Detailed course offerings (Time Schedule) are available for
ENVIR 100 Introduction to Environmental Studies (5) NSc/SSc, DIV
Examines the ethical, political, social, and scientific dimensions of environmental issues. Integrates knowledge from different disciplines while evaluating environmental problems at various scales. Uses an environmental justice lens to examine the ways problems are concentrated in some communities while providing opportunities to practice environmental communication and collaboration across disciplines. Offered: AWSpS.
ENVIR 101 Orientation to Environmental Studies (1)
Introduction to the Environmental Studies program and learning community. Weekly group discussions focus on majoring in and pursuing a career in Environmental Studies. Topics include philosophy and structure of the Program on the Environment, connecting academic work to career pursuits, undergraduate research, networking, and connecting with peers and faculty at UW. Credit/no-credit only.
ENVIR 102 International Baccalaureate (IB) Environmental Systems & Societies (5) SSc
Course awarded based on International Baccalaureate (IB) score. Consult the Admissions Exams for Credit website for more information.
ENVIR 103 Society and the Oceans (5) NSc/SSc, DIV
Explores the social, justice, and policy dimensions of the ocean environment and ocean management policy. Pays attention to how human values, institutions, culture, and history shape environmental issues and policy responses. Examines case studies and influential frameworks, such as the ocean as "tragedy of the commons." Offered: jointly with JSIS B 103/SMEA 103; Sp.
ENVIR 110 Introduction to Food and the Environment (5) SSc/NSc
Relates the production and consumption of food to the major areas of environmental science including energy use, water consumption, biodiversity loss, soil loss, pollution, nutrient cycles, and climate change. Studies the basic science and how food production impacts the key processes.
ENVIR 201 Climate Governance: How Individuals, Communities, NGOs, Firms, and Governments Can Solve the Climate Crisis (5) SSc/NSc, DIV
Examines climate change, its causes and impacts (on ecosystems, water availability, extreme weather, communities, health, and food) globally, nationally, and locally. Surveys its solutions (mitigation, adaptation, migration, and just transition), actors that implement them (governments, firms, NGOs, activists, communities, individuals) and approaches they use (regulation, markets, planning, innovation, social movements, behavioral change). Offered: jointly with SMEA 201; Sp.
ENVIR 211 Environmental Justice (5) SSc, DIV
Examines introductory studies of environmental racism and ecological injustice in the United States and select areas of the world. Reviews environmental justice theories and methods applied to risk science, ecosystem management, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development. Includes comparative studies of social movements for "eco-justice." Offered: jointly with AES 211/ANTH 211.
ENVIR 221 US Environmental History: Ecology, Culture, Justice (5) SSc
Covers the intertwined history of the environment and American society, focusing on issues of inequality and justice. Topics include colonialism, capitalist expansion, chemical and nuclear industrialism, the environmental inequalities of cities and suburbs, environmental movements, and environmental justice. Offered: jointly with HSTAA 221; A.
ENVIR 235 Introduction to Environmental Economics (5) SSc/NSc
Introduces environmental and natural resource economics. Discusses fundamental economic concepts, including markets and private property. Includes basic tools used in the economic assessment of environmental problems and applies these methods to key environmental issues. Offered: jointly with ECON 235/ESRM 235; SpS.
ENVIR 239 Sustainability: Personal Choices, Broad Impacts (5) NSc/SSc
Introduces implications of and approaches to sustainability through models of sustainability, history of sustainability movements, and sustainability in action. Explores how our personal choices can affect broader change towards sustainability. Examines personal and global aspects of sustainability through issues such as food, energy, waste, water, population, consumption, design, and well-being. Offered: AWS.
ENVIR 240 The Urban Farm (5) NSc
Develops students' understanding the ecological connections between food production, human health, and planetary sustainability. Teaches basic skills needed for food production in urban areas and the ethics behind sustainable urban agriculture, including a hands-on component on the farm at the biology greenhouse.
