22 courses with the subject ENVST, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
ENVST 123Geophysics: Perspectives on the Dynamic Earth
This course considers a variety of topics in earth and environmental science. Beginning with the origin of the earth and planetary system, the course examines crustal evolution and plate tectonics, geologic resources and hazards, and the relationship of these surface phenomena to processes occurring in the earth's interior. It concludes with a study of the oceans, the atmosphere, the earth's climate system, and environmental change. Offered annually.
This interdisciplinary course uses basic concepts of environmental science to explore global environmental issues. Topics are drawn from recent texts and current periodic literature, and participants will recognize many of the themes from coverage in the media. Because most environmental problems involve issues beyond the sciences, the class examines the economic, political, and ethical dimensions of environmental questions and environmental decision-making. Offered each semester. This course is equivalent to ENCON 111 and students can earn credit from only one of them.
This interdisciplinary course focuses on how the human species creatively apprehends the rest of nature and our environments and has brought our values to bear on environments for good or for ill. The course samples a variety of arts and humanities disciplines structured around a set of nature-oriented and environmental questions and themes. Students sharpen their ability to perceive the world around them in environmentally sound ways through insights offered by various art forms and thinking generated within environmental history, philosophy, religion, and cultural studies. Students undertake work that a) helps them better retain and articulate their multivalent knowledge of culture and nature; and b) challenges them to share such knowledge in a world increasingly needful of healthier connections between people, cultures and the environment. Offered annually. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies.
This course analyzes environmental regulation in the United States with respect to its historical evolution, its ability to achieve environmental targets, its efficiency or cost-effectiveness, its distributional impact on jobs, people, and industries across the country, and its international ramifications. Offered annually. OLE Core Requirement: Social Science.
This course examines environmental issues foregrounded by questions of social justice, exploring how to combine concern for the natural world with attention to inequality and power. How do intersecting oppressions contribute to environmental crises? How do people and communities negotiate with the unequal impacts of environmental degradation? We will experiment with interdisciplinary approaches to unpack the possibilities of "environmental justice" and to engage in research and activism that is radically accountable to the environment and to other people. OLE Core Requirement: Power and Race; Ethical Reasoning in Context.
In this course, students examine the ethical underpinnings of the sustainable development concept; explore the interdependence of society and environment in a variety of contexts (primarily but not exclusively in "developing" countries); learn about the social factors that have led economic growth to be particularly unsustainable, especially with respect to the environment. Offered periodically. Prerequisite: ENVST 137. OLE Core Requirement: Ethical Reasoning in Context.
ENVST 237Integration and Application in Environmental Studies
Framed by a focus on a contemporary environmental topic, the course attends to the nature of environmental inquiry, one's perspectives and values, and how to use one's knowledge and skills for personal, civic and work-related roles. Individual and team projects connected to community needs teach students how to think and work across the department's three areas of emphasis in an experiential learning framework. Offered each semester. Prerequisite: ENVST 137, at least one course in two of the three areas of emphasis, and a declared environmental studies major or concentration. OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice.
If love makes the world go 'round might it also play a role in restoring it? In the present ecological age, human practices are changing environments in unprecedented ways. This course explores whether -and if so how- a love of nature can promote shared planetary health. Students consider the working Biophilia Hypothesis and ways connection with other-than-human life fosters human flourishing through focused study on childhood and human development, design, and the built environment. This course fulfills an Environmental Studies elective. Prerequisite: ENVST 137 or ENCON 111.
The starkness of the desert has long inspired and challenged spiritual pilgrims. The Chihuahuan Desert Slopes of northern New Mexico remain a critical topos for contemplative thought and practice, while also an increasingly-vulnerable landscape. In this course students immerse within desert ecologies and explore Christian and Indigenous spiritual traditions to examine how spirituality is enriched through sustained access to the natural world and how ecological understanding is deepened through contemplative ways of being. Offered periodically during January term. OLE Core Requirement: Christian Theology in Dialogue; OLE Experience in Practice.
