
GEO 103. Earth Surface Environments and Environmental Change/Lab.
GEO 109. Global Change/Lab.
PHYS 106. Energy and Environment.

2. One of the following intermediate science courses (some courses have prerequisites):
BI/ES 246. Conservation Biology.
BI/ES 271. Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab.
ES/GE 226. Hydrogeology.
ENVR 229. The Electric Grid.
ENVR 240. Water and Watersheds/Lab.
ENVR 310. Soils/Lab.
GEO s36. Coastal Hazards.

3. One of the following social science courses:
AN/ES 242. Environment, Human Rights, and Indigenous Peoples.
ECON 222. Environmental Economics.
ENVR 337. Social Movements, NGOs, and the Environment.
ENVR 272. Oikos: Rethinking Economy and Ecology.
ENVR 301. Politics of Nature.
EN/LS 350. Environmental Justice in the Americas.

4. One of the following courses:
ES/RU 216. Nature in Russian Culture.
ENVR 227. Catastrophes and Hope.

5. One of the following environmental history courses:
INDS 211. Environmental Perspectives on U.S. History.
ES/HI 301M. Maine: Environment and History.
HI/WS 210. Technology in U.S. History.

6. One of the following courses in literature, visual studies, and cultural studies:
AVC 285. Renaissance and Post-Renaissance Gardens and Landscape Architecture.
AVC 377A. Picturesque Suburbia.
ENG 395K. The Arctic Sublime.
ENG 395O. Poetry and Place.
ENVR 334. Living with Animals: Perspectives from Literature and Film.
ENVR 340. Literatures of Agriculture.
ENVR 348. Nature and the Novel.

7. One of the following courses in environmental philosophy:
ES/PL 214. Environmental Ethics.
INDS 228. Caring for Creation: Physics, Religion, and the Environment.
ANTH 206. What Is a Human?

8. Three additional courses, selected from lists 4-7 above. Two of these courses must be at the 300 level. One of these courses also may be selected from the following list:
ENG 293. Creative Nonfiction.
EN/ES 121O. The Creative Spirit: Self and Nature.
EN/ES 121Q. The Lives of Rivers.
ES/RU s20. Environment and Culture in Russia.
ES/RE s25. Food and the Sacred.
ENVR s29. Walking: The Practice, Politics, and Pleasures of One's Own Two Feet.
INDS 208. Introduction to Medieval Archaeology.
INDS 291. Environmental Archaeology.
INDS 321. Afroambiente: Writing a Black Environment.

Concentration 2: Global Environmental Politics

1. One of the following introductory science courses:
BIO 124. Plants of Human Affairs/Lab.
ENVR 203. Scientific Approaches to Environmental Issues/Lab.
GEO 103. Earth Surface Environments and Environmental Change/Lab.
GEO 109. Global Change/Lab.
PHYS 106. Energy and Environment.

2. One from the following intermediate science courses (some courses have prerequisites):
BI/ES 246. Conservation Biology.
BI/ES 271. Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab.
ES/GE 226. Hydrogeology.
ENVR 229. The Electric Grid.
ENVR 240. Water and Watersheds/Lab.
ENVR 310. Soils/Lab.
GEO s36. Coastal Hazards.

3. One of the following humanistic environmental studies courses:
INDS 211. Environmental Perspectives on U.S. History.
ES/PL 214. Environmental Ethics.
ES/RU 216. Nature in Russian Culture.
ENVR 227. Catastrophes and Hope.
ENVR 334. Living with Animals: Perspectives from Literature and Film.
ENVR 340. Literatures of Agriculture.
ENVR 348. Nature and the Novel.

4. Both of the following economics courses:
ECON 101. Principles of Microeconomics: Prices and Markets.
ECON 222. Environmental Economics.

5. One of the following politics courses:
PLTC 171. International Politics.
PLTC 222. International Political Economy.

6. One of the following methods courses:
ANTH s10. Encountering Community: Ethnographic Fieldwork and Service-Learning.
BIO 244. Biostatistics.
ECON 250. Statistics.
EDUC s26. Qualitative Methods of Educational Research.
HIST 199. Introduction to Historical Methods.
HIST s40. Introduction to Historical Methods.
INDS 250. Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry.
PLTC s49. Political Inquiry.
PSYC 218. Statistics.
RHET 252. Rhetorical Theory.
SOC 205. Research Methods for Sociology.

7. Two additional courses from among the following:
ANTH 206. What is a Human?
AN/SO 232. Ethnicity, Nation, and World Community.
AN/ES 242. Environment, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples.
INDS 211. Environmental Perspectives on U.S. History.
ENVR 272. Oikos: Rethinking Economy and Ecology.
PLTC 202. Garbage and the Politics of Disposition.
PLTC 236. The Global Politics of Climate Change.
PLTC 248. The Arctic: Politics, Economics, Peoples.
PLTC 249. Politics of Latin America.
PLTC 290. Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa.
PLTC 295. Reading Marx, Rethinking Marxisms.
PLTC 312. Ocean Governance: Local, National, and International Challenges.
PLTC 315. International Cooperation.
PLTC 346. Power and Protest.
SOC 235. Global Health: Sociological Perspectives.
SOC 250. Privilege, Power, and Inequality.

