Fall 2014 Featured ENVS Courses Click on the link above to read all course descriptions. Space is still available in ENVS 4800-002 and both sections of ENVS 3525.
ENVS 3525-001 Intermediate Environmental Problem Analysis: Topical Cornerstones: Natural Resources Management: CO & the West Instructor: Deserai Crow T,TH, 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM This course will integrate the science, values, and policy issues related to the management of natural resources in Colorado and the West. The lessons can be applied generally to resources in many contexts, but the class will focus on resource management issues in Colorado and the western United States. The course will take a case study approach, delving into issues related to water resources, energy resources development, and public lands management. Through learning both the concepts underlying environmental management and the issues surrounding specific resources, students will learn how resource management agencies operate, the competing and sometimes conflicting needs of various stakeholders, and the on-the-ground resource outcomes. Prereq., ENVS 1000. Fulfills the Cornerstone Course requirement. ENVS 3525-002 Intermediate Environmental Problem Analysis: Topical Cornerstones: Health and the Built Environment
Instructor: Jill Litt
T,TH, 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
This course will examine the relationship between the built environment and public health, drawing on science and practice of diverse yet interconnected disciplines, including public health, sociology, psychology, landscape ecology, architecture and urban planning. Students will learn about the interconnections among these fields and how the methods and practices from these fields can inform neighborhood and community planning decisions and public health action. Moreover students will learn about the science informing built environment-health connections, the policies designed to advance built environment change, and the tactics and activities to engage community in these decisions. We will explore health as it relates to the natural environment (air, water, food), built environment (neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, parks), and social and economic contexts (health disparities, environmental justice). Prereq., ENVS 1000.
Fulfills the Cornerstone Course requirement.
ENVS 4800-002 Critical Thinking in Environmental Studies: The Philosophy of Climate Science: Skepticism, Denialism and Scientism Instructor: Ben Hale T,TH, 3:30 PM - 4:45 PM Raise the question of climate change in mixed company and you're likely to get mixed responses. Some buy it, others don't, and still others insist that it's a giant global conspiracy. The range of responses is mind-boggling. What motivates such views? How are we to make sense of what some people believe and other people refuse to believe? How are we to respond to those with whom we do not see eye-to-eye? This course aims to provide a brief survey of the scholarly literature in the philosophy of science, and specifically to gear our discussions to the current debate on the strength and legitimacy of climate science. The course itself is divided into four sections: background, traditional questions, alternative views, and methodologies. We will begin by reading portions of the IPCC report and related climate studies, training our eyes on the source of whatever controversies may be clouding the climate issue. We will then seek to contextualize the contemporary debate by getting a sense of not only the history of climate science in the current context, but also by exploring theoretical flashpoints in the development of climatology. Following this we will explore several central issues in the philosophy of science, including induction, projection, confirmation, verification, falsification, and so on. We will close the course by discussing the political and value dimensions of climate change. Because this course is a capstone for your ENVS degree, we will seek where possible to integrate insights from other environmental areas. Fulfills the Capstone Course Requirement. If you have already taken a Capstone course, the class will count toward the Specialization Requirement. GEOG 4401/5401: Soils Geography Instructor: Daniel Liptzin T,TH 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM Have you ever wondered why soils are brown or red or even green? Or why different plants grow in different types of soil? The soils geography course will investigate the complex mixture of minerals, organic matter, organisms, water, and gases that we call soil. Soils play a critical role in the function of terrestrial ecosystems and in our everyday lives. Issues as diverse as food production, water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions are all influenced by soil. This course will focus on the factors that affect soil formation and how these factors produce local to global geographic variability in soil properties. We will investigate the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils and how humans are altering these properties. The course lectures will be supplemented with field trips to discover the diversity of soils around Boulder.
Prereq., GEOG 1011. Recommended prereq., Inorganic Chemistry. Applies to the Specialization Requirement for ENVS majors declared Fall 2013 or Later and the Natural Resources & the Environment Specialization for ENVS majors who declared prior to Fall 2013.
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