2017-2018 Academic Catalog 
    
    Apr 19, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses


 
  
  • ECON 328 - Economic Growth & Development


    This course focuses mainly on economic growth.  The first part of the course is a historical survey of development theory. We discuss the ideas of the ‘classical’ development theorists, structuralist and dependency theory, and the ‘basic needs’ approach to development.  Next, we look at more modern incarnations of development theory beginning with the neoclassical critique of classical and structuralist development economics and continuing with contemporary growth theory.  After reviewing basic growth theory, we spend the rest of the semester looking at the empirical evidence for various proposed determinants of economic growth including:  human capital, institutions, inequality, natural resources, foreign aid and international trade.

    Prerequisites: ECON 302 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year

  
  • ECON 329 - Microeconomics of Development


    This course will discuss various topics in development economics.  Some of the topics covered will be:  Human Capital - nutrition and health; Human Capital - education; Intra-Household Decision-making/Gender in the household; Land Tenancy and Land Reform; Technology Adoption; Credit Markets; Savings and Investment; Risk and Insurance; Social Capital; Corruption; and Natural Resource and Microeconomic Development.

    Prerequisites: ECON 302 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year

  
  • ECON 357 - Environmental Economics


    This course is one of the three Ph.D. courses in the Spatial Environmental Economics field sequence.  The material that will be covered includes the application of microeconomics to optimal natural resource extraction and use, analysis of pollution control regulation, and the valuation of environmental amenities.  The first third of the course will cover nonrenewable and renewable natural resource use.  The second third will present basic externality theory and the role of economic incentives for pollution control.  The final third will introduce the methods developed for the measurement of environmental benefits.  Throughout the course, current environmental policy issues will be discussed in context.

    Prerequisites: ECON 302 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every other year

  
  • ECON 359 - Spatial Environmental Analysis


    This course is one of the three Ph.D. courses in the Spatial Environmental Economics field sequence.  While space has always played some role in economics, in recent years there has been an explosion of research that incorporates a spatial dimension in environmental and natural resource economics.  The course examines spatially-based analytical models of the management of natural resources:  water, fisheries, forestry, land, and biological diversity.  It also introduces models that consider the causes and consequences of spatial variation in other environmental policies.  It studies the use of tools such as geographic information systems and spatial econometrics to improve the measurements of benefits and costs in these models for policy analysis.  Approximately one half of the course will present analytical models and policy applications and one half of the course will focus on spatial econometrics.

    Prerequisites: ECON 302  and  .

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every other year

  
  • ECON 360 - Probability and Statistics


    An introduction to probability theory and mathematical statistics that emphasizes the probabilistic foundations required to understand probability models and statistical methods.  Topics covered will include the probability axioms, basic combinatorics, random variables and their probability distributions, mathematical expectation and common families of probability distributions. 

  
  • ECON 365 - Basic Econometrics


    Econ 365 is a one-semester core course in econometrics at the graduate level.  The course assumes a strong background in multivariate calculus, linear algebra, and basic probability theory.  Intermediate-to-advanced undergraduate level courses in statistics/econometrics are also highly recommended.  The course will focus mainly on random samples and linear regression.  Students will be exposed to various estimation approaches such as Least Squares, Maximum Likelihood, and the Generalized Method of Moments.  Additional topics such as Empirical Likelihood and the Bootstrap will be covered time permitting.  Special attention will be given to applications using real data.  For this purpose we will typically use the econometrics package STATA.

    Prerequisites: ECON 360 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • ECON 366 - Applied Econometrics


    Full-year graduate-level course studying a wide range of econometric techniques, beginning with cross-section models (linear regression, limited dependent variables, instrumental variables, GMM, and non-parametrics) and extending to time-series and panel data.  Extensive applied assignments and an empirical research project are an integral part of the course.

    May be repeatable for credit.

