FALL 2024 COURSES
Courses for the Environmental Studies Major
Courses for the Environmental Science Major
Courses for the ESS Minor
Special Topics Course Descriptions
COURSES FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MAJOR
Foundation Courses:
- ES 100 Environmental Concerns in Perspective
Core Courses:
- EC 104 Introduction to Microeconomics
- ES 223 Environmental Justice
- ES 225 Human Rights & Development
- PL 231 Environmental Politics and Policy
Cluster A Courses:
- AN 102 Anthropology of Human Past
- AN 205 Mesoamerican Archaeology
- AN 328R Built Environments; Archeology of Architecture
- EC 104 Introduction to Microeconomics
- EC 361 Evaluating Sustainable Development
- ES 223 Environmental Justice
- ES 225 Human Rights & Development
- ES 302 Environment and Development in the Middle East
- HI 116H Sea Changes
- HI 280P Science and Nature in the Renaissance
- HI 351 American Landscape History
- HP 131 Introduction to Public Health
- ID 351 Blackness and Nature
- MB 351 Sustainability in Business
- PL 231 Environmental Politics and Policy
- PL 365 Food Politics
- WLL 363 Terroir: Wine and the French Sense of Place
Cluster B1 Courses:
- ES 252D Landscape Dynamics: Environmental Change and Conservation in the Saratoga Region (LAB)
- ES 227 Plastic Planet
- ES 222 Energy Systems and Sustainable Solutions
- GE 101 Earth Systems Science (LAB)
- GE 112 Introduction to Oceanography (LAB)
- GE 203 Introduction to Natural Resources
Capstone:
- ES 374 ESS Research Capstone
Methods:
- EC 237 Statistical Methods
- ID 210 Introduction to GIS
- MS 204 Introduction to Statistics
- SO 227 Social Research Methods
- SO 228 Statistics for Social Sciences
COURSES FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE MAJOR
Foundation Course:
- ES 100 Environmental Concerns in Perspective
Disciplinary Foundation Courses:
- BI 108 Organismal Biology
- CH 115 Foundations of Chemistry or CH 125 Principles of Chemistry
- GE 101 Earth System Science
Core Courses
- ES 205 Ecosystem Science and the Analysis of Forested Landscapes
- ES 252D Marine Ecology
Cluster A Courses:
- AN 102 Anthropology of Human Past
- AN 205 Mesoamerican Archaeology
- AN 328R Built Environments; Archeology of Architecture
- EC 104 Introduction to Microeconomics
- EC 361 Evaluating Sustainable Development
- ES 223 Environmental Justice
- ES 225 Human Rights & Development
- ES 302 Environment and Development in the Middle East
- HI 116H Sea Changes
- HI 280P Science and Nature in the Renaissance
- HI 351 American Landscape History
- HP 131 Introduction to Public Health
- ID 351 Blackness and Nature
- MB 351 Sustainability in Business
- PL 231 Environmental Politics and Policy
- PL 365 Food Politics
- WLL 363 Terroir: Wine and the French Sense of Place
Cluster B2 Courses:
- BI 224 Evolution
- BI 338 Plant Biotechnology
- BI 352 Disease Ecology and Evolution
- CH 221 Organic Chemistry I
- CH 222 Organic Chemistry II.
- ES 205 Ecosystem Science and the Analysis of Forested Landscapes
- ES 222 Energy Systems and Sustainable Solutions
- ES 252D Marine Ecology
- ES 309 Managing Climate Change
- GE 311 Paleoclimatology
- HP 242 Principles of Nutrition
Environmental Science majors are required to take 2 core courses: ES 205, ES 206, ES 207, or ES 252D Marine Ecology. If you take 3, the 3rd course will count as a 200-level Cluster B2 lab.
Capstone:
- ES 374 ESS Research Capstone
Methods:
- BI 235 Biostatistics
- ID 210 Introduction to GIS
- MS 204 Statistical Methods
COURSES FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND SCIENCEs MINOR
Foundation Courses:
- ES 100 Environmental Concerns in Perspective
Cluster A Courses:
- AN 102 Anthropology of Human Past
- AN 205 Mesoamerican Archaeology
- AN 328R Built Environments; Archeology of Architecture
- EC 104 Introduction to Microeconomics
- EC 361 Evaluating Sustainable Development
- ES 223 Environmental Justice
- ES 225 Human Rights & Development
- ES 302 Environment and Development in the Middle East
- HI 116H Sea Changes
- HI 280P Science and Nature in the Renaissance
- HI 351 American Landscape History
- HP 131 Introduction to Public Health
- ID 351 Blackness and Nature
- MB 351 Sustainability in Business
- PL 231 Environmental Politics and Policy
- PL 365 Food Politics
- WLL 363 Terroir: Wine and the French Sense of Place
Cluster B1 Courses:
- ES 252D Landscape Dynamics: Environmental Change and Conservation in the Saratoga Region (LAB)
- ES 227 Plastic Planet
- ES 222 Energy Systems and Sustainable Solutions
- GE 101 Earth Systems Science (LAB)
- GE 112 Introduction to Oceanography (LAB)
- GE 203 Introduction to Natural Resources
Cluster B2 Courses:
- BI 224 Evolution
- BI 338 Plant Biotechnology
- BI 352 Disease Ecology and Evolution
- CH 221 Organic Chemistry I
- CH 222 Organic Chemistry II
- ES 205 Ecosystem Science and the Analysis of Forested Landscapes
- ES 222 Energy Systems and Sustainable Solutions
- ES 252D Marine Ecology
- ES 309 Managing Climate Change
- GE 311 Paleoclimatology
- HP 242 Principles of Nutrition
SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:
ES 252D Landscape Dynamics: Environmental Change and Conservation in the Saratoga
Region
Instructor: M. Gaige
The contemporary landscape is shaped by natural processes and human activities of the past. Beginning with the most recent glaciation ending ~12,000 years ago and ranging up to current land protection and conservation efforts, students will explore how the Saratoga region (broadly defined) came to be organized the way it has, why species occur where they do, and how land has developed as it has. Focus will be given to substrate conditions created by geological processes, natural ecological communities, and the past 300 years of agriculture and land use change. The framework established in this course will allow students to approach any landscape or region through its deep history and the dynamic interplay between the physical, biological, and cultural landscapes. There will be lab work and field trips.
