Sustainability & Environmental Studies

ENV 101-Introduction to Environmental Studies 

This interdisciplinary, introductory seminar explores current environmental issues from a variety of perspectives (historical, social, and scientific) and disciplines (humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences). Attitudes toward the natural world and approaches to public and private decision-making are examined in terms of environmental justice issues. Field trips are taken to examine local and regional practices and issues. 

Remsburg T/Th 9:25

Wellik T/Th 11:00

Frost M/W 2:15, 3:55

Higgins 2 Internet sections

Additional T/Th 12:40

ENV 312: Sustainability through Cinema

Cinema has long shaped American culture and conversation. Films help us examine environmental fears and options. Films advocating for sustainability solutions leave viewers with important questions. How accurate are they? Do these films motivate anyone to make changes on behalf of the planet, or people, or both? What are the strengths and limitations of this art form? In this course we consider these questions through readings, discussion, research, and critical writing. We will watch drama, animated, or documentary films with sustainability themes each week.

Remsburg T/Th 12:40 PM

ENV 315: Sustainability: Principles and Practices

This seminar course approaches sustainability using multiple academic disciplines and practical experiences to examine how both individuals and society can meet current needs without harming future generations. Students discuss environmental sustainability for multiple scales, including personal lifestyles, organizations, businesses, and public infrastructure systems.

Higgins Wed. 1:10 PM

ENV 352: Global Parks and Wilderness (online)

This course will examine how concepts of wilderness have been envisioned historically, the ways in which views about parks and wilderness have evolved, and the extent to which the 1964 Wilderness Act is still relevant. The management, use, and access to wilderness areas have created great controversy especially with regard to under-represented groups that include Native American, African American, Latina/o, LGBTQ+, disabled communities, and senior citizens. In addition, wilderness areas have created conflict among wilderness purists, loggers, hunters, sport outfitters, ranchers, and miners, among others. Students will become familiar with the biophysical, social, and political economic drivers that influence wilderness and national park establishment and management, and consider the role of dominant paradigms and social discourses in these processes. We will consider perspectives from political ecology, environmental history, and non-western science to examine these dynamics. Finally, we will assess the exportation of the U.S. Park model to other parts of the world, and the complications posed by issues such as co-management and fortress conservation.

ENV 496-Environmental Studies Capstone  

As a culmination of the environmental studies minor, this course has two main purposes. The first is to take action locally on an environmental service-learning project. Action in the community builds professional skills, offers networking, and solidifies student interests. The second purpose is to help students clarify personal and career goals that are based on their environmental philosophy. Hearing from recent graduates and professionals in environmental fields provides students with a wide variety of perspectives and ideas as they consider their future decisions.  

Remsburg      F 9:55-11:55 AM

BIO 307 Cr.3

Ecology

A study of interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of living organisms. The basic principles of ecology are presented in order to develop an understanding of the nature of these interactions at the individual, population and community levels of biological organization. Prerequisite: BIO 203. Offered Fall, Spring.

BIO 473/573 Cr.3

Marine Biology

Marine biology is an interdisciplinary field that includes elements of geology, physics, chemistry and biology. Students will gain an introduction to how biological organisms deal with varying physical, geological and chemical conditions found in marine ecosystems. Emphasis will be placed on current conservation concerns and marine invertebrate diversity. Prerequisite: BIO 203; CHM 103; junior standing. Offered Spring - Odd Numbered Years.

BIO 476/576 Cr.3

Ecosystem Ecology

Ecosystems include the living and non-living components of an environmental system and have emergent properties that can only be understood by examining the system as a whole. This course will examine advanced ecological topics centered around the structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Topics covered will include the development of the ecosystem concept, ecosystem succession, production/decomposition, energy transfer in food webs, and nutrient cycling. The course will consist of classroom lectures, problem sets, and reading/discussion of relevant literature. This course is taught largely at an undergraduate level. Graduate students will have additional course requirements/expectations. Prerequisite: BIO 307; one semester of chemistry; junior standing. Offered Spring - Even Numbered Years.