    Prerequisites: ECON 365 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Full-year course. Offered every other year

  
  • ECON 367 - Graduate Research Seminar - Empirical Methods


    This course is designed to prepare economics graduate students for empirical research.  Students in their second or third year of graduate study, who have taken some  core courses in economic theory and econometrics, are encouraged to take this course.  Through reading recent research articles and in-class discussion, students will learn how to identify empirical research questions, how to develop a research plan, where to look for data, what are commonly-used empirical strategies, how to write and present an empirical paper, etc. This course should help students get a quick start with their dissertation research and avoid pitfalls and stumbling blocks along the way.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every other year

  
  • ECON 368 - Graduate Research Seminar - Formulating a Research Project


    This seminar provides a background to formulating and then executing a research project in economics.  Along the way, we will focus on several research skills that include identifying and motivating a topic for research, writing an analytical review of the literature, identifying the appropriate theoretical framework and writing a research proposal.  Over the course of the semester, developing and improving writing skills will be emphasized.  Students taking Applied Econometrics are expected to use this course to formulate a proposal for their applied econometrics paper.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every other year

  
  • ECON 371 - Introduction to Mathematical Economics


    An introductory survey of the use of mathematical methods in economic analysis.  Topics include elements of linear algebra, optimization and differential equations.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every year

  
  • ECON 377 - Urban Economics


    This course is designed to acquaint students with urban economic analysis through reading and presenting a selective sample of research articles.  It will cover topics such as the economic theory of cities, agglomeration economies, urban growth, housing market, racial housing segregation, neighborhood effects, urban public schools, and urban problems (e.g., crime, poverty, and congestion).  The course has two goals:  (1) it provides students with a basic understanding of the economics of cities and urban problems; and (2) it introduces to students research techniques used in urban economics and related fields.

    Prerequisites: ECON 302 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year

  
  • ECON 385 - PhD Proposal Writing


    Offered for Variable credit for Economics PhD students who are writing their proposal.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester

  
  • ECON 394 - Dissertation Writing


    This is a variable unit, graduate course for students engaged in writing a Ph.D. Dissertation. 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester

  
  • ECON 395 - Department Colloquium


    The Department of Economics holds a regular Seminar Series where prominent researchers are invited to come to the department to speak about their research.  Economics graduate (Ph.D.) students are required to attend/participate in the seminar series. May be repeatable for credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every semester

  
  • ECON 397 - Dissertation


    Graduate students work on their dissertation research under the direction of a faculty member.  Offered for variable credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every semester

  
  • ECON 399 - Directed Study


    Graduate students construct an independent study course on a topic approved and directed by a faculty member.  Offered for variable credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every semester

  
  • ECON 1010 - Economics and the World Economy


    The last few years have proven to all of us that what happens in one nation’s economy can have major impact- good or bad- on the economies of another nation. How and why this happens is important for us to understand. Comparisons across countries provide a deeper understanding of business cycles, unemployment, monetary policy, economic growth, currencies and fiscal policy This course, an introduction to international economic interactions and the macroeconomic analysis of economies, develops basic economic concepts including market analysis, trade, and demand and supply in the macroeconomy. These economic concepts provide tools to analyze current issues such as economic stability, debt crises and policies towards trade.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: GP (summer only)

    Anticipated Terms Offered: various

  
  • ECON 1011 - Principles of Economics


    This course is an introduction to the analysis of the economy using economic models. The first part of the course studies microeconomics - how individual actors in the economy, both consumers and producers, make economic decisions. The course then examines the implications of those microeconomic decisions for social welfare. Finally, in the last part of the class we will discuss issues of economic growth, business cycles, unemployment, and inflation that form the core of macroeconomics. Building on the basic principles of economics, we develop a framework for understanding the role of monetary and fiscal policies in affecting the economy.

  
  • ECON 2051 - Microeconomics


    Describes and analyzes how a market-oriented economy functions in answering basic economic concerns. Interspersed with theory, the course focuses on particular examples that demonstrate the use of microeconomics to solve problems faced by decision makers in both the private and public sectors.

  
  • ECON 2052 - Macroeconomics


    Focuses on the forces that affect overall performance of the economy, studying the determinants of economic activity and measures of economic performance. In addition, students explore specific current economic problems facing the United States, public policies instituted to deal with problems and repercussions of some of these policies on world economics.

  
  • ECON 2070 - Introduction to International Trade


    Why and what do countries trade? Do they benefit from trade? What are tariffs and quotas? Within the framework for the study of international  trade that this course will provide, we will examine various trade theories (Ricardian, Heckscher-Ohlin, etc.), welfare implications of trade policies, global trading arrangements (including GATT & WTO) and other issues pertinent to international trade.
    Prerequisite:Principles of Economics

  
  • ECON 4004 - Management Economics


    A concentrated graduate level management course combining key economic principles with current global economic issues. Students relate and apply these principles and issues to business management decisions and actions. The micro-economic principles that impact a firm’s pricing strategies, profitability and demand opportunities will be covered and reviewed from a management perspective. In addition, the larger global macro-economic factors that influence decisions on trade, market selection and competitive opportunities will be reviewed and practiced in group decision sessions.