ENVIR 243 Environmental Ethics (5) A&H/SSc
Focuses on some of the philosophical questions that arise in connection with environmental studies. Topics to be considered include: the ideological roots of current issues, values and the natural world, public policy and risk assessment, intergenerational justice, and social change. Offered: jointly with PHIL 243.
ENVIR 280 Natural History of the Puget Sound Region (5) NSc
Focuses on identification and ecology of defining organisms in major habitats of the Puget Sound region. Geology, climate, and early human history provide a framework for understanding the distribution and development of these habitats. Emphasizes a variety of techniques for the observation and description of nature.
ENVIR 295 Special Topics in Environmental Studies (1-5, max. 10)
Selected topics in environmental studies. Format may range from seminar/discussion to formal lectures to laboratory or modeling work. Offered: AWSpS.
ENVIR 296 Study Abroad - Environmental Studies (1-15, max. 15)
Environmental studies course taken through an approved study abroad program, for which there are no direct UW equivalents. Credit does not apply to major requirements without approval.
ENVIR 301 Research Methods in Environmental Studies (5) NSc, RSN
Introduces the processes involved in research design, including methods for environmental data collection, analysis, and presentation. Introduces ecological and social research methods through case studies, followed by practical lab and field work. Prerequisite: a minimum grade of 2.0 in ENVIR 100. Offered: AWSp.
ENVIR 302 Communication for Environmental Studies (5) A&H/SSc
Helps develop the skills necessary to engage, analyze, write, and speak about complex environmental issues in a variety of disciplinary contexts with particular values and emphases. Focuses on reading, writing, presentation, and critical analysis of written material. Prerequisite: a minimum grade of 2.0 in ENVIR 100; and a minimum grade of 2.0 in either C LIT 240, ENGL 111, ENGL 121, ENGL 131, ENGL 197, ENGL 198, ENGL 199, ENGL 281, ENGL 297, ENGL 298, ENGL 299, or both ENGL 109 and ENGL 110. Offered: AWSpS.
ENVIR 308 American Indians and the Environment (5) SSc, DIV
Examines the historical relationships American Indians have possessed with local environments, with special attention to the ways these peoples have adapted to altered environments and new conditions, including migrations, involvement with markets of exchange, overhunting, dispossession, conservation, and mainstream environmentalism. Offered: jointly with AIS 308/HSTAA 308.
ENVIR 310 Data Analysis in Environmental Studies (5) NSc, RSN
Practical data-analysis workshop that introduces analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from social and environmental topics. Students use public data or research data to develop skills in data organization, visualization, and statistics. Students evaluate the use of socio-environmental data in graphics and learn to use data to make informed decisions. Quantitative methods, qualitative analysis, and survey analysis are introduced. Recommended: either ENVIR 301 or equivalent introductory course on research methods and data collection. Offered: SpS.
ENVIR 312 Food System Sustainability and Resilience (3) NSc/SSc
Explores concepts of sustainability and resilience as used today in the study and management of food production systems. Emphasizes a systems-thinking approach to assessing current and future challenges and resilience in the face of stresses and shocks. Covers complex dynamics between biological and geophysical aspects of food production systems in the context of nourishing a growing population, evaluation of co-benefits and tradeoffs. Recommended: introductory coursework in food systems or sustainability. Offered: jointly with NUTR 312; Sp.
ENVIR 313 Environmental Earth Science (5) NSc
Analysis of geologic constraints upon human activity and the environmental consequences of such activity. Topics include hillslope processes, fluvial and groundwater processes, earthquake and volcanic hazards, and environmental aspects of deforestation and atmospheric pollution. Prerequisite: either ESS 101, ESS 105, ESS 210, ESS 211, or ESS 212. Offered: jointly with ESS 315.
ENVIR 315 Environmental Pedagogy (5) SSc/NSc, DIV
Introduces the art of teaching in non-traditional settings while exploring inequities in our education system. Designed to help students become effective environmental educators such as park naturalists or interpretive guides while working with organizations serving Seattle's diverse population. Students learn pedagogical philosophy and evaluate education theory while gaining skills to become more effective environmental educators. Offered: W.