8. One of the following 300-level courses (some have prerequisites):
ENVR 337. Social Movements, NGOs, and the Environment.
ES/HI 301M. Maine: Environment and History.
ES/LS 350. Environmental Justice in the Americas.
ECON 309. Economics of Less-Developed Countries.
ECON 325. Prices, Property, and the Problem of the Commons.

Concentration 3: Ecology and Economics of the Environment

Concentration 4: Ecology and Earth Systems

1. One of the following humanistic environmental studies courses:
INDS 211. Environmental Perspectives on U.S. History.
ES/PL 214. Environmental Ethics.
ES/RU 216. Nature in Russian Culture.
ENVR 227. Catastrophes and Hopes
ENVR 334. Living with Animals: Perspectives from Literature and Film.
ENVR 340. Literatures of Agriculture.
ENVR 348 Nature and the Novel.

2. One of the following social science courses:
AN/ES 242. Environment, Human Rights, and Indigenous Peoples.
ECON 222. Environmental Economics.
ENVR 272. Oikos: Rethinking Economy and Ecology.
ENVR 301. Politics of Nature.
ENVR 337. Social Movements, NGOs, and the Environment.
ES/LS 350. Environmental Justice in the Americas.

3. Four of the following introductory science courses:
BIO 190. Organismal Biology/Lab.
BIO 270. Ecology and Evolution/Lab.
CHEM 107A. Atomic and Molecular Structure/Lab.
CHEM 108A. Chemical Reactivity/Lab.
FYS 274. Physics in the Twentieth Century/Lab.
PHYS 107. Classical Physics/Lab.
PHYS 108. Modern Physics/Lab.

4. One of the following introductory Earth systems courses:
ENVR 203. Scientific Approaches to Environmental Issues/Lab.
GEO 103. Earth Surface Environments and Environmental Change/Lab.
GEO 104. Plate Tectonics and Tectonic Hazards/Lab.
GEO 107. Katahdin to Acadia: Field Geology in Maine/Lab.
GEO 108. Global Environmental Change.
GEO 109. Global Change/Lab.

5. Two of the following science courses, only one of which may be a Short Term course (some courses have prerequisites):
BI/ES 246. Conservation Biology.
BIO 265. Invasive Plant Ecology/Lab.
BI/ES 271. Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab.
BIO 332. Ecology and Evolution of Mutualisms.
BIO s31. Avian Biology/Lab.
BIO s32. The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology of the Galapagos Archipelago.
BIO s37. The North Woods.
ES/GE 226. Hydrogeology.
ENVR 240. Water and Watersheds/Lab.
ES/GE s21. Field Studies in Geology.
GEO 210. Sedimentary Processes and Environments/Lab.
GEO 240. Environmental Geochemistry.
GEO s31. Limnology and Paleolimnology of Lakes in Northern New England/Lab.
GEO s36. Coastal Hazards.
GEO s39. Geology of the Maine Coast by Sea Kayak.
PHYS 214. Renewable Energy.
PHYS 220. Climate Change and Modeling.

6. One of the following methods courses (some have prerequisites):
BIO 244. Biostatistics.
CHEM 212. Separation Science/Lab.
DCS s20. Introduction to Computer Programming.
ES/GE 217. Mapping and GIS/Lab.
ENVR 220. GIS across the Curriculum.
MATH 255A. Mathematical Models in Biology.
MATH 255B. Mathematical Modeling.
PHYS 216. Computational Physics.

7. One of the following 300-level courses (courses have prerequisites):
BIO 313. Marine Ecology/Lab.
BI/ES 333. Genetics of Conservation Biology/Lab.
ENVR 310 Soils/Lab.
GEO 310. Quaternary Geology/Lab.
GEO 315. Glacial Geology/Lab.
GEO 340. Stable Isotope Geochemistry/Lab.

The Thesis

All students must complete a one- or two-semester thesis. Theses must build in some significant way upon the courses that students take as part of their major concentration. Students write proposals for thesis in the winter semester of the junior year. In some years, ENVR 450, Environmental Writing in the Public Sphere, may be available as an alternative to thesis.

The Internship

Every student must complete a 200-hour internship in an environmentally oriented organization by the end of the fall semester of their senior year. Internships at academic research organizations, those requiring only physical labor, and those at summer camps are generally unacceptable.