     

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall and Spring semesters

  
  • ECON 5910 - Directed Research


    For a directed research course, a student and professor design a self-study course based around a common research interest shared by both. A directed research must be approved by the professor and the Associate Dean of GSOM. It can be designed as either a 0.5 unit or 1 unit course. The Directed Research Course Request Form should be completed and submitted to Associate Dean Andrea Aiello (aaiello@clarku.edu). For questions or additional information, contact your academic advisor. This directed research is done in the subject area of economics.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester

  
  • EDUC 060 - Public Schools and Democracy


    From Colonial times to the present, Americans have looked to free public education to be the main instrument for all citizens to access political maturity and equality, as well as economic opportunity. In 1848, educator Horace Mann wrote: “Education … is the great equalizer of the conditions of men-the balance-wheel of the social machinery.” In this seminar, using primary documents-laws, reports, and court decisions-both historical and contemporary, we will explore both the historical context and, especially, the current realities in public schools, to determine how effective they have been and are at present in carrying out this crucial responsibility.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: HP

    Anticipated Terms Offered: -

  
  • EDUC 152 - Complexities of Urban Schooling


    An inquiry into the challenging social and academic questions that pervade urban education using linguistic, sociological and psychological perspectives. Through lecture, discussion and field work, students will explore challenges faced by educators. Students are required to observe in a Worcester Public School classroom for two hours per week (placements are coordinated by Education Dept.). For undergraduate students interested in educational studies.  The course is also a prerequisite for the Education minor and for the Master of Arts in Teaching graduate program.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: DI

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 153 - Participatory (Action) Research with Youth


    EDUC 153 focuses on what it means to research with (rather than on) youth.  Course participants will become familiar with what youth participatory (action) research is, and how it differs from other qualitative research traditions. Participants will try on the tools of research, such as observing/taking fieldnotes and interviewing, and explore ways of analyzing and representing data, taking into account issues around ethics, power, and the responsibilities of representation. Course participants will collaborate with youth in the community to design, carry out, and present to the public a participatory or participatory action research project.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 155 - Education and Social Policy


    Examines social problems, social policy and education. Conceptual tools for the analysis of social policies are used. Examinations of existing programs and social agencies enable students to understand agency functions, client population and the relationship between the individual agency and the larger social-service network. Emphasis is placed on social problems and social solutions, linking individuals and external primary groups with societal resource systems and the impact of social-policy change on individuals and institutions.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 194 - Field Experience: Special Education and Human Services 1


    Provide direct, supervised experience within educational and human-services agencies. Placements are based upon students’ experience, goals and academic backgrounds. Placement possibilities include schools, mental-health centers, institutions, the courts, substance-abuse centers, crisis agencies and group homes. A weekly seminar provides the opportunity for students to analyze their field-work experience. Special note: These courses may be taken as a full-year, two-course sequence (EDUC 194 and EDUC 195 ) or as a single course either semester (EDUC 194).

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 195 - Field Experience: Special Education and Human Services 2


    Provide direct, supervised experience within educational and human-services agencies. Placements are based upon students’ experience, goals and academic backgrounds. Placement possibilities include schools, mental-health centers, institutions, the courts, substance-abuse centers, crisis agencies and group homes. A weekly seminar provides the opportunity for students to analyze their field-work experience. Special note: These courses may be taken as a full-year, two-course sequence (EDUC 194  and 195) or as a single course either semester (EDUC 194 ).

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 208 - Literacy Across the Curriculum


    Designed for students teaching at both the middle and secondary levels. Focuses on literary issues affecting learning across all curriculum areas, as well as the particular reading-writing and discourse issues that affect learning in different disciplines. Field work will enable students to try various instructional strategies and assessment practices. Preference will be given to students who plan to enroll in the MAT program.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically

  
  • EDUC 227 - Culture, Language, and Education


    The course’s focus on culture, language, and education is specially designed to draw attention to the possibilities and challenges of educating culturally and sociolinguistically diverse children and youth in U.S. society. Many of the topics examined during the semester will address questions of culture and language, access, and equity and their relationship to education. Fundamental to the course is also the belief that children and adolescents’ cultural, social, racial, historical, and linguistic experiences-both background experiences and daily contexts (e.g., home, school, and community)-are assets to be mined and leveraged with intentionality and purpose.  

