ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (ENVS)-----Note: Listings for GEOL follow ENVS 999
SM 098. The Next Millenium: Would Technology Help Us Resolve the Environmental
Dilemma?. (C)Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Bokreta / Santiago-Aviles.
Over the last century we have witnessed the dominance
of man over nature. Technology, our understanding
of our environment and our consumption habits have
been the principal weapons used in this conquest.
Now, at the beginning of a new millenium, questions
and concerns about our actions and perceptions are
being raised. Can today's technology and new knowledge
about our environment and human nature assure our
survival? How can we use the next hundred years to
reconstruct and restore our future? These are the
fundamental questions that the class will investigate.This
course will rely on evidence,the use of hypotheses,
theories, and logic as well as students' scientific
inquiry and creativity. We will discuss systems,
models, simulations, constancy, patterns of change,
evolution, and scale.
L/R 200. Introduction to Environmental Analysis. (C) Physical World Sector. All classes. Plante. Introduction to Environmental Analysis
will expose students to the principles that underlie
our understanding of how the Earth works. The goal
of Earth Systems Science is to obtain a scientific
understanding of the entire Earth system by describing
its component parts (lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere,
biosphere) and their interactions, and describe how
they have evolved, how they function, and how they
may be expected to respond to human activity. The
challenge to Earth Systems Science is to develop
the capability to predict those changes that will
occur in the next decade to century, both naturally
and in response to human activity. Energy, both natural
and human-generated, will be used as a unifying principle.
Knowledge gained through this course will help students
make informed decisions in all spheres of human activity:
science, policy, economics, etc.
295. Maritime Science and Technology: Woods Hole Sea Semester. (C) Dmochowski. Prerequisite(s): Laboratory course in physical or biological science
or its equivalent; college algebra or its equivalent.
This set of courses requires special application
procedures. Contact Dr. Giegengack for information
and an application.
A rigorous semester-length academic and practical experience leading to an understanding
of the oceans. The Sea Semester is composed of two
intensive six-week components taken off-campus. The
Shore Component is six weeks at Woods Hole, Massachusetts,
with formal study in: Oceanography, Maritime Studies,
and Nautical Science. This is followed by six weeks
aboard a sailing research vessel, during which students
conduct oceanographic research projects as part of
the courses, Practical Oceanography I and II.
Maritime Studies. A multidisciplinary study of the history, literature, and
art of our maritime heritage, and the political and
economic problems of contemporary maritime affairs.
Nautical Science. The technologies of operation at sea. Concepts of navigation,
naval architecture, ship construction, marine engineering
systems, and ship management are taught from their
bases in physics, mathematics, and astronomy.
Practical Oceanography I. Taken aboard SSV Westward or SSV Corwith Cramer. Theories
and problems raised in the shore component are tested
in the practice of oceanography at sea. Students
are introduced to the tools and techniques of the
practicing oceanographer. During two lectures daily
and while standing watch, students learn the operation
of basic oceanographic equipment, the methodologies
involved in the collection, reduction, and analysis
of oceanographic data, and the attendant operations
of a sailing oceanographic research vessel. Practical
Oceanography
II. Taken aboard SSV Westward or SSV Corwith Cramer. Students assume increasing
responsibility for conducting oceanographic research and the attendant operations of the vessel. The individual
student is responsible directly to the chief scientist and the master of the vessel for the safe and orderly conduct
of research activities and related operation of the vessel. Each student completes an individual oceanographic research project
designed during the shore component.
299. Independent Study. (C) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Permission of department. May be repeated for credit. Directed study for individuals or small groups under supervision of a faculty
member.
301. Environmental Case Studies. (C) Doheny. Prerequisite(s): ENVS 200. A detailed, comprehensive investigation of selected environmental problems.
Guest speakers from the government and industry will give their acccounts of various environmental cases. Students
will then present information on a case study of their choosing.
SM 399. (GEOL399) Environmental Studies Research Seminar for Juniors. (B) Dmochowski. Prerequisite(s): ENVS200. This seminar is designed to help Juniors prepare for the Senior Thesis research.
Topic selection, advisor identification, funding options, and basic research methods will be discussed.
SM 400. Environmental Studies Seminar. (C) Scatena. May be repeated for credit. Application of student and faculty expertise to a specific environmental problem,
chosen expressly for the seminar.
SM 404. (HSOC404) Urban Environments: Speaking About Lead in West Philadelphia.
(B) Pepino. ABCS Course. Requires community service in addition to class time. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, impaired hearing, behavioral
problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death. Children up to the age of six are especially at risk because
of their developing systems; they often ingest lead chips and dust while playing in their home and yards.
In ENVS 404, Penn undergraduates learn about the epidemiology of lead poisoning,
the pathways of exposure, and methods for community
outreach and education. Penn students collaborate
with middle school and high school teachers in West
Philadelphia to engage middle school children in
exercises that apply environmental research relating
to lead poisoning to their homes and neighborhoods.
SM 405. (HSOC405) Urban Environment II. (A) Pepino. Prerequisite(s): ENVS 404 or permission of instructor. Requires community service. An independent study where Penn undergraduates can
explore the health, environmental, and natural resource
issues of Philadelphia,with a focus on the specific
needs of West Philadelphia. Current public health
concerns impacting vulnerable populations such as
children, especially lead poisoning and asthma, are
potential topics. Environmental issues such as water
supply, air quality, radon, brownfields, and sprawl
would also be good areas of study. Community service
can be a component of the study. Permission from
the instructor is required.