Major Requirements for the classes of 2017 and 2018

Students majoring in environmental studies must fulfill core requirements of four courses, a major concentration, a one- or two-semester thesis or a W3 course, and a 200-hour internship.

Core Requirements

1) Required courses:
ENVR 204. Environment and Society.
ENVR 205. Lives in Place.

One of the following:
ENVR 417. Community-Engaged Research in Environmental Studies.
ENVR 457, 458. Senior Thesis, or ENVR 450. Environmental Writing in the Public Sphere.

In addition, each student completes natural science and courses for breadth as described within a chosen major concentration.

2) Courses in the Major Concentration. Major concentrations focus on a particular aspect of environmental studies. The program website provides updated information regarding the courses required of each major concentration. The major concentrations are:
Energy.
Environment and Human Culture.
Environmental Chemistry.
Environmental Economics.
Environmental Ethics.
Environmental Geology.
Environment in the Literary and Visual Arts.
Global Environment and Social Change.
Health.

The Thesis

Majors must complete a one- or two-semester thesis or an alternative W3 course. In some years, ENVR 450, Environmental Writing in the Public Sphere, may be available as an alternative to thesis. Theses and W3 portfolios in ENVR 450 must build in some significant way upon the courses that students take as part of their major concentration. Students write proposals for W3 placement in the winter semester of the junior year.

The Internship

Pass/Fail Grading Option

For students in all classes, pass/fail grading may not be elected for courses applied toward the major.

Courses

EN/ES 121O. The Creative Spirit: Self and Nature.

What is the relationship among the spirit, the self, and nature? How does communion with nature help the creation and evolution of one’s sense of "self " and the soul’s journey? Is creativity connected with divinity? How have nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first-century writers, artists, and spiritual thinkers described their connection with the self and the natural world? In this course, students create original poetry, poetic prose, visual art, and/or music within the context of inward reflection, contemplation, mindfulness, and meditation. Authors studied may include Frost, Elizabeth Gilbert, Jack Kornfeld, Mary Oliver, Shelley, Snyder, Cathy Song, Tagore, Thoreau, Whitman, David Whyte, Woolf, Wordsworth, and Yeats. Enrollment limited to 25. L. Dhingra, J. Anthony.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

EN/ES 121Q. The Lives of Rivers.

In this colloquium, students read broadly—from the magical waterways of classical antiquity to the American folk tradition that takes us "down by the riverside"—in order to better understand the human need to write about rivers. Students consider verse by Whitman, Walcott, and Spark alongside Twain's stories of Huckleberry Finn and the classic angling novella A River Runs Through It. From the local riparian zone on the banks of the Androscoggin, students follow contemporary currents of ecocritical inquiry, investigating moments when the landed human body is literally or figuratively swept away by a torrent of fresh water. Enrollment limited to 25. One-time offering. M. Wright.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ENVR 203. Scientific Approaches to Environmental Issues/Lab.

An introduction to central concepts in environmental science—the function and interrelationship of physical, chemical, and biological systems—through the study of specific environmental issues. The laboratory links field studies of environmental systems to the scientific concepts and tools environmental scientists use. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. [L] [Q] [S] H. Ewing.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 204. Environment and Society.

Environmental issues rarely have only physical dimensions. They most often also have social and political aspects. This course familiarizes students with some of the major social scientific contributions to understanding how and why environmental problems arise, how they are defined, and how different groups are affected by and respond to them. The course first outlines the contemporary world system in which environmental debates take place and then identifies drivers of environmental change. Students then apply these ideas to a variety of ongoing environmental controversies, including climate change, agriculture, urbanization, biodiversity conservation, pollution, and environmental justice. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Normally offered every year. E. Miller.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Hazards in Nature (C063)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 205. Lives in Place.

What does it mean to live sustainably in place? This course investigates possible answers to that question by considering lives in place: particular stories, particular places, and multiple forms of storytelling about human relationship to the more than human world. From nature writing and calendars of nature to poetry, memoir, documentary, and the novel, humans (the "storytelling animal") demonstrate ways of living that enable us to reflect on the virtues, values, vices, and trade-offs of those lives. Keystones in this consideration include modernity and tradition, technologies of change, voices and points of view, animal agency, eating as agricultural act, consumption, and creativity. Students consider both classic and emerging texts and artists from a variety of periods and cultures, examples of humans' ongoing experiment in living on Earth. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Normally offered every year. J. Costlow.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Environment, Place, History (C068)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

INDC 208. Introduction to Medieval Archaeology.

The Middle Ages were a time of major cultural changes that laid the groundwork for Northwest Europe's emergence as a global center of political and economic power in subsequent centuries. However, many aspects of life in the period from 1000 to 1500 C.E. were unrecorded in contemporary documents and art, and archaeology has become an important tool for recovering that information. This course introduces the interdisciplinary methods and the findings of archaeological studies of topics including medieval urban and rural lifeways, health, commerce, religion, social hierarchy, warfare, and the effects of global climate change. Cross-listed in anthropology, classical and medieval studies, environmental studies, and history. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. G. Bigelow.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ENVR 209. Urban Environments: Resilience and Adaptation.