GEO 101 Cr.4

Earth Environments

This course concentrates on understanding the earth's dynamic environments through the study of processes and physical and human interactions related to the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. A scientific approach is used to examine fundamental concepts in earth and environmental science related to topics such as plate tectonics, landform development, atmospheric processes, global climate, and water resources, in order to provide an understanding of how the earth system functions and the human role in these phenomena. Lect. 3, Lab 2. Offered Fall, Spring.

GEO 211 Cr.3

Global Climate Change

This course serves as an introduction to causes of natural and human-induced climate change, and the current and future impacts of climate change on environmental systems and society. Actions that could be taken by governments, industry, non-profit organizations, and individuals to mitigate the magnitude and effects of climate change will be addressed. The course will investigate social, cultural, and political aspects associated with climate change policy, including how vulnerability, resilience, and adaptability to a changing climate vary across the globe. Offered Fall, Spring, Summer.

GEO 222 Cr.4

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

An introduction to the earth surface processes that are dominant in forming various types of landforms. Spatial variations in landforms are studied both at the local scale and as the outcome of large-scale global processes. Lect. 3, Lab 2. Prerequisite: GEO 101. Offered Spring.

GEO 422/522 Cr.3

Meteorology

Atmospheric concepts and processes of the earth's weather are covered. Principles and laws which govern the behavior of the atmosphere are investigated, including energy exchange between the earth and the atmosphere, forces governing atmospheric motion, atmospheric moisture and stability, condensation and precipitation processes, air masses and cyclogenesis, thunderstorm and tornado development, and hurricanes. Surface and upper-air charts, synoptic patterns, thermodynamic charts, radar and satellite images, and weather patterns are analyzed. This course is taught largely at an undergraduate level. Graduate students will have additional course requirements/expectations. Prerequisite: GEO 221; junior standing. Offered Spring.

GEO 428/528 Cr.3

Past Environmental Change

This course is an overview of the study of environmental change during the Quaternary. Approaches used to understand past climatic conditions and effects on terrestrial and marine ecosystems at global, regional, and local scales are explored as well as physical, geochemical, and biological methods associated with continuous and depositional environments. This course is taught largely at an undergraduate level. Graduate students have additional course requirements/expectations. Prerequisite: GEO 221 and GEO 222; junior standing. Offered Spring - Even Numbered Years.

MIC 350 Cr.3

Bacterial Diversity

A survey of the bacteria. Lectures will cover bacterial classification and the structure, physiology, ecology, and applications of various groups of bacteria. Special emphasis will be on the more unique species and those of industrial, ecological and environmental importance. The laboratory will involve enrichment and isolation procedures for selective groups of bacteria. Lect. 2, Lab 3. Prerequisite: MIC 230. Offered Spring, Fall-Odd # Years.

PH 335 Cr.3

Environmental Health

This course will examine the interdisciplinary and global impacts of human-environment relationships. Emphasis is placed on the critical nature of our understanding these relationships in order to improve ecosystem health, human health and well-being, global economics and sustainability. Politics, economics, science, technology, human behavior (both individual and collective), history, ethics, and the media are examined for the purpose of improving the quality of life for all people through the creation of a sustainable global society. The science, methods and processes of environmental health will be considered. The role of environmental health in public and population health will be examined. Prerequisite: admission to the public health and community health education major or an environmental studies minor. Offered Fall, Spring.

REC 306 Cr.3

NatureRx: Environmental Ethics and Behaviors in Recreation and Tourism

This course provides an overview of the natural resources used for outdoor recreational pursuits and nature-based tourism. Students analyze leisure, recreation, and tourism activities dependent on natural resources, present issues associated with recreational land use, and develop environmental awareness and a personal environmental ethic. Offered Fall, Spring.