SM 406. (HSOC406) Community Based Environmental Health. (A) Pepino. ABCS Course. Requires community service in addition to class time. From the fall of the Roman Empire
to Love Canal to the epidemics of asthma, childhood
obesity and lead poisoning in West Philadelphia,
the impact of the environment on health has been
a continuous challenge to society. The environment
can affect people's health more strongly than biological
factors, medical care and lifestyle. The water we
drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the
neighborhood we live in are all components of the
environment that impact our health. Some estimates,
based on morbidity and mortality statistics, indicate
that the impact of the environment on health is as
high as 80%. These impacts are particularly significant
in urban areas like West Philadelphia. Over the last
20 years, the field of environmental health has matured
and expanded to become one of the most comprehensive
and humanly relevant disciplines in science.
This course will examine not only the toxicity of physical agents, but also
the effects on human health of lifestyle, social
and economic factors, and the built environment.
Topics include cancer clusters, water borne diseases,
radon and lung cancer, lead poisoning, environmental
tobacco smoke, respiratory diseases and obesity.
Students will research the health impacts of classic
industrial pollution case studies in the US. Class
discussions will also include risk communication,
community outreach and education, access to health
care and impact on vulnerable populations. Each student
will have the opportunity to focus on Public Health,
Environmental Protection, Public Policy, and Environmental
Education issues as they discuss approaches to mitigating
environmental health risks.
This honors seminar will consist of lectures, guest speakers, readings, student
presentations, discussions, research, and community
service. The students will have two small research
assignments including an Environmental and Health
Policy Analysis and an Industrial Pollution Case
Study Analysis. Both assignments will include class
presentations. The major research assignment for
the course will be a problem-oriented research paper
and presentation on a topic related to community-based
environmental health selected by the student. In
this paper, the student must also devise practical
recommendations for the problem based on their research.
SM 407. (HSOC407) Urban Environments: Prevention of Tobacco Smoking in Adolescents.
(B) Pepino. ABCS Course. Requires community service in addition to class time. Cigarette
smoking is a major public health problem. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention Control reports
that more than 80% of current adult tobacco users
started smoking before age 18. The National Youth
Tobacco Survey indicated that 12.8% of middle school
students and 34.8% of high school students in their
study used some form of tobacco products.
In ENVS 407, Penn undergraduates learn about the short and long term physiological
consequences of smoking, social influences and peer
norms regarding tobacco use, the effectiveness of
cessation programs, tobacco advocacy and the impact
of the tobacco settlement. Penn students will collaborate
with teachers in West Philadelphia to prepare and
deliver lessons to middle school students. The undergraduates
will survey and evaluate middle school and Penn student
smoking. One of the course goals is to raise awareness
of the middle school children to prevent addiction
to tobacco smoke during adolescence. Collaboration
with the middle schools gives Penn students the opportunity
to apply their study of the prevention of tobacco
smoking to real world situations.
SM 408. (HSOC408) Urban Environments: The Urban Asthma Epedemic. (B) Pepino. ABCS Course. Requires community service in addition to class time. Asthma as a pediatric
chronic disease is undergoing a dramatic and unexplained
increase. It has become the number one cause of public
school absenteeism and now accounts for a significant
number of childhood deaths each year in the USA.The
Surgeon General of the United States has characterized
childhood asthma as an epidemic. In ENVS 408, Penn
undergraduates learn about the epidemiology of urban
asthma, the debate about the probable causes of the
current asthma crisis, and the nature and distribution
of environmental factors that modern medicine describes
as potential triggers of asthma episodes.
Penn students will collaborate with the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
on a clinical research study entitled the Community
Asthma Prevention Program. The Penn undergraduates
will co-teach with CHOP parent educators asthma classes
offered at community centers in Southwest, West,
and North Philadelphia. The CHOP study gives the
Penn students the opportunity to apply their study
of the urban asthma epidemic to real world situations.
450. Techniques in environmental accounting and system analysis. (C) Scatena. Prerequisite(s): One year of introductory calculus and statistics, working knowledge of spreadsheet software.
This course covers the development and analysis of
environmental budgets and input-output models that
are commonly used in earth and environmental science.
The first part of the semester will concentrate on
the physical laws, systems principles, and analytical
tools used in developing and evaluating input-output
models and environmental budgets. In the remainder
of the semester, we will develop and analyze hydrologic,
energy and nutrient budgets for a variety of systems.
452. Disturbances and Disasters. (A) Scatena. This course covers the earth and environmental science of natural
disturbances and disasters. Floods, tsunamis, snow
and ice storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, droughts,
and meteor impacts will be discussed and covered
with case studies and readings. The distribution and frequency, geologic and ecosystem
level impacts, and risk management of each disturbance
will be discussed.
SM 463. (ENVS643, URBS463, URBS663) Brownfield Remediation. (M) Keene. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course gives an overview of the genesis of the so-called "Brownfield" problem
and of the various efforts that our society is taking
to try to solve, or at least ameliorate it. The course
will place the "Brownfield" problem in
the broader context of the growth and decline of
industrial base cities like Philadelphia. Students
will study the general constitutional and statutory
framework within which we approach the problems of
orphan, polluted sites and the disposal of contemporary
solid wastes. They will also analyze the principal
actions that have been taken by federal and state
governments to address remediation and redevelopment
of abandoned industrial sites. In addition, the course
will explore environmental equity issues.
499. Senior Thesis. (F) Giegengack. Prerequisite(s): ENVS 400-level course (may be taken concurrently).
The Environmental Studies major requires 2 semesters of ENVS 499. The culmination of the Environmental Studies Major. Students write a thesis
on a topic which combines their concentration with Environmental Studies. Students work with an advisor in their
discipline.