ENVIR 330 Climate Change Impacts on Marine Ecosystems (5) NSc
Links physics of climate to marine ecosystem processes, exploring both observed climate impacts from the past and projected ecosystem changes due to human-caused climate change in the future. Case studies include polar, sub-arctic, temperate, tropical, and upwelling ecosystems, and ocean-acidification and its projected impacts. Recommended: Requires high school or college physics and algebra with a basic understanding of Newton's Laws and the ability to comprehend and construct vector diagrams. Offered: jointly with FISH 330; Sp.
ENVIR 340 Farm Practicum: Production Practices for Business Success (5) NSc
Develops skills necessary for sustainable food production and business success of a small farm. Includes hands-on time at the UW Farm. Students perform regular farm maintenance tasks, learn tool handling, test soil fertility and calculate amendments, develop pest-management plans, and calculate irrigation demands. Develops production planning, harvest management, and financial planning skills. Prerequisite: ENVIR 240. Offered: S.
ENVIR 341 Energy and Environment (3) NSc
Energy use. Fossil energy conversion. Oil, gas, coal resources. Air impacts. Nuclear energy principles, reactors, fuel cycle. Prerequisite: either MATH 112, MATH 124, MATH 134, or Q SCI 291; either CHEM 120, CHEM 142, CHEM 143, CHEM 145, PHYS 114, PHYS 121, or PHYS 141. Offered: jointly with CHEM E 341/M E 341; A.
ENVIR 350 Internship (1-5, max. 15)
Fieldwork, coursework, or other learning experience conducted off-campus, but supervised by UW faculty. Credit/no-credit only.
ENVIR 360 Environmental Norms in International Politics (5) SSc
Surveys development of international environmental consciousness from 1960s to present. Models of "green development"; ways in which norms for resource use have entered global politics. Patterns of state compliance with international environmental agreements, and why states fall short of meeting their international obligations. Offered: jointly with JSIS B 350/SCAND 350.
ENVIR 362 Introduction to Restoration Ecology (5) NSc/SSc
An introduction to ecological restoration of damaged ecosystems. Examines the philosophical base of restoration as well as the social, biological, and political forces that impact the success of any restoration project. Includes lectures, readings, case studies, and field trips. Offered: jointly with ESRM 362; A.
ENVIR 371 Anthropology of Development (5) SSc
Development refers to social, economic, cultural, political transformations viewed as progress. Studied from anthropological perspectives. Historical, social context for emergence of ideas of development. Role of development in promoting national cultures. Impact of development on individual citizenship, families, rural-urban relations, workers, business, environment. Prerequisite: one 200-level ANTH course. Offered: jointly with ANTH 371.
ENVIR 379 Environmental Sociology (5) NSc/SSc
Social processes by which environmental conditions are transformed into environmental problems; scientific claims, popularization of science, issue-framing, problem-amplification, economic opportunism, and institutional sponsorship. Examination of social constructs such as ecosystem, community, and free-market economy. Use of human ecology to assess whether the current framing of environmental problems promotes ecological adaptability. Offered: jointly with ESRM 371/SOC 379; W.
ENVIR 380 Wilderness in the Anthropocene (5) SSc, DIV
Explores the ways in which landscapes change over time while considering wilderness as a space and an idea. Who benefits and who is marginalized from wilderness? How does wilderness serve humans ecologically and psychologically? How and by whom should wilderness be managed for equitable, ethical, and sustainable outcomes for nature and people? Includes pre-trip readings, lecture, and discussion, up to two weeks in field, and post-trip writing. Offered: S.
ENVIR 384 Global Environmental Politics (5) SSc
Examines the globalization of environmental problems, including climate change, ozone depletion, and loss of biodiversity, as well as the globalization of political responses to these problems within the framework of globalization as set of interlinked economic, technological, cultural, and political processes. Offered: jointly with POL S 384.
ENVIR 386 Environmental Justice Seminar (1, max. 2) DIV
Interdisciplinary learning about environmental justice. Topics may include perspectives from historically marginalized groups and current research on: treaty rights, differential exposures to pollution by race or socio-economic status, and differential access to the political process or enforcement of environmental laws. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: A.