GEO 321 Cr.3

Sustainable Development and Conservation

This course is designed to engage students in critical thinking with regard to how the current momentum in environmental conservation is shaping global development practices. The dual and seemingly conflicting mandates of conservation and development are examined not only through theory but also case studies from different parts of the world. Offered Spring.

REC 360 Cr.3

Sustainable Tourism

This course explores the role of sustainability in tourism. Students learn about tourism planning and development from a sustainability perspective. The course covers factors that influence tourism sustainability and strategies tourism organizations can utilize to become more sustainable. The course content is covered in one of a variety of contexts, including a broad focus on sustainable tourism, through a focus on Wisconsin freshwater-based sustainable tourism, or in an international setting. Offered Spring.

ENG 302-02 Cr. 3

Intermediate Topics in Literature

*Section available for credit: 02 ONLY

This course examines how literature shapes cultural responses to major laws and legal issues with particular emphasis on civil rights and environmental law. By pairing popular stories with the legal documents and historical events they are in dialogue with, we will investigate how legal actions are characterized in ways that critique judicial outcomes. We will also identify ways in which the narrative structure of the actual legal case or judicial opinion creates archetypes of victim, aggressor, hero, and villain that are meant to influence juror’s opinions of the stories they hear on the stand and society's view of a fair verdict. Through this process we will gain a clearer understanding of how the law employs literary techniques and how literature actively engages public opinions on legal issues. We will also consider how literary critical theory intersects with major debates about how judges should interpret legal language. Literature will range from classical plays like The Merchant of Venice and civil rights novel A Lesson Before Dying, to poems about corporate environmental disasters, rights of nature, and fiction about climate and species’ rights.

CST 213 Cr.3

Public Advocacy and Dialogue

This course is an introduction to the study of public communication, advocacy, and dialogue. The course examines a variety of perspectives on the nature of public communication, or rhetoric, and how it functions persuasively in society. As an introduction to the practice of advocacy, topics in this course allows students to explore functions and uses of rhetorical communication and its relation to knowledge, community, civic participation, justice, and social power in a range of communication contexts. Students consider various ways to interpret rhetoric and to use it skillfully and ethically as participants and advocates in public life.

HIS 110 Cr. 3

World History 

*Sections available for credit:

Sections 01, 02, 03 (Topic: Paper); 04, 05, 06 (Topic: Material Culture); 15, 16, 17 (Topic: Colonialism and Decolonization); 21, 22, 26 (Six Objects Changed the World)

This course examines world history using a specific theme. The course is global in scope from ancient times to the present and covers a minimum of three civilizations. Instructors trace the development of one theme over multiple historical periods and places in the world.

HIS 202 Cr. 3

History of Today’s Global Issues: Oceans (sections 01, 02)

*Sections available for credit: 01, 02 ONLY

These sections will look at the historical roots of modern aspects of our engagement with the oceans. These might include such topics as pollution and plastics, overfishing and other forms of extraction, habitat loss, climate change, recreation, global supply chains, and piracy. One of our goals is to increase our "ocean literacy," a key aspect of the current UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). Students will read and analyze historical primary sources, become familiar with secondary literature, and practice thinking and writing for various audiences about how history can inform our understanding of current ocean issues.

Art 272 Cr. 4

Photography and Imaging I

This studio course serves as an introduction to digital photography, including digital camera functions, exposure techniques, digital workflow, image processing, and inkjet printing. Students learn the technical mechanics of the medium and are given hands-on projects to further their understanding of photography in aesthetic and conceptual terms. Students are encouraged to explore the possibilities of the medium, think critically about photographic works, and embrace creative risk as they learn and refine their craft. Class time will consist of demonstrations, lectures, discussions, studio/lab sessions, and group critiques. To complete the assignments for this course, each student must have access to an external hard drive and a digital camera with manual exposure control and the ability to capture RAW files. A limited number of cameras are available for rent through the UWL Photography Lab. Lect. 2, Studio 4.

*Students seeking ENV credit will design photography projects that focus on environmental issues