501. (MUSA501) GIS, ArcGIS & NeoGeography. (L) This distance learning course introduces students to the fundamental techniques
for using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to
analyze neighborhood markets. GIS is a computer-based
data processing tool used to manage, visualize and
analyze spatial information. Using Arc GIS 9.2, this
course provides a hands-on experience to create maps,
integrate demographic and economic data to conduct
analysis within students' field of interest, including
geography, history, archaeology, engineering, real
estate, sociology, architecture, and political science/
policy studies. Students will also be introduced
to advanced geospatial analysis tools and intergrated
online mapping environments using NeoGeography. The
class will enable students to learn how to address
research questions and problems specific to their
fields through GIS; the focus throughout will be
on professional and resarch applications of this
technology. Students will have virtual lectures and
GIS lab support throughout online meetings at least
two times per week. One-on-One and small group work
sessions will be scheduled as needed. Prior experience
with GIS is not required. This is a PC-based progam,
only.
SM 502. Environmental Chemistry. (M) Doheny and Andrews. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. The chemistry
of water, air, and soil will be studied from an environmental
perspective. The nature, composition, structure,
and properties of pollutants, their means of detection
and methods of purification and remediation will
also be studied.
504. Biogeochemical Cycles. (L) Gill. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. The presence of life on Earth has had a profound effect on the chemistry of
the planet. This course examines the major elemental cycles of the globe, studying how these cycles link the atmosphere,
oceans, and land. We will analyze how life influences these cycles, particularly how human activity affects them.
We will study nutrient cycles in soil, wetlands, lakes, rivers, estuaries, the sea and the atmosphere, integrating
these interactions to global-scale processes. One semester of chemistry recommended as background.
507. Wetlands. (M) Willig. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. The course focuses on the natural history of different wetland types including
climate, geology, and,hydrology factors that influence wetland development Associated soil, vegetation, and wildlife
characteristics and key ecological processes will be covered as well. Lectures will be supplemented with weekend
wetland types, ranging from tidal salt marshes to non-tidal marshes, swamps, and glacial bogs in order to provide field
experience in wetland identification, characterization, and functional assessment. Outside speakers will discuss issues
in wetland seed bank ecology, federal regulation, and mitigation. Students will present a short paper on the ecology
of a wetland animal and a longer term paper on a selected wetland topic. Readings from the text, assorted journal
papers, government technical documents, and book excerpts will provide a broad overview of the multifaceted field of
wetland study.
530. Rocky Mountain Field Geology and Ecology. (L) Giegengack/Bordeaux. Field work is done in and around Red Lodge, Montana. An additional fee for Room and Board applies. Permission
of the Instructor is required for non- MES students. Offered through CGS - See current timetable.
Designed for the MES program (open to non-MES students by permission of the
instructor). This is a two-week intensive field course in the geology, natural history, and ecology of the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem, which comprises a range of environments from the mile-high semi-deserts of intermontane
basins to the alpine tundra of the Beartooth Plateau above 12,000 feet. The program is based at the Yellowstone-Bighorn
Research Association (YBRA) field station on the northeast flank of the Beartooth Mountains near Red Lodge,
Montana. The course includes day trips from the field station as well as overnight visits to sites within Yellowstone
National Park. Pre-trip classes will be held online before the trip to ensure that all students are adequately familiar
with basic principles of field-based natural science.
SM 533. Research Methods in Environmental Studies. (M) Bordeaux. This course is designed to prepare Master of Environmental Studies
students to undertake their Capstone exercises. In
this course, we discuss how to identify an appropriate
research project, how to design a research plan,
and how to prepare a detailed proposal. Each student
should enter the course with a preliminary research
plan and should have identified an advisor. By the
end of the course, each student is expected to have
a completed Capstone proposal that has been reviewed
and approved by his/her advisor.
541. Modeling Geographical Objects. (M) Tomlin. This course offers a broad and practical introduction to the acquisition,
storage, retrieval, maintenance, use, and presentation
of digital cartographic data with both image and
drawing based geographic information systems (GIS)
for a variety of environmental science, planning,
and management applications. Its major objectives
are to provide the training necessary to make productive use of at least two well known software
packages, and to establish the conceptual foundation
on which to build further skills and knowledge in
late practice.
SM 575. (ENGL584, FOLK575, HSSC575) Environmental Imaginaries. (M) Hufford. Behind struggles over resource use and patterns of development are
collective fictions that relate people to their material
surroundings. "Environmental imaginaries" refers
to the contending discourses that arrange society
around processes of development and change. What
are the Cartesian fictions that enable the chronic
separation of culture from environment? How are these
fictions produced, enacted, and materialized in such
diverse sites as Appalachian strip mines, Sea World,
nature talks, and permit hearings? How might alternative
ways of knowing and being be conjured through naming
practices, narratives, and other speech genres, as
well as yardscapes, protest rallies and other forms
of public display? Drawing on theories of worldmaking
and ethnographic works on culture and environment,
this seminar examines the production of Cartesian-based
environmental imaginaries and their alternatives
across a range of such genres and practices.
580. Ecology of Health. (A) Sheehan. Movements of people and populations in various historic periods have
led to the introduction of diseases new to a population.
The colonial period, for example, witnessed the introduction
of smallpox to the Americas by European colonizers,
resulting in the decimation of indigenous populations.