ENVIR 387 Environmental Communications Seminar (1, max. 2) SSc
Explores environmental communication through the perspective of a diverse group of professionals working in the arts, journalism, social media, advocacy, business, and science. Investigates how messages about nature and the environment permeate our public discourse through insightful presentations and discussion with leading experts. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: W.
ENVIR 388 Sustainability Seminar (1, max. 2) SSc
Explores sustainability through perspectives of a diverse set of academics and professionals working in fields such as business, fashion, design, waste, policy, and planning. Through insightful presentations and discussion with experts, investigates how varied fields focus on sustainability problems and use different approaches to solutions. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: Sp.
ENVIR 389 Agriculture and Urban Food Systems Seminar (1, max. 2) NSc
Explores agriculture and urban food production through the perspectives of farmers, researchers, and food system professionals. Investigates urban agriculture, ecological impacts of urban food systems, and the ways that urban food production can improve the resilience of cities and food systems. Seminar format varies including hands-on experience at the UW Farm, conversations with leading experts in the field, and dynamic dialogue with peers. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: AWSp.
ENVIR 400 Professional Environmental Communication (5) SSc
Explores the variety of media and methods for conveying environmental information in the digital age. Examines scholarly literature while focusing on practical professional communication. Students participate in classroom and online discussion, social media assignments, improve presentation style and delivery while building professional communication skills. Offered: W.
ENVIR 401 Analysis of Environmental Cases (5) SSc/NSc
Guides students through the analysis of environmental case studies. Encourages synthesis of information from diverse sources and stakeholder perspectives. Frameworks are provided to help students work through the complexities of socioecological systems in a systematic way. Culminates with significant group project and presentation. Prerequisite: minimum grade of 2.0 in ENVIR 301 and ENVIR 302. Offered: AWSp.
ENVIR 416 Ethics and Climate Change (5) SSc
Critical examination of the ethical issues surrounding climate change. Prerequisite: either one philosophy or one environmental studies course. Offered: jointly with PHIL 416.
ENVIR 417 Advanced Topics in Environmental Philosophy (5) SSc
Critical examination of issues in environmental philosophy. Topics vary. Prerequisite: one philosophy course. Offered: jointly with PHIL 417.
ENVIR 418 Communication and the Environment (5) SSc
Examines how communication about the environment influences beliefs, values, and treatment of the natural world. Topics include new coverage of the environment; media strategies and rhetoric used by activists, government agencies, and industry to address environmental issues; representations of the environment in popular culture; and/or political argumentation about environmental policy. Offered: jointly with COM 418.
ENVIR 420 People, Planet, and Profit in Sustainable Cannabis Production (5) SSc
Evaluates social, economic, and environmental impacts of cannabis and hemp from a systems perspective. Stakeholders provide insights in class discussions. Students analyze sustainability issues using concepts from the natural and social sciences and the humanities to craft solutions for problems in these industries. Offered: S.
ENVIR 430 Environmental Issues: Regional Perspectives (5, max. 10) SSc
Surveys contemporary environmental issues and relevant social and historical perspectives in a particular world region. Explores factors contributing to the prominent environmental issues in the region and how societies and governments respond. Situates this region within the context of global environmental governance. Topics vary but may include pollution, waste, water, food, energy, consumption, social movements, or environmental policy. Offered: WS.
ENVIR 431 Ecopsychology (5) SSc
Explores psychology of the human relationship with nature. Critically examines how ecopsychology can impact urban sustainability, human health, environmental education, and the design of new technologies. Specific topics include evolutionary psychology; human-animal interaction; biophillia; children and nature; indigenous cultures; and ecotherapy. Offered: jointly with ESRM 431/PSYCH 431; W.
ENVIR 433 Environmental Degradation in the Tropics (5) SSc/NSc
Considers theories and controversies of environmental degradation in the tropics, ecological and social case studies of Central American rain forests and Southeast Asian coral reefs, and implications of environmental management techniques. Offered: jointly with JSIS B 433/SMEA 433.