Prerequisite: ES 100
EC 361 Evaluating Sustainable Development with Non-traditional Methods
Instructor: M. Das
This course exposes students to non-traditional methods of data analysis. We will utilize cross-country as well as U.S. household data and a novel methodology to convey compelling narratives within the realms of environment, development and environmental justice. Students will conduct their research in groups where they will collect data, use STATA then R, and compare outcomes from parametric with nonparametric methods. The course will help students understand the limits of traditional regression methods. Market-based approaches to reducing environmental pollution, such as pollution permits or taxes, allow firms to vary their compliance or abatement based on their abatement cost structures. This results in spatial alterations by firms of pollution and who is harmed by their pollution. The spatial variation of pollution is a concern for environmental justice as pollution tends to be concentrated among regions with lower income and higher minority share. We will explore this trend using nonparametric technologies and U.S. household-level data.
1-credit course
HI 351 American Landscape History
Instructor: F. Horne
Humans create patterns on the land that endure over time and influence everything we do. In this course, students will learn to “read” the landscape, developing both intuitive observation skills and documentary research techniques. Each class session will discuss one aspect of the landscape (e.g., farmland, monuments, fences, parks, bicycle paths….) based on images and the readings for that day and led by one class member. On Wednesday afternoons the class will explore (2:30–5:30 pm) landscape features within 45 minutes of the college; on Saturday, September 28, we’ll venture further afield to explore Amish landscapes (Stone Arabia, NY), First Nations landscapes (Kanatsiohareke, Yosts, NY), and a nineteenth-century industrial complex (Hanford Mills, East Meredith, NY). Students will take journal notes on these excursions. There will be two PowerPoint presentations to the class by individual students or teams. In mid-October two-student teams will explore the economic and cultural influences that created a Saratoga County hamlet or village of their choice, and in mid-December individual students will discuss a landscape feature that interests them.
Grade will be based upon class participation, the journals from the field sessions, the two presentations, and a final exam.
MB 351 Sustainability in Business
Instructor: P. Olmstead and M. Ainsworth
Sustainability in the Business Context Ever wonder who makes your clothes, where your food comes from and how companies such as Ben & Jerry’s and Patagonia have managed to build extremely successful companies all while keeping sustainability as a core value? In this course, students will explore a variety of sustainability related topics, including environmental and social sustainability issues in managing supply chains, sustainable marketing, standards for measuring and certifying sustainable operations and sustainability efforts in our local community. The course will introduce students – through a series of case studies, projects and guest lectures from industry leaders – to concepts, theories and models related to sustainability. Sustainable and ethical business practices will also be a major theme in the course. No prerequisites.
WLL 363 Terroir: Wine and the French Sense of Place
Instructor: Tim Freiermuth
In a world of multinational corporations, boundless social media, global brands, rampant urbanization, cultural homogenization, environmental degradation, large-scale industrialized agriculture, and virtual reality...Does PLACE matter anymore? The answer may have been quite literally planted 1000 years ago by Burgundian monks! This course proposes to respond to this fundamental question through an interdisciplinary exploration of the quintessentially French notion of “terroir.” Originally a winemaking term designating the unique characteristics a wine exhibits due to its geographic situation, terroir speaks to the “irreproducible uniqueness of place” and therefore unlocks a distinctively French contribution to a wide range of seemingly unrelated issues. We will plunge into the world of wine only to find ourselves enmeshed in debates on environmental policy, farm-to-table activist economics, nationalism and immigration, art and architecture, abortion and reproductive technology, urban planning and suburban sprawl, cafeteria lunch wars, accent standardization, or authenticity and simulation. Yes, it is all in a single bottle of wine!
Course taught in English.
Students wishing to earn credit for the French major/minor must also register for the 1-credit add-on WLF 271, which will be conducted in French.
Prerequisite: Expository Writing course
