SEA Semester

• CAS NS 221: Oceanography
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester.
  Explores how interconnected ocean characteristics (bathymetry, seawater chemistry, biological diversity) and processes (plate tectonics, surface and deep‐water circulation, biological production) shape global patterns across multiple scales. Discussion of destination‐specific environmental issues and hot topics in marine research.
• CAS NS 222: Maritime Studies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester.
  Relationship between humans and the sea. History, literature and art of our maritime heritage. Ships as agents of change. Political and economic challenges of contemporary marine affairs. Destination‐specific focus.
• CAS NS 223: Nautical Science
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester.
  The fundamentals of sailing ship operation, in preparation for direct application at sea. Navigation (piloting, celestial, and electronic), weather, engineering systems, safety, and sail theory. Participation as an active member of the ship's crew on an offshore voyage.
• CAS NS 320: Ocean Science and Public Policy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA semester. Sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Culture, history, political systems, and science can shape ocean policy. Students practice current strategies to build, analyze, and communicate about diverse policy issues. Examines the power, use, and limitations of science and the scientist's voice in determining ocean policy.
• CAS NS 321: Oceans in the Global Carbon Cycle
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA semester and a minimum of three lab science courses, including one at the 300 level or higher, or consent of instructor.
  Ocean as carbon source and sink. Examines global‐scale flux patterns and carbon storage mechanisms, from solubility/biological pumps to geo‐engineering. Explores buffering capacity and mitigation strategies in the face of anthropogenic carbon cycle perturbations. Oral presentation and written research proposal required.
• CAS NS 322: Maritime History and Culture
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester. Sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Explores impacts of European maritime ventures on the societies they contacted in the Atlantic or Pacific, with focus on the resulting social, political, economic, and cultural changes. Investigates responses documented in the post‐Colonial literature of indigenous people.
• CAS NS 323: Marine Environmental History
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester. Sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Employs methods and sources of historians and social scientists. Examines the role of human societies in coastal and open ocean environmental change. Issues include resource conservation, overfishing, pollution, invasive species, and climate change.
• CAS NS 326: The Ocean & Global Change
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester; sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Ocean ecosystem change in the anthropocene: warming, acidification, fisheries depletion, and pollution. Reviews principles of circulation, seawater chemistry, nutrient dynamics, and biological production to understand causes and consequences of change. Field measurements for contribution to time‐series datasets are conducted.
• CAS NS 327: Cultural Landscapes and Seascapes: A Sense of Place
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester; sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Field‐intensive analysis and documentation of dynamic relationships between nature and culture in specific coastal, island, and ocean places. Cultural landscape and related interdisciplinary bio‐cultural approaches are applied to place‐based environmental studies.
• CAS NS 328: Toward a Sustainable Ocean: Conservation & Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester; sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Comparative and issue‐driven introduction to managing human uses and conserving coastal and ocean places and resources. Explores concepts of technology, governance, sector and ecosystem management, and marine protected areas through expert content lectures, topical seminars, and field trips.
• CAS NS 329: Leadership in a Dynamic Environment
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester; sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  How to be an effective leader while leveraging the individual strengths of a team. Uses leadership theory and case studies to understand how decisions affect outcomes. Students participate as an active member of a ship's crew, progressively assuming full leadership roles.
• CAS NS 330: Data Communication & Visualization
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester; sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Information visualization strategies and associated software, emphasizing communication to diverse audiences. Students choose between geospatial (GIS) and qualitative data foci, develop graphics and/or multimedia products supporting research projects in concurrent courses, and compile an iterative digital portfolio.
• CAS NS 331: Climate, Society, and the Humanities
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the SEA Semester; junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Survey of climate literature across humanities and social science disciplines. Explores interpretive and comparative approaches to understanding human-climate interactions in maritime contexts and identifies collaborative potential with the natural sciences. Requires interdisciplinary research, field journal writing, and team projects.
• CAS NS 332: Environmental Communication
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the SEA Semester; junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Seminar focusing on communication skills development for environmental scholars. Introduces the field of environmental communication, examines environmental attitudes and behaviors, and develops a toolkit of communications strategies. Includes projects in data visualization, multi- media, and digital storytelling.
• CAS NS 333: Directed Research Topics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the SEA Semester; sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
  Seminar exploring humanities and social sciences approaches to understanding and resolving contemporary climate-related issues. Development of research and writing skills through analyses of case studies and guided seminar exercises. Requires field data collection, research paper and presentation of results.
• CAS NS 433: Advanced Research Topics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the SEA Semester; junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Advanced humanities and social science seminar focusing on contemporary climate-related issues including urban/coastal resilience, poverty and justice, clean energy, human displacement, and national security. Emphasizes case study analysis and research methods. Requires field data collection, research paper, and symposium presentation.
• CAS NS 450: Advanced Topics in Biological Oceanography
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA semester and a minimum of three lab science courses including one at the 300-level, or higher, or consent of instructor.
  In-depth treatment of a single topic in biological oceanography. Extensive review of classical and contemporary literature. Introduction and practice of current laboratory techniques. Oral presentation and research paper required. Topics may include marine plankton ecology, biodiversity, and satellite oceanography.
• CAS NS 460: Advanced Ocean Policy Research
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA semester; junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Advanced policy research focusing on a topic of current importance (may include fisheries, biodiversity, marine spatial planning, and cultural heritage). Emphasis on theoretical concepts, research methods, and communication skills. Requires critical review paper, original research, final report and presentation.
• XAS NS 225: Oceanographic Field Methods
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester.
  Exposure to basic oceanographic sampling methods. Participation in shipboard laboratory operations in order to gain experience with deployment of modern oceanographic equipment and collection of scientific data at sea. Emphasis on practicing consistent methods and ensuring data fidelity.
• XAS NS 226: Practical Oceanographic Research
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to the SEA Semester.
  Introduction to oceanographic research. Students design a collaborative, hypothesis‐driven project following the scientific process. Collection of original data. Conduct analysis and interpretation, resulting in a written report and oral presentation.