ENVIR 435 Climate Justice at Universities (5) SSc, DIV
Explores the role and responsibility of universities in struggles for climate justice. Examines how universities were influenced by racialized and gendered oppression, environmental exploitation, and colonial intervention. Focuses on three areas of university life: the campus, student body, and research. Topics include divestment from fossil fuels, campus infrastructure, and social movements. Offered: jointly with JSIS B 435.
ENVIR 439 Attaining a Sustainable Society (5) SSc/NSc, DIV
Building a sustainable future requires restructuring the global economy and changes in values and lifestyles. How do race, culture, gender, class, and individual experience inform sustainability priorities? How do internalized notions of power and success compliment or undermine our societal efforts towards sustainability? Students explore these questions through four arenas for change: food, governance, economics, and energy. Offered: W.
ENVIR 459 Culture, Ecology, and Politics (5) SSc, DIV
Critical studies of class, gender and race differences in environmental politics. The political-economic dimensions of ecological change. Contemporary environmental movements including the varieties of bioregionalism, deep ecology, ecofeminism, ecosocialism, environmental justice, and social ecology. Offered: jointly with ANTH 459.
ENVIR 460 Power, Privilege, and Preservation (5) SSc, DIV
Critically examines strategies of resource managers to integrate local communities and cultures in protected areas management. Explores issues of power, privilege, and injustice and their impacts on individuals, society, and resource management decisions. Examines the potential for more socially just and ecologically sustainable approaches to protected areas management. Offered: jointly with ESRM 460; ASpS.
ENVIR 475 Environmental Impacts of Small Scale Societies (5) SSc
Examines the environmental impacts (positive and negative) among prehistoric and historic/ethnographic small-scale (hunter-gatherer and horticultural) societies worldwide, and debates these impacts, within a theoretical framework provided by evolutionary ecology and biogeography. Offered: jointly with BIO A 475.
ENVIR 476 Introduction to Environmental Law and Process (3) SSc
Use and application of key statutes in marine living resources management. Overview of administrative law and process. Basic legal research, reading, and briefing selected judicial opinions. Participatory case study component. Designed for non-law graduate and advanced undergraduate students. Offered: jointly with SMEA 476; A.
ENVIR 478 Topics in Sustainable Fisheries (3, max. 9) SSc/NSc
Seminar series featuring local, national, and internationally known speakers in fisheries management and conservation. Conservation/restoration in practice. Pre-seminar discussion section focusing on select readings. Topics may include harvest management, whaling, by-catch, salmon, marine protected areas, introduced species, citizen action, co-management, and marine ethics. Offered: jointly with BIOL 478/FISH 478.
ENVIR 480 Sustainability Consulting Practicum (5, max. 10)
Explores sustainability on the UW campus, in local businesses, and in Seattle communities while providing opportunities to learn about project design, management, and consulting. Students work in small groups as consultants with a client partner to research, analyze, and provide recommendations on an issue specified by the client. Course sustainability focus varies by quarter and may be related to food, energy, equity, water, climate, and more. Offered: AWSp.
ENVIR 485 Environmental Planning and Permitting in Practice (5) SSc
Advanced survey of environmental planning and permitting as encountered by environmental and natural resource professionals in Washington State and beyond. Focuses on Washington State acts (SEPA, SMA, GMA) and Federal systems (NEPA, CWA ESA) that shape environmental land use planning and federal planning and permitting systems Offered: jointly with ESRM 485.
ENVIR 489 Peer Teaching Assistants in Environmental Studies (1-5, max. 10)
Develops and enhances teaching skills through supervised direct teaching experience. Prepares students for graduate school teaching or other teaching by developing leadership, mentoring, and communication skills. Includes attending lectures and weekly preparation sessions, directed discussions with faculty and TAs, and teaching course lab, field, or discussion sections. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: AWSpS.
