Environmental Studies Course Descriptions

This course introduces the study of the relationship between humans and the environment. Topics include general ecology, resources, pollution, biodiversity, global change, and aspects of health, economics, ethics, and law as related to environmental studies. This course is intended for non-majors and will not fulfill major requirements.

An introduction to the concepts and methods of environmental studies. Students will be introduced to relevant theories from physical sciences, ecology, economics, political science, and other fields related to environmental studies.

Students will assess and analyze information in qualitative and quantitative frameworks around a set of environmental issues. This course aims at enhancing students' learning process through inquiry or discovery-based learning.

The topics for freshman seminars are variable and change every semester. Past offerings include Climate Change, Global Earth Systems, Interpreting Behavior That You Can't See, and Ecological Economics.

Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 132 or Anthropology 101 OR 140. Human Ecology is an introductory survey course that integrates material from anthropology and ecology. Topics include: the diversity of human cultures, evolutionary and ecological explanations for these patterns of social organization, the impact of humanity on diverse ecosystems, and we consider how to apply our knowledge of "human nature" to solving environmental problems.

Prerequisite: ENVS 131 or 132 or permission required. Considers the form and function of existing social institutions used to govern environmental interactions and collective choice, including markets, bureaucracies and agencies, democracies, NGOs, communities, legal systems, norms, conventions, morals, bargaining, conflict, corruption, and violence. Various incremental and radical institutional reforms are discussed.

Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 131, 132 or POLS 100 or permission. An introduction to basic concepts of American environmental policy. Topics include: history of federal environmental policymaking, environmental policy tools, controversies in environmental policy, and U.S. environmental policy in the age of globalization. Field trips required.

Overview of ecosystem ecology, including dynamics of large scale systems, landscape ecology, ecosystem structure, and function. Topics in the course will include: methods of ecosystem analysis, energy flow, nutrient cycling, community dynamics, issues of scale, models, and ecosystem properties.

Credit, one hour. On-campus course dealing with the study of modern and ancient tropical environments, using the Bahamas Platform as an example. Specific topics include: the role of sea-level fluctuations in the development of the Bahamas Platform, case studies of island biogeography, reef ecology and geology, and human interactions with environments of the region. A required weekend field trip to a barrier island on the Georgia coast.

Credit, three hours. Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 241. Field-based study of modern and ancient tropical environments, using San Salvador Island of the Bahamas as an example. Specific topics include: description and interpretation of terrestrial, intertidal, and subtidal environments of San Salvador (rocky and sandy shorelines, hypersaline lakes, caves, forests and shrublands, reefs, open ocean, lagoons); biological, paleontological, and geological classification and identification methods in the field.

Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 132. Overview of quantitative methods in environmental studies. Field methods will include: stream rates and other stream parameters, spatial orientations, including compass, map skills, and GPS. Mathematical and statistical methods for data gathering and analysis appropriate for laboratory and field methods will be applied.

This course will introduce concepts of adaptive environmental management and review experiences of using this interdisciplinary approach for dealing with a wide range of resource issues. The course will review existing theories, concepts and methods of adaptive management, and case histories of systems where adaptive management approaches have been applied.

This course will introduce concepts of adaptive environmental management and review experiences of using this interdisciplinary approach for dealing with a wide range of resource issues. The course will review existing theories, concepts and methods of adaptive management, and case histories of systems where adaptive management approaches have been applied.

Develops an understanding and critique of environmental and natural resource economics and considers extensions and alternatives for understanding complex systems of people and nature. Discussion of economic indicators of success, scale, sustainability, and of the value of natural resources is balanced by attention to policy design and to issues of political and economic power, inequality, and historical change. The role of ecosystem services, natural and social capital in economic development are considered.

Develops an understanding and critique of environmental and natural resource economics and considers extensions and alternatives for understanding complex systems of people and nature. Discussion of economic indicators of success, scale, sustainability, and of the value of natural resources is balanced by attention to policy design and to issues of political and economic power, inequality, and historical change. The role of ecosystem services, natural and social capital in economic development are considered.

(Same as Religion 329.) Historical, philosophical, and ethical relationships between religion and ecology; other dimensions include Eastern thought, ecofeminism, animal rights, and literary nature writers.

Environmental Studies 130 is strongly recommended as a prerequisite. The science of climatology studies the physical properties of the earth's atmosphere and how they conspire to produce the observed climates of the present and the deduced climates of the past. This course pays particular attention to the energy cascade of the climate system, the processes by which energy becomes distributed across the globe, and the potential role of the ocean in long- and short-term climate change.

(Same as Political Science 339.) This lecture course examines the relationship between governance and the destruction of the earth's environment. Relevant aspects of governance include regulatory and structural influences common to contemporary democracies.

(Same as History 344.) History of human interactions with the natural world in America and changing attitudes towards it, from the time of the first European settlements to the present.

(Same as Biology 345.) Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 131 and 132 or Biology 141 and 142 or permission. This course focuses on the conservation of biodiversity and introduces students to ways that ecological and evolutionary principles can be used to conserve and protect species and ecosystems at risk. Specific topics include the causes and consequences of biodiversity, systematics and endangered species, the demography and genetics of small populations, invasive species, habitat loss and fragmentation, design of reserves, and restoration ecology.