More than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas, a share that will increase to more than two thirds by 2050. What are the social and ecological consequences of increasing urbanization, and how can urban environments adapt to become more resilient in the face of global change? Who and what benefits from urban adaptation strategies — e.g., green design, smart growth, new urbanism — and who absorbs the costs? This introductory course explores these questions and strategies through the lenses of urban transit, food systems, energy, water and land use, and how these impact cities' social and ecological resilience. New course beginning Fall 2017. Normally offered every semester. F. Eanes.

INDC 211. Environmental Perspectives on U.S. History.

This course explores the relationship between the North American environment and the development and expansion of the United States. Because Americans' efforts (both intentional and not) to define and shape the environment were rooted in their own struggles for power, environmental history offers an important perspective on the nation's social history. Specific topics include Europeans', Africans', and Indians' competing efforts to shape the colonial environment; the impact and changing understanding of disease; the relationship between industrial environments and political power; and the development of environmental movements. Cross-listed in American cultural studies, environmental studies, and history. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. J. Hall.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Environment, Place, History (C068)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

ES/PL 214. Environmental Ethics.

A study of selected issues in environmental ethics, including questions about population growth, resource consumption, pollution, the responsibilities of corporations, environmental justice, animal rights, biodiversity, and moral concern for the natural world. The course explores debates currently taking place among environmental thinkers regarding our moral obligations to other persons, to future generations, to other animals, and to ecosystems and the Earth itself. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/RU 216. Nature in Russian Culture.

How does a given culture understand and represent its relationship to the specific geography of its place in the world? This course explores the cultural landscape of Russia through a broad range of literary works, visual images, and ethnographic studies. Students examine some of the following issues: the relationship between geography and national identity; the political uses of cultural landscape; the interaction of agriculture, official religion, and traditional belief in peasant culture; and the role of class and revolutionary reimaginings of nature in the Soviet era. Conducted in English. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. J. Costlow.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/GE 217. Mapping and GIS/Lab.

Geographical information systems (GIS) are computer-based systems for geographical data presentation and analysis. They allow rapid development of high-quality maps, and enable sophisticated examination of spatial patterns and interrelationships. In this course students learn the principles of GIS through extensive computer use of ArcGIS (ESRI). Geological and environmental projects introduce students to cartography, common sources of geographic data, methods for collecting novel spatial data, and data quality. Finally, students learn to extend the capabilities of GIS software to tackle more advanced spatial analysis tasks by completing an independent project. Lectures supplement the laboratory component of the course. Prerequisite: one 200-level course in environmental studies or one 100-level course in geology. Not open to students who have received credit for ENVR 220. Enrollment limited to 20. [L] [Q] [S] J. Eusden.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC 219. Environmental Archaeology.

Over the past two hundred years archaeologists, scientists, and humanists in many disciplines have worked together to understand the interactions of past human populations with the physical world, including plants, animals, landscapes, and climates. This course outlines the methods and theories used by archaeologists, geologists, biologists, physicists, chemists, and historians in reconstructing past economies and ecologies in diverse areas of the globe. The course also discusses how archaeology contributes to our understanding of contemporary environmental issues such as rapid climate change, shrinking biodiversity, and sustainable use of resources. Cross-listed in anthropology, environmental studies, and history. Recommended background: ANTH 103. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Normally offered every year. G. Bigelow.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ENVR 220. GIS across the Curriculum.

Geographical information systems (GIS) are computer-based systems for analyzing spatially located data. They allow rapid development of high-quality maps and enable sophisticated examination of spatial patterns and interrelationships. In this course students learn the principles of GIS through extensive use of the software ArcGIS (ESRI). Modules from across the curriculum introduce students to spatial data by exploring common data sources, data collection methods, data quality, and data presentation methods. Finally, students extend their capabilities in advanced spatial analysis tasks by undertaking an independent project. Not open to students who have received credit for ENVR 217 or ES/GE 217. Enrollment limited to 20. [Q] [S] C. Parrish, H. Ewing.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/GE 226. Hydrogeology.

Hydrogeology is the study of the movement and interaction of underground fluids within rocks and sediments. This course uses hydrogeology as a disciplinary framework for learning about groundwater processes, contamination, supply, use, and management. Students engage in practical applications of hydrogeology via discussions, guest lectures, research projects, problem sets, and hands-on experience. Students learn field and laboratory methods for determining and analyzing groundwater flow, contamination, and aquifer properties by working at local sites of interest in central Maine. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 203 or one 100-level geology course. Enrollment limited to 22. [S] B. Johnson.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ENVR 227. Catastrophes and Hope.