ENVIR 490 Environmental Studies Capstone: Preparation (5)
Engage with representatives of established research projects and internship programs to design a capstone project and secure a related internship. Articulate connections between proposed capstone project and larger social-environmental issues and scholarly questions. Participate in professional development activities, complete a project learning contract and a research proposal. First in a series of three. Prerequisite: a minimum grade of 2.0 in ENVIR 301; a minimum grade of 2.0 in ENVIR 302; and a minimum grade of 2.0 in ENVIR 401. Offered: ASp.
ENVIR 491 Environmental Studies Capstone: Internship and Research ([1-12]-, max. 12)
Projects arranged during ENVIR 490 may include internships, directed environmental research, or other experiential learning opportunities working in a professional setting either on campus or with an outside organization. Students complete assignments connecting their hand-on professional experience to scholarly research on related topics. Second in a series of three. Prerequisite: ENVIR 490.
ENVIR 492 Environmental Studies Capstone: Synthesis and Communication (-5)
Synthesize and communicate knowledge gained through both applied internship work and scholarly research. Analyze data, write and re-write, practice conveying information orally, visually, and graphically, and formally present capstone internship and academic research at a public symposium. Participate in professional development exercises to market experience and expertise. Third in a series of three. Prerequisite: ENVIR 491. Offered: ASp.
ENVIR 495 Advanced Topics in Environmental Studies (1-5, max. 15)
Advanced topics in environmental studies. Offered: AWSpS.
ENVIR 496 Study Abroad - Advanced Environmental Studies (1-15, max. 15)
Environmental studies course taken through an approved study abroad program for which there are no direct UW equivalents. Credit does not apply to major requirements without approval.
ENVIR 497 Seminar in Environmental Studies (1-5, max. 10)
Intensive and advanced reading and discussion of selected works in interdisciplinary environmental studies. Topics vary. Offered: AWSpS.
ENVIR 498 Independent Study (1-5, max. 15)
Independent reading and/or research. Limited to majors and minors in Environmental Studies.
ENVIR 499 Undergraduate Research (1-15, max. 15)
Undergraduate research in environmental studies. Offered: AWSpS.
ENVIR 500 Graduate Seminar in Environmental Studies (1-5, max. 15)
Exploration of interdisciplinary themes in environmental science communication. Topics vary.
ENVIR 501 Graduate Seminar in Environmental Management (1-5, max. 15)
Addresses a contemporary interdisciplinary issue in environmental management by integrating the perspectives and theories of science/technology, public policy, and business. Format emphasizes interactive, hands-on approaches to problem solving, with visiting lectures by academic and/or external practitioners.
ENVIR 502 Business Strategy and the Natural Environment (4)
Applies economic and business principles (marketing, accounting, operations) to understand interactions between business and the natural environment and how environmental issues influence business strategy. Theory and case studies explore strategies that both respond to and seek competitive advantage from firms' interactions with the environment.
ENVIR 511 Environmental Management - Keystone Project I (4)
First in a two-quarter, project-base course in which graduate students in the Environmental Management Certificate work in teams of an environmental problem for a government, business, or non-profit organization. Keystone projects address a range of issues in environmental management, and integrate aspects of science, policy, and business.
ENVIR 512 Environmental Management - Keystone Project II (4)
Second in a two-quarter, project-base course in which graduate students in the Environmental Management Certificate work in teams of an environmental problem for a government, business, or non-profit organization. Keystone projects address a range of issues in environmental management, and integrate aspects of science, policy, and business. Prerequisite: ENVIR 511.
ENVIR 585 Climate Impacts on the Pacific Northwest (4)
Knowledge of past/future patterns of climate to improve Pacific Northwest resource management. Topics include the predictability of natural/human-caused climate changes; past societal reactions to climate impacts on water, fish, forest, and coastal resources; how climate and public policies interact to affect ecosystems and society. Offered: jointly with ATM S 585/ESS 585/SMEA 585; Sp.
ENVIR 600 Independent Study or Research ([1-5]-)
Independent reading and research. Limited to students enrolled in the Program on the Environment's graduate certificate programs.