    Prerequisites: EDUC 152  

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Bi-annually

  
  • EDUC 254 - Education in Film: Media Representations of Race, Class, Gender & Schooling


    Education in Film employs two disciplinary frameworks-sociology of education and critical media studies-to analyze film as both a product and producer of American society and culture.  Students in the course systematically examine Hollywood representations of teaching and schooling, particularly examining the social construction of prevalent narratives about teachers, urban youth, suburban youth and schooling. Through critical engagement with Hollywood films about education, students learn to identify dominant educational ideologies, and conduct media analysis based on race, class, gender, and sexuality. Course meets as a three-hour seminar with an additional required film screening time.

     

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 255 - Ethnography at School


    This course will use the lens of ethnography to examine the process by which social inequality related to race, class, gender and nation becomes manifest in classrooms and schools.  Conversely, we will use the space of schooling to better understand the basic practice of ethnography as one tool for making meaning of social dynamics.  To achieve this, we will critically examine several modern and classic school-based ethnographies to better understand the ways that social inequality is constructed and challenged in schools.  These analyses will be contrasted with students’ own critical interrogation of their own schooling experiences.  Further, students will become situated in local urban classrooms to employ the tools of ethnography in support of teacher action research projects.  Thus, in addition to a critical examination of inequality in schooling, this course will provide students with methodological training in the construction of ethnographic field notes and ethnographic interviewing.  Such analytical training is valuable not only for students interested in qualitative research, but also for anyone interested in working in schools and seeking to better understand the ways that culture is dynamically negotiated in social groupings.  Registration by permission, only.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 260 - Literacy Development


    An overview of the development of reading, writing and literacy-related oral-language abilities from the preschool years through high school. Links between oral and written skills and between reading and writing are examined. Special attention will be given to the teaching of reading and writing in ways that support greater student engagement. Field work in schools will enable students to try out various instructional approaches. Preference will be given to students who plan to enroll in the MAT program.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 261 - Human Development and Learning


    Introduces students to central and evolving understandings of human development and their implications for learning and pre-K through 12 schooling. Particular emphasis will be given to cognitive and sociocultural theories of learning and development. Preference will be given to students who plan to enroll in the MAT program.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 264 - Knowledge, Development and Instruction


    This is an advanced seminar that combines an in-depth examination of research in critical ethnography, cognitive development, and the learning sciences, with classroom-based research in a public school setting (focusing on Poetry Inside Out as well as learning progressions of key concepts in math, science and classroom discourse).

    Participants will select a domain of interest (such as Poetry Inside Out as an innovative literacy program, or new approaches to teaching science based on the Next Generation Science Standards).  They will learn ethnographic and discourse analytic research methods, and participate in planning and enacting innovative research and design studies with urban teachers and students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically.

  
  • EDUC 266 - Analysis of Individual Ability and Style


    Uses techniques to understand the individual as a whole. The theory of individual assessment, some tools for assessment, and the analysis of assessment data will be covered. Focus is placed on understanding, administering and interpreting both traditional and alternative assessment tools, including measures of cognitive ability, scholastic achievement and personality. Students are required to administer assessment procedures and analyze case histories.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 268 - Psychoeducational Practicum and Seminar


    Provides a two-semester placement, eight to 10 hours a week, within the pupil-personnel department of a public-school system. A school psychologist and/or counselor will function as an ongoing supervisor. Activities include experience in conducting and interpreting psychoeducational assessments, obtaining social and developmental-history information through home visits, and observing and participating in the development of individualized educational plans as part of the team evaluation process.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 269 - The Skilled Helper


    Designed for the development of the helping professional. Emphasis is placed on dynamics of the helping relationship and basic interviewing skills. Class exercises are used to facilitate skill development. Students who are not concurrently taking a field course are placed in a human-service agency one-half day per week.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 280 - Teaching English Language Learners


     

    This course focuses on the theoretical perspectives, research and pedagogical practices involving English Language Learners. The course is designed for MAT candidates and undergraduates who are interested in exploring the practices and approaches for supporting language and literacy development of English language learners, the conceptual frameworks and research out of which the practices have evolved, and the applications of the principles of Sheltered English Immersion.