Disaster narratives can be both documentary and cautionary, attempting to describe what seems beyond human imagination. Such narratives may serve as dire warnings, offer glimpses of hope, spur us to change our lives, or scare us into denial. This course explores examples of disaster narratives from various cultures and time periods, considering the emotional, aesthetic, and civic function of discourses of disaster. In addition, students consider imaginations of disaster at the end of the cold war and in contemporary discussions of climate change. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 205. Enrollment limited to 30. J. Costlow.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Conflict and Threat: War and Disease (C064)

INDC 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. Cross-listed in environmental studies, physics, and religious studies. Enrollment limited to 40. [S] J. Smedley, T. Tracy.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 229. The Electric Grid.

An exploration of electricity production, distribution, and consumption. Principles of electromagnetism are developed to provide an understanding of the design and function of the electric grid. Topics include the history of grid evolution, reliability and disruptions, organizational design, regulations, environmental impacts, energy storage, incorporation of renewable energy sources, and the smart grid. Prerequisite(s): CHEM 107A, ENVR 203, or any course in physics. Enrollment limited to 40. [Q] [S] J. Smedley.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Physics of the Large and Small (C056)

BI/ES 232. Global Change in Terrestrial Systems.

In this course students investigate how global change is affecting terrestrial ecosystems. Plants are the dominant organisms in these systems. Students discuss how adaptations to particular environments may favor or hinder individual species in the future, and how ecology and physiology interact when it comes to species responses to global change. They consider processes from the leaf to ecosystem levels and discuss how natural and agricultural systems are likely to be affected by changes in temperature and water availability, rising carbon dioxide and gaseous pollutants, and alterations in soil chemistry and nutrient availability. Prerequisite(s): BIO 117, 124, 190, or ENVR 203. Open to first-year students. [S] Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Learning and Teaching (C084)

ENVR 240. Water and Watersheds/Lab.

Where does water go and what does it do? In this course students follow water from atmosphere to land to aquatic systems, emphasizing the controls on the movement and chemistry of water in freshwater ecosystems. They investigate not only the need of organisms for water but also the ways in which organisms, including humans, influence the distribution and chemistry of water. Field and laboratory studies combine ecological, geological, and chemical approaches as well as an introduction to working with large data sets. Students are assumed to be proficient in the use of spreadsheets. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: ENVR 203; BIO 190, BI/GE 112, GEO 103, GEO 107. Recommended background: CHEM 107A and CHEM 108A. Enrollment limited to 18. [L] [S] H. Ewing.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

AN/ES 242. Environment, Human Rights, and Indigenous Peoples.

For decades environmentalists have used the image of the "ecological native" in their critique of industrialization while indigenous activists have framed their struggles for land rights and self-determination in environmental terms. Why and how have environmental and indigenous concerns merged? How are these connections used strategically? This course examines the struggles of the world's indigenous peoples in the context of an accelerating ecological crisis. Topics include Western ideas of indigenous people, indigenous self-representation, indigenous relations to modern nation-states and the United Nations, and the impacts of oil and mining, bio-prospecting, biodiversity conservation and climate change. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: ANTH 101, ENVR 337, 204, 350, or PLTC 250. Enrollment limited to 30. S. Pieck.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

BI/ES 246. Conservation Biology.

Conservation biology incorporates biology, policy, and ethics, among other disciplines. This course introduces and analyzes conservation theory with emphasis on the biological aspects of conservation biology, but also exploring its interdisciplinary nature. Students examine conservation at many scales, including the conservation of populations, their genetic diversity, and the biodiversity of habitats. Applied aspects of conservation and sustainable development are illustrated through case studies and simulations. This course is a combination of discussion and applied methods. Some Saturday field trips are required. Prerequisite(s): BIO 190 or ENVR 203. (Community-Engaged Learning.) [Q] [S] Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

EN/ES 258. The Future Perfect Tense: Cli-Fi and Sense Making in the Anthropocene .

The last decade saw the rise of a new genre: climate change fiction, or "Cli-Fi" for short. Like other forms of science fiction, Cli-Fi is shaped by a set of contemporary anxieties about human beings and their relationship with the environment and technology. But where science fiction is speculative, the world Cli-Fi characters occupy often looks a lot like earth. Intense drought spawns violence, racial discrimination, and migration. Resource scarcity breeds new international treaties and ethnic cleansing. What does it mean that the speculative genre has moved into the present tense? And in what ways can fiction create an imagined world that gives voice to resistance today? New course beginning Winter 2017. Enrollment limited to 25. One-time offering. E. Rush Mueller.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

INDC 266. Environmental History of China.