Accompanying changes in agricultural practices, ecological
destruction, and changes introduced by war, development,
and trade often led to altered habitat, diet, and disease patterns that threatened both colonizers and the colonized. Today, rapid
and easy movement of individuals and goods around
the globe, as well as new technologies, continued
status inequality between rich and poor nations,
and sociopolitical conflicts, have created a condition of new, emergent, and reemerging
diseases. In addition, the ability of microbes to
alter in response to changed environments make identification
and control of disease-causing agents a challenge
to medical science.
This course will focus on the social, political, and economic sources and ramifications
of world-wide disease patterns. Infectious diseases
such as malaria, dengue fever, tuberculosis, and
AIDS will be examined. Ecological changes and new
technologies, often alter food resources, productive
activities, and the environment resulting in new
disease patterns; one example is arsenic poisoning
in Bangladesh brought about by deeply bored wells.
The The activities of national and international
organizations to cope with disease outbreaks, to
formulate strategies for disease surveillance and
notification, and to create solutions are important
to understanding the state of global health. Selected
case studies will be used, placing them within a
framework of sociological analysis of health and
disease, medical research, poverty and disease, as
well as national and international organizational
and policy responses.
SM 601. Proseminar: Contemporary Issues in Environmental Studies. (M) Pfefferkorn & Gill. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. A detailed, comprehensive investigation of selected environmental problems.
This is the first course taken by students entering the Master of Environmental Studies Program.
604. (ENVS414) Conservation and Land Management. (M) Harper. Some Saturday field trips will be required. Using protected lands in
the Delaware Valley, this field-based course will
explore various strategies for open-space conservation
and protection. In addition, students will be introduced
to land management techniques used on such sites
to restore or preserve land trust proerties in accordace
with goals set for their use or protection.Sustainable
land uses such as community supported agriculture,
ecovillages, and permaculture design will be covered.
Emphasis will be placed on developing skills in "Reading the Landscape" to determine
conservation and restoration priorities. Students
will produce a site assessment report on sites that
they visit.
608. Geology & Ecology of the Isle of Arran, Scotland. (L) Giegengack and Bordeaux. Prerequisite(s): An introductory Geology or Ecology course would be helpful. MES Summer Course.
The Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland,
might very well be called the birthplace of modern
Geology. James Hutton, Scottish Physician and gentleman
farmer, conceived of the concept of Uniformitarianism,
while wandering about the Isle of Arran. Hutton's
Theory of the Earth laid down this concept, which
later became one of the foundation principles of
modern geology and earned him the appellation "Father
of Modern Geology". The island offers a wide
variety of rock types and geological events that
has drawn geologists and students from around the
globe to this tiny island.
The position of the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland, places it
close to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, allowing
for a much milder and wetter climate than might be
expected from the island's latitude. The distribution
and types of plants and animals found on the island
are a direct consequence of this milder and wetter
climate. The proximity to ocean waters also gives
the class a chance to examine near shore marine environments.
ENVS 688 is a two-week intensive field course in the geology, natural history,
ecology, and culture of the Isle of Arran, Scotland.
Pre-trip classes will be held online before the trip
to ensure that all students are adequately familiar
with basic principles of field-based natural science.
Students will then meet in Glasgow and travel together
to the Isle of Arran where they will be based for
the duration of the two weeks. Students will participate
in a number of field exercises that include: mapping
of dikes, examination of raised beaches (causes and
consequences), cave formation, and modern landscape
formation based on underlying geology. The types
of plants and animals found on the island will be
examined in light of their position on the island
and the underlying geology. Students will map floral
distributions as part of a multi-day exercise, examine
the red deer population and the effects of interbreeding
with an introduced Japanese Sika deer, and the possible
consequences of reintroducing the wolf. Students
will also examine ancient standing stones, stone
circles, runrig agricultural practice's effects on
modern landscapes, and tour Brodick Castle as part
of the cultural aspect of the course. Guest lectures
from local historians are also planned.
610. Regional Field Ecology. (L) Willig. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. Some Saturday field trips required. Over the course of six Saturday field trips, we will travel from the
barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean in southern
New Jersey to the Pocono Mountains in northeastern
Pennsylvania, visiting representative sites of the
diverse landscapes in the region along the way. At
each site we will study and consider interactions
between geology, topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation,
wildlife, and disturbance. Students will summarize
field trip data in a weekly site report. Evening
class meetings will provide the opportunity to review
field trips and reports and preview upcoming trips.
Six all-day Saturday field trips are required.
SM 611. Environmental Law. (B) LeGros. This course will provide an introduction to environmental law and the
legal process by which environmental laws are implemented
and enforced. The course will examine the common
law roots of environmental regulation in tort principles such as nuisance, negligence and trespass. We will examine important
Constitutional principles in substantive and procedural
law as well as significant environmental laws and
approaches. Finally, we will examine emerging theories
of citizen's rights and the government's role in
environmental law and regulation. Students will learn
how to read and analyze course decisions and apply
some of the elements of legal thinking to actual
cases and current problems.
612. (ENVS412) Economics and the Environment. (M) Handy. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to basic economic tools and
methods, as they are applied to environmental issues -- including pollution control, resource depletion, the
global commons, intergenerational equity, and policy decision-making. The course is designed for those with little or
no prior economics background; disciplined sceptics are welcome.
SM 613. (ENVS413) Business and the Natural Environment. (B) Heller. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course explores dramatic changes taking place at the interface of business,
society, and the natural environment. Previously, business and environmental interests were believed to be adversarial.
