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Earth & Environment

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  • CAS EE 100: Environmental Change and Sustainability
    Introduces the distinctive ways that environmental change and sustainability are studied across the environmental social sciences and humanities, focusing on the contested meanings as much as material realities and policy responses to global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 101: Natural Environments: The Atmosphere
    An introduction to weather and climate. Topics include the controls of weather and climate, day-to-day variations in weather, severe storms, climates of the world, urban climate and air pollution, past climates and climatic change, and the impact of climatic variations on society. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 105: Crises of Planet Earth
    After covering the origin of the universe, earth and life, the course examines two topics: natural hazards, including earthquakes and volcanoes; and human impacts on Earth, including climate change, ozone depletion, pollution, and increasing demands on mineral and energy resources. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 107: Introduction to Climate and Earth System Science
    Introduction to the Earth as an integrated system composed of interacting biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere subsystems. Major themes include earth system stability, instability and capacity for change on all time scales, including human-induced climate change. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 140: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Other Natural Disasters
    Explores the large natural events that affect us; examines their geologic causes, as well as their natural and human consequences. Topics include earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, impacts of extraterrestrial objects, andother near-surface disasters, with an emphasis on destructive solid-earth phenomena.
  • CAS EE 142: Introduction to Beach and Shoreline Processes
    Coastal processes including tidal currents, wave action, longshore transport, and estuarine circulation; barrier island and spit formation; study of beaches, dunes, and marshes; effects of tectonics, glaciers, and rivers on beaches and coastal morphology. Cape Cod field trip. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 144: Introduction to Oceanography
    Undergraduate Corequisites: (CASMR144)is required of all Marine Science majors registering for CAS EE 144. - Examines the physical, geological, chemical, and biological processes that govern that oceans with a focus on how the ocean is impacted by and also moderates the pace of global change. Dynamic nature of the oceans on both a short- and a long-term scale is emphasized. Marine Science majors are required to register for co-req CAS MR 144 as well. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 150: Sustainable Energy: Technology, Resources, Society and Environment
    Examines the social, environmental, and technological aspects of renewable and nonrenewable energy systems, their historical evolution and implications for the future. Discusses energy issues in context of globalization, climate change, and sustainable development. Explores lifestyle and policy decisions related to energy issues. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 201: World Regional Geography
    Overview of the special combination of environmental, historical, economic, and organizational qualities of the regions of the Old World, including Western and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, East and South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Emphasis on current issues of regional and global development. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS EE 250: The Fate of Nations: Climate, Resources, and Institutions
    Relationships among environment (e.g. climate), natural resources (e.g. energy, water), and human societies (hunter-gatherers to industrial economies). Principles from thermodynamics, climatology, ecology, and economics used to evaluate the role of environment and resources in the success and failure of societies. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS EE 270: Data, Models, and Analysis in Earth & Environment
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: ES/EE 107 or GE/EE 100 (or equivalent), or consent of instructor. - Introduces key questions, types and sources of data, and analytical methods in earth and environment, and introduces students to an array of quantitative methods from both the natural and social-science disciplines. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Quantitative Reasoning I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS EE 300: Earth's Rocky Materials
    Utilizing an Earth Systems approach, this course begins with the mineral phases of the core and mantle. Crustal mineralogy and petrology follow, examining how minerals and the rocks that contain them are produced by magmatic, metamorphic, hypothermal, and surface processes. Weekly two-hour labs and a required field trip. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Scientific Inquiry II
  • CAS EE 302: Remote Sensing of Environment
    Introduction to sensor systems, methodology of remote sensing, and basic concept of image analysis. Presents the ways in which remotely sensed data can be used in scientific investigations and resource management. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Scientific Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS EE 304: Environmentally Sustainable Development
    Traces the emergence of sustainable development as a defining challenge of our times. Surveys and evaluates approaches for balancing ecological sustainability and human development in various parts of the world and at the global level. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS EE 305: Rock Deformation and Structure
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: ES/EE 107. - Foundations of rock deformation and structural geology in a plate tectonics context. Emphasizes identification and analysis of rock structures in hand sample and in the field, collection and interpretation of 2D and 3D structural data, and synthesis of geologic histories.
  • CAS EE 308: Introduction to Global Resource Geopolitics: Natural Resources, Development, and Conflict
    Introduces students to the relationship between natural resources, geopolitics, and conflict. Examines the effect of this relationship on development, peace, and security around the globe. Emphasis on conflict minerals, energy commodities, and technology metals.
  • CAS EE 309: Intermediate Environmental Analysis and Policy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: GE/EE 100 and EC 101. - Introduction and critical analysis of the economic and ecological foundations of sustainability. Applications to biodiversity, land use, energy, climate change, resource curse, ecological footprint, and planetary boundaries. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS EE 310: Climate and the Environment
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASMA 122 or MA 124 and PY 211; or consent of instructor. - Understanding physical processes of the atmosphere, ranging in scale from tornadoes to global winds. Emphasis on providing physical explanations of atmospheric phenomena and impact of weather on humanity. Satellite and weather modification technology. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • CAS EE 317: Introduction to Hydrology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: ES/EE 105 or ES/EE 107 or ES/EE 142 or ES/EE 144; MA 121, 123, or 127, or consent of instructor. - Introduction to the science of hydrology and to the role of water as a resource, a hazard, and an integral component of the Earth's climatic, biological, and geological systems. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS EE 322: The Politics of Science, Care, and the Environment
    Undergraduate Prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - This interdisciplinary course explores political conflicts over environmental problems as conflicts over science and care. Content ranges from concrete cases of U.S. environmental challenges (toxic exposure, wildlife in suburbs), to environmental political theory and the politics of climate change. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course

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