This course investigates the deep historical roots that lie behind China's contemporary environmental dilemmas. From the Three Gorges Dam to persistent smog, a full understanding of the environment in China must reckon with millennia-old relationships between human and natural systems. In this course studenst explore the advent of grain agriculture, religious understandings of nature, the impact of bureaucratic states, and the environmental dimensions of imperial expansion as well as the nature of kinship and demographic change. The course concludes by turning to the socialist "conquest" of nature in the 1950s and 1960s and China's post-1980s fate. Cross-listed in Asian studies, environmental studies, and history. New course beginning Winter 2017. Open to first-year students. W. Chaney.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

BI/ES 271. Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab.

In this field-based course, students engage in the scientific study of the natural history and identification of trees and important shrubs native to New England, and some commonly planted non-native trees. Topics include the anatomy, function, taxonomy, biology, and uses of trees. Lecture topics support weekly outdoor laboratories, which include trips to such field sites as the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary, and Wolfe's Neck State Park. Study of the woody flora of New England serves as a foundation for further work in biology, environmental studies, conservation, or related fields. Prerequisite(s): BIO 117, 124, 190, or ENVR 203. Enrollment limited to 18. B. Huggett.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/PT 272. Oikos: Rethinking Economy and Ecology.

Economy and ecology share the same Greek root: oikos, or "home." Both name relationships that are crucial to the sustenance of life, yet these two domains often appear to be locked in mortal combat. Why is the oikos of modern life torn asunder? What is this split and how did it arise? Is reconciliation possible? If so, what might it entail? This course brings critical tools from political theory and science studies to bear on these questions, exploring a variety of attempts to rethink the relation between economy and ecology and to reconfigure the very nature of the categories themselves. Recommended background: one course in anthropology, economics, environmental studies, politics, or sociology. Not open to students who have received credit for ENVR 272. Enrollment limited to 30. E. Miller.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Learning and Teaching (C084)

ENVR 301. Politics of Nature.

What is nature and what does it mean to say that it has a politics? In one common understanding, nature is precisely that which stands apart from political dynamics, indicating a world of objective "facts" beyond human influence. Yet the concept of nature has long been implicated in relations of power, whether by making certain social relationships such as race, gender, and class seem inevitable or by lending strength to movements for liberation. This course examines the politics of nature through various lenses of poststructuralist, postcolonial, feminist, and Marxist political theory, ultimately seeking to imagine how nature itself might become a site for transformative democratic practice. Prerequisite(s): two of the following: AN/ES 242; ENVR 203, 204, 205, or 272; ES/PL 214; PHIL 150, 211, or 262; PLTC 191 or 202; SOC 204; or WGST 100. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] E. Miller.

ES/HI 301M. Maine: Environment and History.

This course introduces students to Maine history from its beginnings to the twentieth century, emphasizing the state's most pervasive theme, the environment. From aboriginal people to European colonists, different people have relied on the state's natural resources. Indeed, the environment shaped Maine's most prevalent industries. By the twentieth century, Maine emerged as a popular vacation destination, causing many to reflect on conservation efforts. This seminar explores the significance of locality in understanding the interaction between the environment and different people through time. Students develop a deeper sense of place in our community. Enrollment limited to 15. J. Hall.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ENVR 310. Soils/Lab.

Depending on one's point of view, soils are geological units, ecosystems, the foundation of plant life, a place for microbes to live, building material, or just dirt. This course takes a scientific perspective and explores the genesis of soils, their distribution and characteristics, and their interaction with plants. Field studies emphasize description of soils, inferences about soil formation, and placement within a landscape context. Labs investigate the chemistry of soils and their role in forestry and agriculture. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: BIO 270; BI/ES 271; CHEM 212 or 215; ENVR 203 or 240; GEO 210, 223, or 240. Recommended background: one 200-level geology course and CHEM 108A or CH/ES 108B. Enrollment limited to 16. [L] [S] H. Ewing.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

INDC 321. Afroambiente: Writing a Black Environment.

This course studies the response of black writers and intellectuals of the Spanish-speaking world to issues related to the natural environment. In three countries, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Equatorial Guinea, modernity has brought serious challenges to notions of economic progress, human rights, and national sovereignty, as well as individual and communal identity. Course materials include written texts from local newspapers and magazines as well as other sources of information such as Internet sites that discuss issues related to the environment and the arts. All readings are in English. Cross-listed in African American studies, environmental studies, Latin American Studies, and Spanish. B. Fra-Molinero.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

BI/ES 333. The Genetics of Conservation Biology/Lab.

Conserving biodiversity is important at multiple scales, including genetic variation within species. Does a species have enough variation to evolve in a changing world? Are individuals differentially adapted to local environmental variation? In a captive population of a rare animal, which individuals should be bred to minimize the erosion of genetic variation? Lectures and labs cover the fundamentals of classical, molecular, and population genetics, applying them to current issues in biological conservation. Prerequisite(s): BIO 242 or 270. Not open to students who have received credit for BIO 330. Enrollment limited to 15. [L] [S] D. Dearborn.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Learning and Teaching (C084)

ENVR 334. Living with Animals: Perspectives from Literature and Film.

