Our Shared Environment

This course introduces students to the basic concepts and interrelationships needed to understand the complexities of environmental problems. The course surveys the characteristics of natural environments coupled with diverse human populations, explores how those systems function and interact, discusses causes and consequences of environmental degradation, and assesses multifaceted solutions to environmental problems. Students examine these socio-environmental systems through the lens of many disciplines (including natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities) and frameworks (justice, sustainability, resilience, and limits) to understand the environment and to discover solutions to environmental problems. The course also highlights the impact of economic over-production, governmental policy, and personal lifestyles, including affluence, as well as the environmental, social, and racial injustices associated with environmental degradation. The course emphasizes interdisciplinary thinking. Fulfills SST Distribution (2001 curriculum). Fulfills EL requirement (2013 curriculum). The course must be taken for grade.