Courses Related to Human Dimensions of Environmental Issues
Course offerings are subject to change. We will try to keep this list updated but please verify information in the Undergraduate Catalog if you see a course that is of interest.
Courses listed on this page focus on how humans individually and collectively interact with and influence the environment, as well as how they respond to environmental and sustainability issues on individual, cultural, and societal levels. Courses may emphasize historical perspectives and future implications.
Anthropology
ANT 225 – Climate Change, Societies, and Cultures
Surveys the human dimensions of climate change from a cultural perspective, the interactions among societies, cultures, and climate change. Reviews climate-change futures and their human implications around the world, drivers of climate change, and technological, social, and cultural mitigation and adaptation strategies. Perspective throughout is universalistic (all human societies, past and present) and holistic (all realms of thought and behavior, though with particular emphasis on social, political, and cultural dimensions).
ANT 235 – Cultural Perceptions of Nature
Examines the concept of nature in a variety of cultural contexts. Emphasis is on the development of contemporary views and their impacts on environmental management.
ANT 250 – Conservation Anthropology: The Socio-Cultural Dimension of Environmental Issues
Conservation is fundamentally a socio-cultural problem. Examines the different types of human/nature relationships that emerge across various cultural, environmental, socio-economic, and political contexts. Through a comparative approach, this course is designed to illustrate how culture is an important variable when creating viable conservation strategies. Themes covered in class include protected areas, indigenous and traditional knowledge, resource management, market-based conservation, environmental economics, and political ecology. Case studies: United States, Africa, Australia, Latin America, and Papua New Guinea.
ANT 270 – Environmental Justice Movements in the United States
Examines how poor and racialized communities have responded to the incidence, causes, and effects of environmental racism and injustice. Special attention will be given to how critiques offered by these communities challenge the knowledge and procedural forms of justice embedded in environmental policy and democracy in the United States. Case studies will be drawn from readings on African-American, European-Americans, Chicano and Latino Americans, and Native Americans.
ANT 295 – American Indians and Climate Change
Introduces students to the Indian cultures of the United States and U.S. territories in the South Pacific, paying particular attention to the issue of climate change and how it is impacting indigenous peoples in these regions. The course also examines climate effects on natural resource conditions as it relates to Indian cultures and the roles indigenous groups play in policy responses to climate change.
ANT 410 – Human Dimensions of Climate Change
Surveys advanced topics on the human dimensions of climate change, including anthropogenic drivers and consequences of climate change, mitigation, and adaptation strategies.
ANT 464 – Ecological Anthropology
Comparative study of human populations in ecosystems. Topics include the adaptive nature of culture, implications of the ecological approach for anthropological theory, sociocultural evolution and change, and contemporary problems. Case studies from simple and complex societies. ANT 464 and 564 cannot both be taken for degree credit.
Communication and Journalism
CMJ 107 – Communication and the Environment
This course provides an overview of the field of Environmental Communication. Students survey a range of disciplinary approaches including environmental journalism and media, science communication and participation, and public participation and decision making in environmental conflicts.
Disability Studies
DIS 450 – Disability: Population-Environment Diversity
Consistent with contemporary literature and research in the interdisciplinary field of disability studies, students will examine and analyze disability as an interactive disjuncture between the environment, the human body and population groups. Students will analyze how environments shape and are shaped by disability populations and will focus on realigning bodies, populations and environments to advance full participation, reduce personal and environmental harm reductions, and preserve just and safe environments. Included will be natural, virtual, service, economic, social, policy, and community environments across the globe.
Earth and Climate Sciences
ERS 121 – Humans and Global Change
Explores how Earth’s climate system works and how past environmental changes affected humans on time scales ranging from interannual to hundreds of thousands of years. Topics will range from the development of agriculture at the beginning of the current interglaciation to how humans are now changing global climate through the addition of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere.
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
EES 100 – Human Population and the Global Environment
Introduces the concepts and principles necessary to evaluate contemporary global issues of population growth, natural resource conservation, and environmental protection. Surveys the historical development of environmental awareness in the United States. Develops skills to interpret the diverse types of information available about environmental issues.
Economics
ECO 180 – Citizens, Energy, and Sustainability
This course is intended to provide students with a broad understanding of energy issues by focusing upon current energy use and mandates, energy production (with a focus on alternative energy options), as well as introduces the political, human, and environmental implications of energy use and production. We will discuss how citizens play a vital role in determining the direction that energy policy will take. In the course of our lifetime each of us will be asked to vote on an energy related circumstance, this course intends to give you a place to start in understanding the complexities of energy.
Native American Studies
NAS 295 – American Indians and Climate Change
Introduces students to the Indian cultures of the United States and U.S. territories in the South Pacific, paying particular attention to the issue of climate change and how it is impacting indigenous peoples in these regions This course also examines climate effects on natural resource conditions as it relates to Indian cultures and the roles indigenous groups play in policy responses to climate change.
School of Forest Resources
SFR 108 – Introduction to Arboriculture and Community Forestry
Introductory course in arboriculture (study of trees on an individual basis) and community forestry (management of trees in a community/urban setting). The student studies the management of the urban/community forests, people’s interactions and dynamics when dealing with community trees, and the development and purpose of a community forestry management plan. The course includes identifying valuable features, growth habits, and cultural requirements of urban trees and shrubs.
SFR 479 – Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors
Explores the relationship between human behavior and the natural environment through a variety of social and environmental psychology constructs including: intrinsic and instrumental values, beliefs, attitudes, perceptions of control, and social norms.
Wildlife Ecology
WLE 461 – Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation
This course is a mix of lectures, invited presentations, hands-on group activities, and peer to peer exercises that provide students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to effectively engage and communicate with diverse stakeholders in collaborative management. The course covers such topics as governance of wildlife, sense of place and community, trust and capacity development, wildlife management as a systems process, collective behavior, engagement of stakeholders, collaborative planning and decision-making, adaptive management and adaptive impact management, identity-based conflict resolution, communication planning, and human dimensions research methodology. Participating in one Saturday or Sunday workshop (TBD) is required. Course may have field trips during class times.
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
WGS 230 – Women, Health, and the Environment
Examines the roles of women in shaping current practices and policies of the Western health care system and related environmental issues. It will draw on the work of Rachel Carson and modern women healers of the body and the ecosystem. Students are encouraged to be involved in transformational work at the local, personal or more global level.
WGS 280 – Intersectionality and Social Movements
A bridge between introductory WGS courses and more focused WGS courses, WGS 280 explores topics from WGS 101 and WGS 103 such as transnational feminisms, queer theory, and ecology through intersectional perspectives which reveal the interconnected and overlapping nature of social categories such as gender, class, and race. Through close examination of a variety of texts dealing with equity and diversity, students connect pedagogies and theories to activism, self-reflection and social movements.