This course is an interdisciplinary seminar on climate throughout the earth's history, including recent changes caused by humankind. It examines the climate system in the larger framework of planetary evolution and explores evidence from the geologic record for climates of the past. Using current scientific literature, students investigate causes of climate change and consider scenarios for future climate based on models incorporating alternative global development strategies. Offered annually. Prerequisites: sophomore status; one level I biology, chemistry, or physics course or ENVST 137 strongly encouraged. OLE Core Requirement: Natural Science.
ENVST 255Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems
Remote sensing and GIS are increasingly used to address basic and applied questions in the environmental sciences and a host of other disciplines. Students survey available remote sensing image types and learn to process (ground-truthing, GPS, scanning, digitizing) and interpret remotely sensed images. They also learn theory and practice of geographic information systems (basic cartography and spatial statistics). Students attend lectures plus one three-hour laboratory per week. Offered annually. Prerequisites: ENVST 137 or a level I course in biology, chemistry, or physics. OLE Core Requirement: Natural Science.
ENVST 268Sustainable Land Use in Costa Rica (study abroad)
Students examine several tropical socio-ecological systems, including those situated in rainforest, montane cloud forest, dry forest, coastal, agricultural and urban landscapes. They learn about the impact of human activities on these systems and about Costa Rica's various policies and management practices aimed at more sustainable land use. Students consider how each person can contribute to sustainability within their own communities, and they gain practice through hands-on community conservation efforts. Offered periodically in January term. Prerequisite: ENVST 137 or ENCON 111 or permission of instructor. OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice.
Students study topics related to the environment. Topics vary from year to year at the discretion of the instructor. Topics may include Environment and Theology, Environmental Justice, Ecotourism, and Literature of the Poles. Class is largely discussion-based but may include a lab/fieldwork component depending on the topic. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered annually.
Students study topics related to the environment. Topics vary from year to year at the discretion of the instructor. Topics may include Environment and Theology, Environmental Justice, Ecotourism, and Literature of the Poles. Class is largely discussion-based but may include a lab/fieldwork component depending on the topic. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered annually. OLE Core Requirement: Writing Across the Curriculum.
Independent work is guided by a faculty member. Students need to have the necessary background, including appropriate coursework, before an independent project is approved. A student may not substitute an IS/IR course for a course regularly offered in a department or program. IS/IR culminates in at least one product (a paper, laboratory report, work of art, etc.). Normally, the student and faculty instructor are expected to meet at least once a week. See catalog for more information under registration and course enrollment. Prerequisites: at least second-year standing; at least 2 relevant courses for 298 (IS); approval from the faculty instructor, the academic advisor, and the department chair or program director.
ENVST 381Advanced Research Topics in Environmental Studies
Students study topics related to the environment. Topics vary from year to year at the discretion of the instructor. Recent topics offered include Ecosystem Research, Landscape Art, Imaging Environmentalism, and Landscape and Regional Change in the Arctic.
This course provides a comprehensive research opportunity, including an introduction to relevant background material, technical instruction, identification of a meaningful project, and data collection. The topic is determined by the faculty member in charge of the course and may relate to their research interests. Offered based on department decision. May be offered as a 1.00 credit course or .50 credit course. Prerequisite: determined by individual instructor.
Independent work is guided by a faculty member. Students need to have the necessary background, including appropriate coursework, before an independent project is approved. A student may not substitute an IS/IR course for a course regularly offered in a department or program. IS/IR culminates in at least one product (a paper, laboratory report, work of art, etc.). Normally, the student and faculty instructor are expected to meet at least once a week. See catalog for more information under registration and course enrollment. Prerequisites: at least second-year standing; at least 5 relevant courses for 398 (IR); approval from the faculty instructor, the academic advisor, and the department chair or program director.
A capstone seminar for seniors in the major, this course involves intensive study of special topics through reflective writing, student generated research projects, presentations, and a grant proposal. Topics relate to local or regional environmental issues of interest to the students, and it provides participants with opportunities to interact with alumni, government and regulatory agencies, and community groups. The work culminates in a grant proposal where students rely on the expertise gained from their environmental studies courses and work in other majors as applicable. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: ENVST 137, ENVST 237, and senior status, or permission of the environmental studies chair and instructor.
