Sustainable development

Treatment of legal and policy strategies for promoting environmental protection and deterring environmental degradation within the context of other societal objectives. Topical approach with a focus on problems of special interest to criminologists and to environmental policy specialists. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

Lecture, three hours. Natural disasters are natural processes that adversely affect humans. By examining these processes students develop a basic understanding of Earth’s physical environment. Topics include: tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, severe weather, flooding, climate change, mass extinctions and impacts with space objects.

Lecture, three hours. Focuses on processes of exposure to environmental toxins/agents and their impact to human health and the environment. Media transport, exposure assessment, susceptibility, behavior, and health effect of several toxins are discussed. Public Health Sciences and Public Health Policy majors have first consideration for enrollment.

The sequence begins in fall by addressing water from an scientific and engineering perspective (global issues, land-sea interactions and urban water), then moves in winter to an historical case study of the Himalayan watershed and its impact on Asia’s water, and culminates in spring quarter by exploring water policy with the overall theme of water as a contested resource across space, time, and peoples. Wherever possible, examples are drawn from the local environment.

Introduction to the analysis of human population including fertility, mortality dispersion, sex distribution. Attention is focused on the effects of these variables on, e.g., over-population, social disorganization, and the stability of social institutions.

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Introduction to geologic principles and applications to environmental problems. Topics include: tectonic processes, earth materials, soils, river processes, groundwater, the coastal environment, slope failures, seismic hazards, mineral resources, and land-use evaluation based on geologic conditions. Examples from case studies. Prerequisite: Social Ecology E8.

Lecture, three hours. Basic elements of environmental design such as scale, proportion, rhythm, color, sound, lighting, surfaces, texture, architectural definition of spaces, volumes, massing volumetric analysis, solids and voids, and cultural aspects of design. Excitement and creativity in design, imageability. Prerequisites: Planning, Policy, and Design 4 and 152.

Examination of the role of public policy in guiding growth and development in urban and suburban environments. Description of a wide-ranging set of growth policies, the rationales underlying their use, controversies and legal constraints, and evaluation of their effectiveness. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

Lecture, three hours. Impact of the physical environment on individual and group behavior. Three basic concerns examined: (a) environmental determinants of behavior at the individual and interpersonal level; (b) social planning and urban design; and (c) methodological approaches to the study of environmental issues. Prerequisites: Social Ecology E8 or 10, or Planning, Policy, and Design 4.

Lecture, three hours. Introduction to principles of urban design and its applications. Study of contemporary and traditional theories of urban design formulated to improve physical characteristics of built environment to facilitate an enhanced quality of life. A variety of case studies are discussed.