Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS EE 644: Digital Image Processing - Remote Sensing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASEE 302 or equivalent. At least introductory statistics (and preferably multivariate statistics) recommended. - This course pursues both the algorithms involved in processing remote sensing images and their application. Topics include preprocessing, image transformations, image classification and segmentation, spectral mixture analysis, and change detection. Examples cover a wide range of environmental applications of remote sensing. Students do a project.
• CAS EE 645: Physical Models in Remote Sensing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: EE 302 or equivalent - Devoted to understanding the physical processes involved in remote sensing. Emphasis based on topics of radiative transfer in the atmosphere, at the surface, and in sensors. Reflectance modeling, advanced sensor systems, and geometric effects. A short research paper is required.
• CAS EE 646: Remote Sensing of the Lower Atmosphere
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: EE 302 and EE 310 or consent of instructor - Remote sensing has transformed the study of Earth's atmosphere. Learn the principles of retrieving meteorological parameters (humidity, temperature, precipitation) and key atmospheric constituents (clouds, greenhouse gases, aerosol) from satellite observations. Explore applications to climate change, disaster monitoring, and public health. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Quantitative Reasoning II.
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  • Quantitative Reasoning II
• CAS EE 656: Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Carbon Cycle
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: EE 100 or 101, college level statistics (MA 113, MA 115, MA 213, or equivalent), and one of the following: BI 306, BI 443, or EE 530; or consent of instructor - Explores the past, present, and possible future dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Key topics include the physical climate system, variability, ecosystem processes, land use issues, and impacts of global change on society.
• CAS EE 660: Resource Economics and Policy
  Prereq: MA 121 or MA 123 or MA 124, or equivalent; EC 101 or equivalent; or consent of instructor *Economic and policy analysis of food, energy, and water, and the management of food, energy, water and land resources. Introduces resource economics and static and dynamic optimization as analytical frameworks for understanding the optimal management of scarcity, externalities, and impacts of environmental change on, and adaptation/vulnerability of, resource use. Meets with EE 460.
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  • Quantitative Reasoning II
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS EE 683: Environmental and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: MA 123 or 127 or 129 and PY 211; or consent of instructor - Large- and small-scale phenomena in oceanic, atmospheric, and land-surface fluids. Properties of gases and liquids; surface body forces; statics; flow analysis; continuity and momentum conservation. Darcy's Law; potential, open channel and geostrophic flow; dimensional analysis; diffusion, turbulence.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Quantitative Reasoning II
  • Scientific Inquiry II
• CAS EE 712: Regional Energy Modeling
  Regional energy modeling techniques and existing regional energy models. Current energy issues are discussed. Modeling procedures are introduced. Current regional and energy models are explored.
• CAS EE 719: Colloquium in Biogeoscience
  The objective of this course is to introduce graduate students to the diversity of research being done in the field of biogeosciences. By participating in this seminar course, students will gain depth and breadth in their graduate education. The inclusion of distinguished- speaker seminars will not only expose students to some of the brightest minds in the field, but also help the students develop a professional network beyond that which they will gain at Boston University. Also offered as BI 719. 2 credits.
• CAS EE 720: Practicum in Biogeoscience
  Analysis and synthesis of the primary literature via in-depth case studies in biogeoscience. Students meet weekly with faculty to read papers from the primary literature, synthesize results, and prepare a peer-review quality paper on the case study. Also offered as BI 720. 2 credits.
• CAS EE 764: Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health Colloquium
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: priority is given to students enrolled in the BU Graduate Program in U rban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. - Introduction to the fields of Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. Through weekly reading, discussions, and research presentations, students acquire a basic foundation in urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health.
• CAS EE 765: Applied Research Methods Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health
  Graduate Prerequisites: Priority is given to students enrolled in the BU Graduate Program in U rban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. Completion of GRS BI/EE 7 64 highly recommended. - Students learn skills in urban Biogeoscience, Environmental Health, and Statistics to tackle urban environmental challenges. Learning outcomes are achieved through learning about research methods related to urban air, soil, water quality, environmental stressors, nutrient cycles, and climate. Students read and deconstruct primary literature, have in-class discussions, and complete hands-on training.
• CAS EE 795: Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health: From Research to Policy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Priority is given to students enrolled in the BU Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. Students are required to meet with the instructor prior to the start of the course t - Students have to meet with the instructor prior to the start of the course to set up an internship with a partner organization. For international students seeking credit for academic advancement the internship must be authorized by the International Students & Scholars Office. Students who are not part of the BU Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health should contact the instructor prior to enrolling to determine if their background and interests are consistent with the course. Students learn how cities utilize scientific findings to address urban environmental challenges and develop communication skills to effectively translate scientific results to decision-makers and the public. Students complete a semester-long internship to gain experience applying scientific knowledge to decision making.
• CAS EE 805: Spatial Analysis Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  Covers advanced research topics in GIS dealing with the measurement, storage, retrieval and analysis of spatial information. Topics include fuzzy sets, fractals, and spatial statistics. Completion of a project is required.
• CAS EE 840: Topics in Remote Sensing
  Varying subjects in the field.
• CAS EN 306: Introduction to Playwriting
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - This course teaches playwriting craft through lectures, readings, discussion of dramatic writing, writing workshops, attending theatrical events, individual conferences, and the writing of short plays culminating in a one-act. A portfolio of revised work is due at semester's end. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS EN 505: Poetry Workshop
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a selection of poems must be submitted during the period just before classes begin. - A workshop in the writing of poetry. Manuscripts read and discussed in class. Individual conferences. Enrollment limited chiefly to graduate students.
• CAS EN 506: Poetry Workshop
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a selection of poems must be submitted during the period just before classes begin. - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a selection of poems must be submitted during the period just before classes begin. - A workshop in the writing of poetry. Manuscripts read and discussed in class. Individual conferences. Enrollment limited chiefly to graduate students.
• CAS EN 508: Seminar: Creative Writing, Poetry
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a selection of poems must be submitted during the period just before classes begin. - Individual conferences. Enrollment limited chiefly to graduate students.
• CAS EN 509: Playwriting 2: Writing the Social/Political Play
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a short play or scene from a play must be submitted during the period just before classes begin. - Explores the dramatist's response to political and social events over 2,000 years from the Greeks through the modern period. Examines how playwrights dramatized the pressing issues of their times with a focus on content, historical context, and theatrical forms.
• CAS EN 510: Playwriting 1: Writing of Short Plays
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a short play or scene from a play must be submitted during the period just before classes begin. - A seminar in the writing of short, original plays, addressing structure, language, and theme. Students read and discuss the masters of modern drama. Writing exercises are assigned to stir the imagination and develop craft. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation. Effective Fall 2026 this course no longer carries HUB units.