When it comes to understanding our lives with the other animals, Boria Sax suggests that "biology is not nearly enough." We also need to study historical traditions, visionary imagination, and legacies of art and storytelling. This course explores what it has meant to live with both domesticated and wild animals, through close reading and study of selected poetry, essays, fiction and film. Enrollment limited to 18. [W2] M. Beck.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 337. Social Movements, NGOs, and the Environment.

As emerging transnational actors, social movements and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) challenge state-centered paradigms with regard to environmental and other issues. But why do environmental movements arise in the first place? Do NGOs necessarily "do environmental good"? What solutions to the environment/development quandary do these forms of activism offer? The course first locates the context for NGOs and social movements within neoliberal globalization and the resource conflicts that emerge from its processes. Students consider topics and case studies in developed and developing countries, using them as a lens through which to understand the complexities of social and environmental change. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 101 or ENVR 204 and two additional courses in environmental studies. Not open to students who have received credit for AN/ES 337. Enrollment limited to 20. [W2] Normally offered every year. S. Pieck.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 340. Literatures of Agriculture.

This course explores the ways in which agrarian life has been imagined, written about, and lived in a wide array of cultural and historical settings. Classic pastoral suggests that the life of the countryside is a life of virtue and freedom from the entanglements of politics and the city. The actual experience of farm labor is often embedded in difficult political, economic, and environmental realities, even as farmers profess deep affection for their labor and the land. Students explore a broad range of genres, from agrarian essay to historical studies, memoirs, and novels, considering how different forms of writing articulate ideals, aspirations, and realities. Students visit local farms and interview local farmers. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 205. Enrollment limited to 15. J. Costlow.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Knowledge, Action, and the Public Good (C091)

ENVR 348. Nature and the Novel.

The novel is the social genre par excellence, filled with details of human lives and commentary on politics, philosophy, and morals. But novels are also ideal vehicles for thinking about nature, evocative of particular places, complex communities, legacies of injustice and possibility. Readings for this course, drawn primarily from twentieth-century authors, may include political/philosophical epic (Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago); the dystopian work of Zamiatin and McCarthy (We, The Road); feminist science fiction and agrarian visions of the good life (Atwood and Berry). Close readings of the novels are accompanied by essays in contemporary ecocriticism that help students think about what it means to read novels with environmental questions in mind. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 205. Enrollment limited to 15. J. Costlow.

ES/LS 350. Environmental Justice in the Americas.

This course explores issues of environmental justice in the western hemisphere by focusing on how lines of difference—especially race, class, and gender—mediate people's relationships to each other and to the natural world. How do power relations shape differential access to and control over resources? What makes people more or less vulnerable to environmental changes? The course applies critical social theory to case studies from across the Americas to explore how political, economic, and cultural forces shape environmental inequalities and how, in trying to address those inequalities, various groups challenge and broaden the assumptions and practices of modern environmentalism. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204 and two additional courses in environmental studies or three courses in Latin American studies. Not open to students who have received credit for ENVR 350. Enrollment limited to 15. S. Pieck.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ENVR 360. Independent Study.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every semester. Staff.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 365. Special Topics.

Offered occasionally on subjects of special interest. Staff.

ENVR 417. Community-Engaged Research in Environmental Studies.

Students work collaboratively to complete interdisciplinary semester-long project. Projects include work with previously identified community partners and may vary from year to year. The course deals explicitly with the issues and best practices arising from doing complex collaborative work in a community-engaged setting. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204 and 205. Enrollment limited to 25. (Community-Engaged Learning.) Normally offered every year. Staff.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 450. Environmental Writing in the Public Sphere.

Building on research from previous environmental studies courses, students produce new writing for public audiences. They consider environmentally themed pieces as models for writing (e.g., advocacy scholarship, scientific writing, personal and lyrical essays, natural history); explore new media forms (radio and video essays); and examine theory on writing and web portfolios. Students' environmental writing develops through peer and professional review and culminates in a substantial piece of writing for a public audience. Web portfolios present the new scholarship and reflect on its creation, showing the process of learning, connections to environmental studies course work, and thematic links beyond Bates. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 203, 204, 205, and 417. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. [W3] Normally offered every year. M. Beck.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Knowledge, Action, and the Public Good (C091)

ENVR 457. Senior Thesis.

This course involves research for and writing of the senior thesis, under the direction of a faculty advisor. Guidelines for the thesis are published on the program website and are available from the program chair. Students register for ENVR 457 in the fall semester. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR 458. Senior Thesis.

This course involves research for and writing of the senior thesis, under the direction of a faculty advisor. Guidelines for the thesis are published on the program website and are available from the program chair. Students register for ES 458 in the winter semester. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.
Interdisciplinary Programs

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

Short Term Courses

AV/ES s15. Photographing the Landscape.

