Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (EVST/URBN 1010), Spring 2023
This course introduces the fundamental concepts, principles, and tools of geographic information systems (GIS). Whether for urban planning, wildlife management, transcontinental shipments, or simply navigating with our phones, GIS is inseparable from modern existence. In this course, we will learn how to think spatially, produce maps and conduct data analysis with GIS techniques, and understand how geography and GIS can be applied to research. Key concepts and ideas are reinforced through weekly lab assignments and a final project.
Introduction to Environmental Studies (EVST 1000), Fall 2022
This course explores the relationship between humans and the environment through the interdisciplinary field of environmental studies. We will survey a broad range of environmental challenges and solutions – including climate change, biodiversity protection, food production, and pollution control. To do so, we will examine different intellectual traditions and perspectives that shape our understanding of the environment and the impacts and consequences of our actions. We will read works by environmental scientists, geographers, economists, journalists, historians, sociologists, philosophers, and many others. We will explore topics through video, media, guest speakers, field trips, and (most importantly) regular discussion. Throughout the course, we will pay special attention to issues of inequality and power relations, from the politics of environmental knowledge production, to the unequal distribution of environmental impacts. LMU is located in one of the world’s major cities – with all the environmental challenges and inequalities that that entails – and we will make use of local examples, resources, and expertise.
International Environmental Policy (EVST 3010), Spring 2021
This course examines the challenges of governing complex global environmental problems. With each passing year, issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, food production, water provision, and pollution grow more acute. These problems are not confined within geographical or political boundaries, nor are they understood, experienced, and acted upon by everyone in the same way. Indeed, global environmental problems are inextricably bound to broader political and economic institutions and power relations that confound simple policy solutions. This course thus requires us to situate international environmental policy-making in a broader context of ongoing social and environmental change, and the relationships between them.
To do so, we will engage deeply with diverse scholarly and theoretical perspectives, drawing from geography, environmental studies, international relations, development studies, economics, political science, and many others. We will analyze historical and contemporary case studies of international environmental policy-making, paying special attention to debates and policies that are currently in the news. We will explore examples at the global, transboundary, and national scales. This course requires extensive weekly reading, discussion, research, and writing.