Time Schedule:
Megan Styles
ENVIR 300
Seattle Campus
Synthesis and application of natural and social science disciplines to environmental issues in specific, place-based case studies. Cases illustrate design of environmental policies, analysis of complex environmental problems, and the entanglement of facts and values in environmental decision-making. Prerequisite: minimum grade of 2.0 in ENVIR 200 and ENVIR 250; recommended: ENVIR major foundational courses. Offered: WSp.
Class description
This course will draw from a range of natural and social science disciplines to address environmental issues, as highlighted in specific, place-based cases. Students will learn how data from the social and natural sciences are utilized when environmental decisions are made. This course will focus on the distinction and entanglement of facts and values in environmental decision making. The word facts refers to empirical, “universally valid” knowledge about the world. Values indicate the system of beliefs, morals, and opinions of an individual or social group. We will work our way through local, regional, national, and international environmental cases. Through the lens of these cases students will come to better understand how facts and values are intermingled in environmental decisions.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
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Class assignments and grading