Now, some contemporary thinkers are suggesting that environmental capabilities can be a source of competitive
advantage for corporations. A recent Harvard Business Review article refers to the sum of these changes as "The
Next Industrial Revolution." In this course we will study examples on the cutting edge of these developments. We will look
at corporations that are creating a "double bottom line" by strategizing about the ecological impact of
their decisions, as well as the economic impact. We will learn about industrial designers who are rethinking everything from
tennis shoes to corporate headquarters' buildings with the environment in mind. We will consider new alliances among
business, environmental activists and government regulators -- all stakeholders in a sustainable society.
615. Professional Case Studies in Environmental Analysis and Management. (M) Laskowski. This course is designed for students nearing the end of their MES
program. It will provide students with hands-on experience
working with local environmental professionals on
projects in the Delaware Valley region. Each student
will select a project made available by a local public
or private agency. Among the tasks that students
will perform are data collection and analysis, project
planning, and documentation. Each student will prepare
a detailed report under the direction of the agency
representative that can be the basis for a Capstone
project. Those interested in continuing on to the Capstone phase will use the report as the basis for a publishable document
to be prepared in conjunction with the participating
agency.
SM 617. Innovative Environmental Management Strategies. (M) Laskowski. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course will evaluate innovative environmental management
strategies used by corporations, governments, the
public, and NGOs including approaches such as the
concept of pollution prevention, environmental management
systems, green buildings, green product design, product
labeling, environmental education, the power of information,
market-based techniques, and industrial ecology.
Some professionals believe that these innovative
approaches have the potential to result in more environmental
improvement than will be realized by additional regulatory
requirements. This course will address which approaches
work best and identify critical elements needed to
ensure the best approaches to specific problems.
Students will be exposed to real-life situations
through expert guest lecturers, case studies, and "hands
on" projects.
SM 620. (AFST620) Topics on African Environmental Issues. (B) Fonjweng. Africa is a land of great contrasts and possesses a rich mix of scenic
beauty, impressive biodiversity, cultures, economies
and history. Almost completely encircled by water
and home to a network of some of the world's largest
and longest rivers, Africa is also home to two vast
and expanding hot deserts. While Africa contains
enormous amounts of mineral wealth, it also has fifteen
of the world's least developed countries. Its climate
ranges from the harsh extremes in hot deserts to
the Arctic Current dominated temperate climate of
the southern tip of Africa and the pleasant Mediterranean
climate of North Africa.
Africa's remarkable ecological diversity is unique and is an expression of the
varied climates in the continent, with camels in
Egypt, Goliath frogs (the largest frogs in the world)
in Cameroon and the African penguins in Namibia and
South Africa. Africa has extensive fertile grasslands
and lush equatorial forests, yet many of its people
suffer from hunger and starvation. Despite possessing
some of the most scenic and pristine landscapes in
the world, poor resource management has resulted
in serious environmental problems in various parts
of Africa, including air and water pollution, deforestation,
loss of soil & soil fertility and a dramatic
decline in biodiversity through out the continent.
This course aims to explore Africa's natural environment and the impact of human
activities on it. Each semester the course will offer
an overview of Africa's environment as it relates
to one of the following two topics 1) Water issues;
2)Environmental impact of development projects, natural
resource extraction and consumption. Each semester,
in addition to analyzing one of the above topics,
we will pick a couple of case studies from within
the US that can be used to show parallels between some of the issues discussed in the African case
studies. The students will be asked to conduct research
on a relevant topic in any region in Africa for a
paper due at the end of the semester.
621. Public Voices, Private Rights: Perspectives on American Environmentalism. (A) Minott. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course will address various aspects
of American environmentalism. We will look at structural
issues such as the foundations of environmental protection
in common law, the constitutional limits on environmental
protection, and the creation of bureaucratic environmental
policy making. We will also look at philosophical
issues such as American Conservationism and Preservationism,
the anti-environmental backlash, and environmental
justice. Finally, we will discuss scientific and
legal issues such as the economics of risk, the question
of who can speak for Nature, and voluntary actions/command
and control.
SM 623. Crossing Borders: Policy, Regulatory and Management Issues in Transboundary Environmental Protection. (B) Feldman. Offered through CGS - See Current Timetable. Transboundary issues
arise at the local, regional, supra-national, and
global levels. Pollution does not respect political
boundaries; habitats are defined by ecosystems, not
by regulation. This course will introduce the difficulties
posed by cross-border issues and, using case studies,
explore a range of policy, regulatory and management
mechanisms employed to address these challenges.
Among the topics to be covered include: interstate
compacts (e.g. Chesapeake Bay), NAFTA Commission
on Environmental Cooperation (e.g. biodiversity in
North America), Regional Cooperation (e.g. Baltic Sea, international watercourses), European Union regulation (e.g. Hazardous
Waste directives and the Basel Convention), and international
conventions (e.g. The Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse
gas emissions).
625. Overview of Environmental Justice: Issues, Actions and Visions for the Future.
(B) Harris and Thompson. Offered through CGS-See current Timetable. Many people refer to the
Environmental Justice Movement as the most significant
social rights movement to occur in this country since
the Civil Rights Movement.Communities around the
United States have expressed concerns related to
the siting, permitting and clean up of hazardous
waste sites in minority and low-income areas. Beginning
with the protests in Warren County, North Carolina,
Environmental Justice has become a most critical
and controversial issue in this country. This course
will provide an overview of the history, guiding
principles, and issues of concern regarding Environmental
Justice and will examine the approaches taken by
communities, EPA, state and local government over
the years to address these concerns. Students will
be expected to evaluate and assess the various issues
and case studies presented to them in a critical
fashion, discuss these case studies, and make recommendations
for appropriate action.
