Undergraduate Courses

Environmental Studies Course Descriptions & Syllabi

Please note that the following lists only include descriptions of courses with the ENVS prefix. Please consult the UO Class Schedule and the UO Catalog for other course options.

SUMMER 2013
FALL 2013

SUMMER 2013

ENVS 201 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Social Sciences (4 cr) June 24 – July 21	Grigsby
Contributions of social sciences to analysis of environmental problems. Topics include human population; relations between social institutions and environmental problems; and associated historical, political, legal, policy and economic processes.

ENVS 202 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Natural Sciences (4 cr) June 24 – July 21 Course Flier	Hall
Contributions of the natural sciences to analysis of environmental problems. Topics include biological processes, ecological principles, chemical cycling, ecosystem characteristics, and natural system vulnerability and recovery.

ENVS 202 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Natural Sciences (4 cr) Online Course	Bothun
Contributions of the natural sciences to analysis of environmental problems. Topics include biological processes, ecological principles, chemical cycling, ecosystem characteristics, and natural system vulnerability and recovery.

ENVS 203 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Humanities (4 cr) July 22 – Aug 14	Christion Myers
Contributions of the humanities and arts to understandings of the environment. Emphasis on diverse ways of thinking, writing, creating, and engaging in environmental discourse.

ENVS 345 Environmental Ethics (4 cr) June 24 – July 21	Guernsey
Key concepts and various moral views surveyed; includes anthropocentrism, individualism, ecocentrism, deep ecology, and ecofeminism. Exploration includes case studies and theory.

ENVS 411/511 Topic: Law and the Environment (4 cr) July 22 – Aug 14

Crider

This course provides students with an understanding of laws that regulate the environment as well as the skills to analyze and apply these laws to current issues. By the end of this course, students will be able to communicate with agencies, lawyers, businesses and individuals about environmental laws and determine how and whether to use legal tools to resolve environmental issues. Topics include the structure and operation of the legal system, the development of environmental laws, policy issues and risk assessment, federal and state laws applicable to habitat and species protection, air quality, water quality, toxic substances, solid and hazardous waste, energy production, government agency regulation and enforcement, citizen and public enforcement, and international environmental law.

ENVS 435 Environmental Justice (4 cr) July 22 – Aug 14

Bacon

This course will explore how systems of social, political and economic power create differential environmental impacts, risks, and benefits for various segments of society. Some topics of exploration include:
-militarization as environmental hazard and environmental injustice
-indigenous environmental access for sustenance and ceremony
-environmental privilege, what is it and how is it implicated in environmental justice?
We will also look at how various communities have organized to resist environmental threats to their health and way of life.
Prereq: ENVS 201

ENVS 455 Sustainability (4 cr) June 24 – July 21	Walker
Examines the evolution of the concept of sustainability and its complex and sometimes problematic uses among scholars, policymakers, environmentalists, and businesses. Pre- or coreq: ENVS 201

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FALL 2013

ENVS 201 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Social Sciences
(4 cr)

Martin

This course introduces some of the major contributions of the social sciences to understanding how and why environmental problems happen—the social ‘root causes’ of these problems. Environmentally harmful human behavior is not simply a fact of life: it is a product of specific social conditions, which can be studied, understood, and changed. This course also examines social approaches to resolving environmental problems, including ideas such as ‘sustainability’, ‘market-based’ environmental policies, reforms of property systems, and social movements that promote concepts such as environmental justice, ecofeminism, and deep ecology. In this course, students practice applying these conceptual approaches by using them to analyze the root causes, consequences, and possible solutions to specific environmental topics. In previous years, the course has focused on topics such as global warming, energy, and the Pacific Northwest salmon crisis.

ENVS 203 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Humanities (4 cr)

Schreiner

This course is a survey of the contribution of humanities disciplines (e.g., literature, intellectual history, religious studies, and philosophy) to understanding the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. Theoretical perspectives covered in the course include the intellectual history of Western cultural attitudes and perceptions of nature, the role of religion in shaping environmental values, Native American perspectives on the environment, and the suggestions of contemporary radical ecology movements – deep ecology, social ecology, and ecofeminism – for revitalizing human relationships with the environment. The last segment of the course examines humanities perspectives on several current environmental issues: wilderness preservation, the Pacific Northwest salmon crisis, population and resource use, and global climate collapse. The course emphasizes the skills of textual and cultural interpretation, value reasoning, and critical inquiry as these are demonstrated in the engagement of the humanities with environmental concerns. This course fulfills the Arts and Letters Group Requirement and is a core course requirement for Environmental Studies and Environmental Science majors.

ENVS 345 Environmental Ethics (4 cr)

Christion Myers

This course introduces key concepts and methods in environmental ethics and surveys a range of contemporary positions in this field while developing skills of value clarification and ethical reasoning applicable to areas of interdisciplinary environmental study and problem-solving. Topics covered include the interdependence of facts and values in environmental decision-making, the relation of environmental ethics to traditional ethical theory, the conceptual foundations of environmental ethics, attributions of intrinsic value and rights to nature and other species, consumption and sustainability in our conceptions of the good life, and problems of resource distribution and environmental justice. The course concludes with case studies of specific ethical problems confronting environmentalists today (recent examples include restoration of oak savanna and the Klamath River salmon controversy). Emphasizing the skills of critical thinking, value reasoning, and philosophical inquiry within an interdisciplinary context, this course guides students in the application of these skills to real-world examples requiring analysis and interpretation. The course fulfills a General Education requirement in the Arts and Letters Group.

ENVS 350 Ecological Energy Generation (4 cr)	Bothun
Detailed study of the ecological consequences of all forms of energy generation, including fossil fuels and alternative energy sources.

ENVS 411 Food Systems (4 cr)

Havlik/Nebert

A plethora of popular films and books have documented the environmental and social problems inherent in the industrial agri-food system; however, much of the discourse is centered on policies and regulations on the national scale. While these are valid and necessary critiques, they tend to overlook fundamental insights from a bottom-up systems perspective. Our course, then, will work to map food systems from the ground up. Through readings on agroecology, social systems, food justice, and governance, students will become familiar with the various, interrelated perspectives that set the groundwork of our food system. Students will apply these perspectives by participating in an interdisciplinary team project directed toward creative problem-solving of issues in our local food system.

ENVS 411 Understanding Places: The McKenzie Watershed (4 cr)

Boulay/Lynch

In this class you will learn about this amazing river and the people who shape its health, management and future, explore a beautiful and fascinating landscape, and discover the source of your drinking water. We will examine the geological, ecological, historical, social, and political influences within the McKenzie watershed. Fieldtrips will take us from the headwaters to confluence. We’ll hike to Great Springs, tour a farm or fish hatchery, visit a restoration project and more — to explore the various
perspectives on water use, dam management, salmon restoration and land use. And you will engage with the community through a hands-on project.

ENVS 411 Tribal Climate Change (4 cr) Course Flier	Lynn
This course will give an in depth examination of the impacts of climate change on tribal culture and sovereignty in the United States, and exploration the role of traditional ecological knowledge in understanding climate change impacts and solutions, and climate justice. R twice when topic changes for maximum of 12 credits.

ENVS 455 Sustainability What Is It? (4 cr)	Walker
This course is about the evolution of the concept of sustainability and its complex and sometimes problematic uses among scholars, policy makers, environmentalist and businesses. Prereq for 455: ENVS 201.

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