POSC 411 - Public Policy and the Environment

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: Sustainability
Politics of human-environment relationships. Sustainability, biodiversity, population, consumption, technology, energy, water, resources, recycling, pollution, and urban systems. Cultural values, paradigm change, science, risk analysis, market pricing, competition of networks, and citizen action. Significant written assignment integrates theory and practice.

Possible Instructional Methods: Entirely On-ground.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: Overlay - Sustainability
Course Typically Offered: Spring ONLY

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

The underlying systemic causes and potential impacts of the major environmental threats facing the U.S. and the world;
The economic and political relationships, interests, and institutions that determine the domestic and international system’s capacity to meet the environmental threats
Evaluate the economic and political reforms and/or systemic solutions to overcome global environmental threats.

Sustainability Overlay Learning Outcomes

identify the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability, either in general or in relation to a specific problem;
analyze interactions between human activities and natural systems;
describe key threats to environmental sustainability; and
explain how individual and societal choices affect prospects for sustainability at the local, regional, and/or global levels.