Prerequisites: Environmental Studies 131 and 132, or Biology 141 and 142, or permission. This course will familiarize students with principles of ecological invasions and methods for assessing the spread and impacts of invasive species on a global scale. Students will also become familiar with major sources of exotic species introductions and methods available for prevention and control.

This course is designed to expose students to the philosophical and ethical dimensions of human-nature relationships.

Open only to undergraduate students by permission of the instructor. Additionally, this course is required for all students seeking to apply for the fellowship in Community Building and Social Change.

(Same as Biology 371.) Credit, two hours. This course will explore the diverse biomes of the tropics. Focus will be on tropical forests and grasslands with an emphasis on ecological processes, biodiversity, human impact on the tropics, indigenous peoples, and ethnobotany.

(Same as Biology 372.) Credit, two hours. Permission required. Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 371 or currently enrolled. This is the field course to accompany the lecture course on tropical ecology. Field trip will take place during the spring recess.

Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 131, 132, or Political Science 110, or permission. An advanced course designed to introduce students to the complexity of policy problems surrounding international environmental issues. We begin with the difference between national and international policy issues, and why international environmental issues present unique challenges. The class will then address the fragility of international environmental institutions and the history of this topic. The second half of the course will focus on specific policy problems such as: free trade, sustainable development, population growth, climate change, and endangered species. Students will also develop an expertise in the positions and problems of one nation outside the United States.

(Same as Art History 383.) Credit, three hours. This upper-level undergraduate seminar covers artistic and scientific perspectives on the environment of Costa Rica. The goal of the course is to teach students how interdisciplinarity enriches and unlocks complex subjects; and, to make science accessible to humanities-oriented students and vice versa, through an experiential, Theory Practice Learning format.

(Same as Art History 384.) Credit, one hour. Students who take the field trip to Costa Rica in the spring will register for this course.

Variable topics that are offered as incipient or irregular courses. Past course topics have included: Finding Place: Technology, Stories, and the Environment; Introduction to Botany; Water: In Science, Philosophy, and Literature; Environment, Health, and Development; Conservation and Development; Earth Materials: Minerology and Petrology; Booms and Busts in Resources of Georgia; Paleoecology; and Wetland Ecology.

Credit, two hours. Weekly seminar on topics in Environmental Studies featuring speakers from within and outside the University.

Main purpose of the course is to explore the evidence for extinctions throughout the history of the earth, including recent extinctions attributed to human influence. Emphasis will be placed on using multiple lines of evidence and assessing the reliability of evidence for prehuman and recent extinctions, as well as for predicting future extinctions.

Permission required. This course allows students to explore the ecological and legal dimensions of environmental issues of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management, and sustainable development. The class will combine readings and case studies.

Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 240 or permission. This course will use ecological concepts to investigate questions (problems) on the Emory campus. The course will combine lectures with laboratory exercises designed to elaborate on lecture material and to give students a hands on experience in the application of concepts to the field setting.

Prerequisites: Environmental Studies 131 and 132. This course will provide students the opportunity to experience and learn about the diverse ecosystems of the Southeast. Ecosystems to be discussed may include: Piedmont, coastal barrier islands, long-leafed pines, Okeefenokee, lakes and rivers, farmland, and cities.

Permission required. An advanced seminar that explores the diversity of fishing peoples of the world and the problems they face in the twenty-first century. After an introduction to social, economic, and technological aspects of the world's fisheries, we spend the majority of course time on the problem of over-fishing and the means of controlling it. In doing so, we examine the range of possible management options, specific case studies of successes and failures, international management approaches, and innovation in management.

Permission required. This course is designed to give students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have accumulated during their undergraduate experience at Emory. Students will contribute to a group project designed to fulfill a need for a community group. The course will use a consultant/client model. The consultant model will allow students to apply theories and concepts learned in other classes to a practical situation.

Permission of honors coordinator is required. Course is restricted to students who are accepted into the departmental honors program. Students may register for a writing-intensive section (Environmental Studies 495WR) to fulfill a post-freshman writing requirement. Does not count for focus area credit.

Permission of honors coordinator is required. Course is restricted to students who are accepted into the departmental honors program. Students may register for a writing-intensive section (Environmental Studies 495WR) to fulfill a post-freshman writing requirement. Does not count for focus area credit.

Variable credit. May be repeated for a maximum of eight hours. Permission required prior to enrollment. Students receive credit for working as an intern in approved settings. Does not count for focus area credit.

Variable credit. May be repeated for a maximum of eight hours. Permission required prior to enrollment. This course allows for students to work with faculty to explore subjects of mutual interest on specific topics that are not normally offered. Students may register for a writing intensive section (Environmental Studies 498WR) to fulfill a post-freshman writing requirement. Does not count for focus area credit.

Variable credit; may be repeated for a maximum of eight hours. Permission required prior to enrollment. Student research on projects directed by environmental studies faculty members. Students may register for a writing-intensive section (Environmental Studies 499WR) to fulfill a post-freshman writing requirement. Does not count for focus area credit.