(file last updated: [7/6/1999 - 13:10:3])
Objectives
Awareness of the mutual impact of human activity and the natural environment is rapidly growing. On scales as different as personal hygiene and international trade agreements, decisions increasingly reflect environmental concerns and understanding. This broad range of issues can be sucessfully approached from the vantage point of several traditional disciplines. Yet, no single field is truly representative of, or adequate for, the study of "the environment." Accordingly, the Brandeis Environmental Studies Program aims to expand disciplinary training in the social and natural sciences to assure adequate grounding in environment-related sub-fields, but also to complement such training with similarly relevant courses outside a student's main field of concentration. This combination is designed to provide a broad, trans-disciplinary base for employment or future professional training.
How to Become a Program Member
The program is open to students from any field of concentration. The requirements may be met with specific courses in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, and must also include a practical component of an environmental problem, and a senior research paper (that may serve as a thesis in the student's concentration), or a structured internship experience. Some students may elect to receive field training in specialized subjects, e.g., marine biology, sustainable development, tropical ecology. The program maintains extensive files of such off-campus opportunities. Students may register for the program, seek guidance in course selection, off-campus training, and paper topics, by contacting the Environmental Studies Program faculty advisor as early in their Brandeis career as possible. Registered participants will receive information on courses and campus events.
Committee
Brian Donahue, Chair
(American Studies)
Joyce Antler
(American Studies)
Richard Gaskins
(American Studies, Legal Studies)
Laura Goldin
(American Studies)
Judy Herzfeld
(Chemistry)
Adam Jaffe
(Economics)
Attila Klein
(Biology)
Requirements for the Program
A. Two semester courses chosen from Group I (Environment and Society).
B. Two semester courses chosen from Group II (Environment and the Natural World).
C. Successful completion of AMST 20a (Environmental Issues).
D. Either successful completion of ENVS 97a or b (Senior Essay) (or an approved Senior Honors Thesis submitted to any department); or successful completion of ENVS 92a or b (Environmental Internship).
Special Note on Off-Campus Courses
Through our membership in the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) Consortium, competitively selected students may satisfy some of the above requirements by participating in the Semester in Environmental Science offered each fall at the MBL in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Brandeis is also affiliated with the School for Field Studies and the Marine Studies Consortium (MSC). Both offer programs of special interest to those enrolled in the Environmental Studies Program. (MSC courses are sometimes over-subscribed and enrollments must be redistributed among member schools. Enrolling through Brandeis does not guarantee final acceptance into MSC courses).
Courses of Instruction
ENVS 11b Water Resources Management and Policy
Signature of Professor Donahue required. Offered under the auspices of the MSC and open to Brandeis students by petition.
An advanced interdisciplinary seminar examining past and current water supply issues and exploring the uncertain future of our water supply. The Boston metropolitan area water supply system is used as a case study. Water is looked at from scientific, historical, and political viewpoints. Usually offered every fall (at Brandeis).
Mr. Donahue (Brandeis coordinator)
ENVS 12b Introduction to Marine Mammals
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: A college-level biology course. Signature of Professor Donahue required. Offered under the auspices of the MSC and open to Brandeis students by petition.
Designed to familiarize students with the biology and natural history of marine mammals, with an emphasis on whales, dolphins, and seals of the western North Atlantic. Topics include evolution, anatomy, behavior, field identification, the history of whaling, and contemporary conservation issues. Usually offered every spring at Northeastern University.
Mr. Klein (Brandeis coordinator)
ENVS 13b Coastal Zone Management
Signature of Professor Donahue required. Offered under the auspices of the MSC and open to Brandeis students by petition.
Introduction to the coastal environment, its resources, and its uses; impact of human activities; scope of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act; collaborative planning efforts by federal, state, and local governments; international applications of coastal management. Course includes case studies, guest speakers, and student presentations. Usually offered every spring (at Brandeis).
Mr. Donahue (Brandeis coordinator)
ENVS 14b The Maritime History of New England
Signature of Professor Donahue required. Offered under the auspices of the MSC and open to Brandeis students by petition.
The sea has shaped New England. This course will survey the sea's legacy from the earliest Indian fishery to the shipbuilding and commerce of today. Course themes will include historical, political, and economic developments. There will be particular attention to insights gleaned from the investigation of shipwrecks, time capsules of discrete moments from New England's past. Classes will include visits to museums, a field session at a maritime archaeology site, and guest lectures on current research projects. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Donahue (Brandeis coordinator)
ENVS 92a and b Environmental Internship
Signature of Professor Goldin required.
Students work in environmental internship placements tailored to the students' academic program, interests, and skills. Internships are in public and private organizations focused on environmental policy, research, regulation, enforcement, and education. A classroom component is designed to provide an opportunity for analysis and discussion of the internship experience. Usually offered every semester.
Ms. Goldin
ENVS 97a Senior Essay
Signature of the instructor required.
Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENVS 97b Senior Essay
Signature of the instructor required.
Usually offered every year.
Staff
Core Courses
AMST 20a Environmental Issues
Electives
Group I: Environment and Society
American Environmental History
Women and the Environment and Environmental Justice
The Ecology of Community
Environmental Research Workshop
The Development of Human Food Production
Development and the Third World
Environmental Economics
Introduction to the Economics of Development
Writing about the Environment
Water Resources Management and Policy
Coastal Zone Management
The Maritime History of New England
Ecological Imperialism: The Envoronmental Consequences of Early Modern European Expansion
Environmental Law and Policy
Seminar: International Relations and the Global Environment
Seminar: Politics and Hunger
Sustaining Development
Environmental Sociology
Group II: Environment and the Natural World
An asterisk (*) indicates a course with multiple prerequisites.
The Eastern Forest: Paleoecology to Policy
Human Reproduction, Population Explosion, Global Consequences
Organism and the Environment
Conservation Biology
Aquatic Ecology
Marine Biology
Cetacean Biology and Conservation
Fish Biology
Biology of Extreme Environments
Evolution
Topics in Ecology
Molecular Pharmacology
The Planet as an Organism: Gaia Theory and the Human Prospect
Chemicals and Toxicity
Environmental Chemistry
Introduction to Marine Mammals
Science and Development
Additional Courses Concerning the Environment
Social Science
History of Boston Architecture
American Architecture and Urban Planning
Fieldwork in Social Settings: Environmental Fieldwork