SM 627. The Delaware River: An Environmental Case Study. (B) Laskowski and Collier. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. The Delaware River and Estuary offer an opportunity
to examine efforts to protect the environment in
a multi-state, economically and ecologically complex
area. This case studey will review environmental
protection efforts in and around the River, the stressors
on the environment, and attempts to balance environmental
protection with economic, employment, and other needs.
Itwill address scientific issues, relationships between
air and water quality transportation and sprawl issues,
the balancing of water quality and water quantity.
Students will learn about the institutions responsible
for managing this complex system, and what goals
and indicators of progress are used by these organizations.
Students will be asked to research, in detail, one
or more aspects of the environmental management systems.
They will identify the key drivers in determining
environmental quality, recommend inprovements to
the system, and propose a vision for the future.
629. Global Environmental Politics. (A) Hunold. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. Nation-states and multinational
corporations are the most powerful actors in the
global political economy. What does this mean for
efforts to protect the global environment? Do environmental
activists stand a chance? Drawing on insights from
green political theory, international relations,
and political economy, the field of global environmental
politics may have the answer. Following a survey
of relevant state and non-state actors in global
environmental politics, and a review of major international
environmental agreements, we will examine diverse
theories of global environmental politics. Regime
theory, global governance, green critiques of globalization,
green theories of state sovereignty, and social movement
theory offer competing accounts of the role of state,
society, and economy in creating and managing global environmental change. Our goal will be to assess
these competing explanations and strategies for promoting
global ecological sustainability.
SM 631. (ENVS431) Current EPA Regulatory Practices and Future Directions. (A) Laskowski. The regulatory approach continues to be the foundation of environmental
protection in the US. This course provides an overview
of key environmental laws and regulations, and the
processes used to write permits, conduct inspections
and take enforcement actions. It is taught mainly
from the perspective of the federal government and
will also include perspectives from the states, NGOs,
and the regulated community. Techniques used to set
priorities, ensure fairness, and encourage compliance are included. Current issues in major regulatory programs
will be reviewed and future directions will be discussed.
632. Energy and the Environment in the U.S. (M) Huemmler. This is a survey course that will examine the current U.S. energy
industry, from production to consumption, and its
impacts on local, regional, and the global environment.
The course will seek to provide a fuller understanding
of existing energy systems, ranging from technical
overviews of each, to an exploration of the well-established
policy framework each operates within. Near-term
demands upon each energy supply system will be discussed,
with particular focus on environmental constraints.
Policy options facing each energy industry will be
reviewed. By semester's end, successful students will have developed an intellectual framework to understand
the challenges facing the U.S. energy system.
SM 633. Community Involvement in Environmental Analysis and Management. (A) Pomponio and Esher. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course will investigate the
various community involvement and communication tools,
venues, and practices used during the analysis and
management of decisions affecting the environment.
Students will be exposed to real-life situations
through expert guest lecturers, case studies, and
hands on projects. The course will investigate communication
practices for project specific issues relative to
the National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA), Superfund,
and other local, state, and federal vehicles. Students
can expect to learn, experience, and apply communication
tools to ongoing proposals for major highway, impoundment,
and other infrastructure proposals as well as for
environmental clean up initiatives launched under
various authorities. Students will also examine and
contribute to citizen advisory and stakeholder forums
for major watershed and estuary programs. Specific
communication challenges to achieve environmental
justice and the conveyance of technical information
will be explored.
SM 635. Major Global Environmental Problems of Today and how we must deal with
them tomorrow. (B) Laskowski. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. Global environmental
problems of today are some of the greatest challenges
of the new millennium. Almost everyone is in some
way part of the problem and increasingly will be
asked to be a part of the solution. The problems
that we face today often differ from those of the
past because it is sometimes difficult for the international
community to agree on the extent, causes, and impacts
of the problem and how to allocate responsibility
for the resolution of the problem. Governments, businesses
and NGOs around the world have recognized the need
to take the initiative and address these issues through
regulation, voluntary approaches, and cooperation
on an international level. How best to manage these
problems is the constant challenge. This course will
provide an overview of several of the major global
environmental problems facing the world today, and
how they are connected by common causes, underlying
themes and concepts critical to the understanding
and management of these issues. It will examine the
over-arching concepts of sustainability and globalization
as well as frameworks for assessing and managing
the issues. The course will also consider the role
of the major players/stakeholders in the situation,
including governments, non-government organizations,
and private sector individuals/participants, and
where appropriate, touch on such issues as intergenerational
aspects and the potential long-term irreversibility.
With the assistance of regional and national experts,
we will address specific problems, such as: human
populations and their environmental impact; issues
surrounding resources such as food, water, habitats,
and energy; global climate change; the ozone layer;
and problems of international/environmental terrorism, catastrophes, and disease. Each student
will prepare a report and presentation on some aspect
of a topic discussed during the term.
637. (ENVS437) Global Water Issues. (A) Laskowski. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. Water- related illnesses
are estimated by some to kill up to 5000 people per
day worldwide and many of these casualties are children.
This course will explore the causes of this global
crisis and what is being done to address the issue.
It will provide an overview of international agreements,
wastewater and water supply issues, technological
advances, political/financial/cultural and other
barriers to success, and what students can do to
become involved in resolving the issues. Guest lecturers
and case studies will provide insights to problems
in problem areas around the world. Students will be asked to evaluate specific problems and suggest improved
approaches to improving access to clean water.