The course provides a context for studying and analyzing images of the landscape by viewing and discussing historic and contemporary landscape photographs. Questions considered include the role of the sublime in current landscape photography, beauty as a strategy for persuasion, perceptions of "natural" versus "artificial," and contemporary approaches in trying to affect environmental change. Students explore the depiction of the landscape by producing their own work, using "pinhole," black-and-white film, or digital photography. Recommended background: AVC 218 or 219. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 12. E. Morris.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/RU s20. Environment and Culture in Russia.

This course introduces a broad range of environmental issues in contemporary Russia and invites students to consider those issues in cultural and historical context. A period of intensive preparation at Bates is followed by visits and conversations in Russia that acquaint students with ecologists, activists, governmental officials, and ordinary Russian citizens. Students spend three and one-half weeks at different locations in European Russia and the Urals, visiting sites ranging from privatized farms and peasant markets to industrial centers and conservation areas. Recommended background: one course in Russian studies or environmental studies. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. J. Costlow.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Russian in St. Petersburg (C078)

ES/GE s21. Field Studies in Geology.

This course introduces students to field studies in geology. Three different geologic settings (bedrock geology, geomorphology, and hydrology) are the focus of three week-long field projects. Each project is followed by laboratory analysis and compilation of the field data in the form of maps, cross sections, and lab reports. Students learn how to map and analyze spatial datasets using mobile GIS field methods and ArcGIS techniques as well as methods in environmental sampling and modeling. Students examine exposures of bedrock on the Maine coast, glacial features in downeast Maine, and river systems in central Maine. This course provide students with a basic toolkit for fieldwork in geology and environmental studies. Prerequisite(s): one 100-level geology course. Enrollment limited to 30. B. Johnson, J. Eusden.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/RE s25. Food and the Sacred.

This course provides an opportunity to explore food through ideas and practices considered sacred by Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, indigenous peoples, and neo-pagans. Topics include feasting, fasting, farming, foraging, feeding the hungry, the five senses, and the fascinating fundamentals of dirt and water. There is a community-based learning component to this course undertaken outside class of time as well as hands-on individual and group projects. Prerequisite(s): one course in environmental studies or religious studies. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. (Community-Engaged Learning.) C. Baker.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/EU s28. Green City Germany: Experiments in Sustainable Urbanism.

Our cities are centers of intense economic activity and innovation as well as engines of tremendous pollution and environmental degradation. Can these two sides be reconciled? Is it possible to create a "sustainable city" and if so, what would it look like? Germany is at the forefront of countries trying to answer these questions. This course takes students to Freiburg im Breisgau, the country's self-styled "Green City," where in addition to learning about German language and culture, students explore the city's experiments in urban sustainability, including public transit systems, renewable energy, industrial ecology, brownfield redevelopment, green architecture, gentrification, and affordable housing. New course beginning Short Term 2017. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. One-time offering. S. Pieck.

ENVR s29. Walking: The Practice, Politics, and Pleasures of One's Own Two Feet.

Way of getting from point A to point B; mode of meditation and pilgrimage; radical environmental act; community builder; form of protest; almost impossible to do in many American suburbs. We do it every day, without thinking about it. This course gives students the chance to reflect on and practice this remarkable human mode of transportation. In addition to reading some classic walking texts and experimenting with how to write about walking, students talk with local people who plan sidewalks and trails, and who think about how to get more people moving. The core of the course is walking itself: urban strolls; woodland tracking; meditation; observation. The ability and willingness to walk in all weather is essential. Enrollment limited to 18. J. Costlow.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Environment, Place, History (C068)

INDC s34. Place, Community, and Transformation: Kingston, Jamaica.

The course evaluates the feasibility of green space development in Kingston, Jamaica, a city marked by class disparities, political polarization, and the impoverishing impact of neoliberal economic policies. Through assigned texts students explore the city's physical and demographic development under colonial and postcolonial rule. They examine development initiatives, challenges, and failures through guest lectures and tours led by practicing architects, engineers, planners, environmentalists, and community workers. Students undertake ethnographic research in neighborhoods, parks, and public spaces on the use of outdoor recreational space, perceived needs, and food gardening practices to gather data that might guide future community-building green initiatives. Cross-listed in African American studies, anthropology, environmental studies, and Latin American studies. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. (Community-Engaged Learning.) C. Carnegie.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Knowledge, Action, and the Public Good (C091)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Latin American Studies

ENVR s46. Internship in Environmental Studies.

Projects may include 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. Instructor permission is required. (Community-Engaged Learning.) Normally offered every year. C. Parrish.
Concentrations Interdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Environment, Place, History (C068)

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

Environmental Studies

ENVR s50. Independent Study.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. Staff.