SM 638. Topics in Global Water Management Governance and Finance. (A) Laskowski. This course will focus on the governance and finance issues surrounding
the efforts to meet the UN Millennium Goal [MDG]
for water supply and sanitation. Every twenty seconds
someone in the world, usually a child, dies from
a water-related problem. The MDG aims to halve the
percentage of the world's population without access
to safe drinking water and basic sanitation".
Inadequate organization, corruption, poor educational
systems are some of the critical barriers relating
to good governance. Finding sufficient funding, promoting
public-private partnerships, and establishing needed
legal/financial systems are some of the financial
challenges. Using case studies, guest speakers, and
the latest information available this course will
provide insights to students on how to address these
issues.
641. Water in Environmental Planning. (M) Curley. This course will present a combination of technical and non-technical material.
Its purpose is to introduce the people who are not engineers or scientists to the practices that engineers and scientists
use to study water and watersheds. It will present the following concepts: Hydrology, Water Treatment, and Waste Water.
SM 643. (ENVS463, URBS463, URBS663) Brownfield Remediation. (M) Keene. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course is intended to give students an overview of the
genesis of the so-called "Brownfield" problem
and of the various efforts our society is taking
to solve or, at least, ameliorate it. The course
will place the "Brownfield" problem in
the broader context of the growth and decline of
the industrial base of cities like Philadelphia.
Students will study the general constitutional and
statutory framework within which we approach the
problems of orphan, polluted sites and the disposal
of contemporary solid wastes. They will also analyze
the principal actions that have been taken by Federal
and state government to address remediation and redevelopment
of abandoned industrial sites. The course will also
explore environmental equity issues.
The students will collaborate with high school students at the West Philadelphia
High School to identify sites in their neighborhoods
and to learn how to determine the sites ownership
and land use history. The students will study ways
of determining environmental risk and the various
options that are available for remediation in light
of community ideas about re-use. Students will be
expected to participate actively in the seminar and
the sessions with high school students. Students
in the course are required to prepare and present
a term paper on a topic in the general area of "Brownfield" analysis
and remediation.
645.(CPLN764) Planning for Land Preservation. (B) Daniels. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. An introduction to the
tools and methods for preserving private lands
by government agencies and private non-profit
organizations. Topics include purchase and donation
of development rights (also known as conservation
easements), land acquisition, limited development, land swaps, and the preservation of urban
greenways, trails, and parks. Preservation examples
include: open space and scenic areas, farmland,
forestland, battlefields, and natural areas.
646.A Primer on Stream and River Ecology. (M) Blain. This class explores streams and rivers from the perspectives of both
the natural and social sciences. Students will
get a solid grounding in the hydrology, geology,
physics, chemistry, and biology of streams and
rivers, and they will learn how all these fit
together in a watersheds ecosystem. They will
also examine the impacts that human development
has had on such ecosystems over time -- how
rivers have become polluted, what mechanisms
they have to fight pollution, and what we need
to do to protect, maintain and restore them
now and in the future. In addition to considering
such questions within a theoretical framework,
the class will look at issues in the real world.
Students will set up an actual monitoring system,
in which they will process samples taken from
above and below a sewage treatment plant in
a local stream, and then analyze and interpret
the sample data. They will also learn about ongoing
research projects in the watersheds that supply
New York City its drinking water and in the streams
and rivers of developing nations. In both cases, they will not only study the science
but also the politics of streams, rivers, and the
water that they convey.
652. God, Gold & Green: Themes and Classics in American Environmental Thought.
(C) Blaine. Offered through CGS - See current Timetable. Through an exploration of enduring themes
and classics, this course traces environmental thought
in America from the first European settlements to
the present. We begin by considering the preconceptions
that Europeans brought to the New World and the realities
they found when they arrived. We look at the issues
raised by the unprecedented industrial and urban
expansion of the 19th century and the accompanying
westward migration that filled the continent. We
examine how the conflict between economic growth
and environmental limits created competing models
of prosperity, equality and justice. And finally,
we look at ways to transcend those divides and build
a sustainable and equitable future. The primary vehicles
for understanding the evolution of environmental
thinking across several centuries are some of the
classic texts of environmental thought - from The
Book of Genesis to Henry Thoreau's Walden to Rachel
Carson's Silent Spring to Al Gore's An Inconvenient
Truth. The course seeks to provide a theoretical
and historical framework that will help students
understand current issues and address real problems.
SM 656. Environmental Sociology. (B) Sheehan. The context in which debates take place and decisions and laws about
the environment are made, leads to a focus on the
community, defined here as workers and residents.
Members of urban and rural communities, situated
near polluting factories, hazardous sites or landfills,
are affected by these contaminants. Using a sociological
framework, this course will study the community
and its relationship to environmental issues. Community
members often first identify local hazards; they
form organizations, map polluted sites, and enumerate
residents with diseases that may originate from
contaminanants. Sociologists identify these grassroots
initiatives as community epidemiology. Social justice
concepts highlight the intersection of race, poverty,
and environmental hazards. Major social institutions
corporations, government agencies, health care providers have played a role in covering over
occupational and environmental hazards. Worker
and community action has forced these institutions
to take a role in identification and remediation
of hazardous sites, and of continuous monitoring
of neighborhoods and residents. In terms of health
effects, among citizens, experts, and major institutions,
and debates about both the local and global consequences
of environmental hazards, will be among the topics
covered.
The emergence of institutional structures at the local, state, national, and
international levels, to deal with environmental
protection, identification and testing of hazards,
and establishing limits for exposure, will be examined.
The course will include readings on significant contemporary
and historical occupational and environmental events
in the United States. In addition, selected, international
case studies of occupational and environmental issues
will be undertaken.
SM 658. Violence and the Environment. (B) Minott. Offered through CGS -See Current Timetable. Governments, corporations,
environmental organizations, anti-environmental organizations,
and individuals have resorted to violence as a means
to achieving an environmental end. Although some
defend such violence as the only way to achieve specific
goals, do the ends ever really justify the means?
Does violence have a place in the environmental movement?
How should environmentalists respond to pro- or anti-environmental
violence? This course will study instances of such
violence,and explore why violence has been seen as
an acceptable or sometimes the only way to achieve
a desirable end.
662. Green Design and the City. (B) Berman. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. Can our cities become
examples of sustainable design? Does inner city revitalization
tie into sustainability? Are there successful examples
to learn from? This seminar will focus on how existing
cities attempt to integrate green design principles
within them. It will look at case studies, both in
the US and abroad. Urban design and transportation
will be examined within this context, including how
to create pedestrian friendly spaces. Infill construction
and the adaptive use of existing buildings will be
discussed, as well as the reuse of brownfield sites.
We will also look at what types of construction actually
constitute green buildings. We will take advantage
of our local resources within Philadelphia, and include
visits to nearby sites, along with talks by local
experts. There will be a series of short projects
given throughout the term. They will usually include both a written component and a presentation to the class. The energetic execution
of these projects, their presentations and the subsequent
discussions, will be a key part of this seminar.
SM 664. Sustainable Design. (C) Berman. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This seminar will focus
on how physical design can improve sustainability.
It will be broken down into 3 parts: Green Buildings,
Green Urbanism, and Smart Growth Planning. Starting
small, we will begin by looking at which types of
construction actually constitute Green Buildings
and which of these are the most effective. Our look
at Green Urbanism will focus on existing cities and
towns. They will be examined in terms of how urban
design and transportation can promote sustainability.
Finally, Smart Growth planning concepts for new developments
will be discussed. This will include a survey of
New Urbanism. Both these closely allied approaches
are recent attempts to guide new growth in a more
sensitive manner. We will also take advantage of
local resources within our region, and include visits
to nearby sites, along with talks by local experts.
668. Selected Topics in Environmental Health. (C) Pepino. From the fall of the Roman Empire to Love Canal to today's epidemics
of asthma and childhood obesity, the impact of the
environment on health has been a continuous challenge
to society. This course will examine how environmental
factors have contributed to chronic disorders and
diseases. Selected topics will include cancer clusters,
COPD, radon and lung cancer, lead poisoning, environmental
tobacco smoke and the aforementioned obesity and
asthma,epidemics.students will be contrasting priority
environmental health issues internationally with
those in their local communities. Class discussions
will also focus on risk communication, community
outreach and education, access to health care and vulnerable populations. Students will be asked to
research one environmental health topic in detail,
to present their findings to the class, and to propose
recommendations for future action.
674. Assessment and Remediation of the Environment Using Biological Organisms. (M) Vann. This course is an introduction to current and emerging techniques for
analyzing environmental contamination and remediation
of damaged environments. Knowledge of these options
will be important for both students interested in
policy/law options, as well as providing a starting
point for those pursuing a more science-oriented
understanding of environmental issues. The first
portion of the course will address bioindicators--the
use of living systems to assess environmental contamination.
Many new methods of rapidly-analyzing environmental
samples are becoming available. These include systems
ranging from biochemical assays to monitoring of
whole orgainsms or ecosystems, as well as techniques
ranging from laboratory to field and satellite surveys.
The course will survey these approaches to
familiarize the student with this rapidly developing field. The second portion
of the course will introduce techniques for bioremediation--the
use of living organisms to restore contaminated environments.
Several case studies will be provided (perhaps with external speakers). Students will be expected to prepare
a final paper examining a particular technique in
detail.
678. Advanced Biogeochemistry. (B) Vann. A soils course would be helpful, but not required. The course will cover
nature of the field of biogeo chemistry and its application.
Topics include, elemental cycling at various scales,from
global to watershed level,the interaction between
geology and biology in controlling how these relationships
have changed over the Earth's history and man's influence
on these cycles. The course will include an examination
of the CENTURY computer model, a popular model for
examining nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Students will submit a term paper
on a related subject, such as comparing the functioning
of two watersheds or summarizing current understanding
of a particular cycle, etc.
680.Advanced Environmental Chemistry. (M) Nemeroff. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course will examine
the environmental contamination of water, air,
and soil. Students will continue the evaluation
of composition, structure and properties of pollutants,
their means of detection and methods of purification
and remediation. Successful completion of Envs 502 or a thorough knowledge of general
and organic chemistry is recommended.
681.Modeling Geographical Space. (M) Tomlin. Offered through CGS - See current timetable. This course explores the
nature and use of digital geographic information
systems (GIS) for the analysis and synthesis of
spatial patterns and processes through 'cartographic
modeling'. Cartographic modeling is a general but
well defined methodology that can be used to address
a wide variety of analytical mapping applications
in a clear and consistent manner. It does so by decomposing both data and data-processing tasks into elemental
components that can then be recomposed with relative
ease and with great flexibility.
SM 699. (GEOL699) Masters of Environmental Studies Capstone Seminar. (C) Riebling. Permission of instructor required. Offered through CGS - See current
timetable.
999. Independent Study. (C) Staff. Permission of instructor required. Directed study for individuals or small groups under supervision of a faculty
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