     

    Prerequisites: Complexities of Urban Education

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually in the Spring

  
  • EDUC 281 - Critical Pedagogies


    Critical Pedagogies frames a critique of the role of education as a means for reproducing social inequalities and presents a radical alternative of education for liberation and social change. It seeks to bridge theory with action - enacting a social justice agenda in one’s work with others. In this course, we will think deeply about various anti-oppressive pedagogies - critical, feminist, queer and critical race - while also practicing together our learning using these different pedagogies. We will attempt to learn by doing and modeling as much as by reading and listening. As well, this is a course in which you will actively engage with action, working collaboratively on education projects designed for social transformation in and beyond the local community.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: DI

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Periodically

  
  • EDUC 283 - Ways of Knowing in History (Elementary)


    This Way of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in History, critical content questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Prerequisites: EDUC 152  

    Corequisites: EDUC 152  

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 284 - Ways of Knowing in the Humanities (Elementary)


    This course will address teaching and learning within the field of English Language Arts through various engagements with literature written for children and young adults.  Through class discussions, readings, writings and school based placements participants will consider how elementary students learn about literature.  Participants will explore what it means to ‘come to know’ through the discipline of literary study.
    This course is worth a half unit (0.5) of credit.

    Prerequisites: EDUC 152  

    Corequisites: EDUC 152  

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 285 - Ways of Knowing in History (Secondary)


    This Ways of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in History, critical content questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Prerequisites: EDUC 152  

    Corequisites: EDUC 152  

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 286 - Ways of Knowing in the Physical and Natural Sciences (Elementary, Middle/Secondary)


    Basing our approach on the way scientists themselves learn about nature, this course explores science learning through experiment and theory. Our students are often simultaneously cast as both learner and teacher, in which roles they investigate a variety of science curricula and experience different classroom learning environments. Through discussions, readings and hands-on science lessons, they confront science content, science pedagogy, and the real-world constraints of state curriculum frameworks, professional standards and high-stakes testing. Observations in Worcester Public School classrooms provide a rich resource for testing the ideas against the everyday realities.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 287 - Ways of Knowing in Mathematics (Elementary, Middle/Secondary)


    This Way of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in Mathematics, critical content questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 289 - Ways of Knowing in the Humanities (Secondary)


    This Ways of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in the Humanities, critical content questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Prerequisites: EDUC 152  

    Corequisites: EDUC 152  

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 291 - An Exploration of Multicultural Children’s and Young Adult Literature


    Students will read, discuss, and analyze multicultural literature for children by and about people of diverse backgrounds including diversity in race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, language, and country. Books examined will include picture books, realistic fiction, non-fiction, biographies, memoirs, verse novels, graphic novels, science fiction, fairy tales, fantasy, and wordless books. While multicultural literature written for children will comprise the primary texts in this course, secondary sources from education, linguistics, English, history, sociology, anthropology, critical race theory, women’s studies and communications will provide context and theory to guide analysis.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 296 - Special Topics in Education


    SPRING 2016 Special Topic: Investigating Powerful Learning. This course will focus on current and timely topics in Education.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Periodically

  
  • EDUC 298 - Internship


    An Academic internship is a practical work experience with an academic component that enables a student to gain knowledge and skills within an organization, industry, or functional area that reflects the student’s academic and professional interests while earning credit. Maybe repeatable for credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester

  
  • EDUC 299 - Directed Readings — Undergraduate


    Independent study for qualified students on a selected topic. Permission of instructor required. Offered for variable credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 301 - Special Topics in Math


    Middle School Math Concepts

    A graduate-level course with an emphasis on the development of mathematical reasoning.  This content-based course focuses on: use of the number line to build number sense and to properly understand the models of the four operations; use and understanding of arithmetic; developing algebraic thinking based on the idea that algebra is the study of the relationship between quantities that vary; and the construction of correponding assessment tools.
    May be repeatable for credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Summer/Fall semester

  
  • EDUC 304 - Teaching as Research Seminar I


    This seminar brings together urban-school teachers (at the elementary, middle, and secondary level) with undergraduate students and faculty involved the Next Generation Science Exemplar (NGSX) project.  The seminar supports teachers and teacher leaders to reflect on their own practice, as they develop capacity to lead their own NGSX Study groups, while participating in university-based and practitioner-based educational research. The seminar focuses on qualitative, sociolinguistic research in classrooms, emphasizing the study of talk and texts as a vehicle for better understanding students’ learning, developing systematic techniques for describing and critiquing classroom activities, and supporting effective learning among a socioculturally diverse population of students. Participants meet in facilitated groups to carry out qualitative research on their own practice and develop forums through which their work can be disseminated to a wider community of teachers and researchers.  By permission only.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically

  
  • EDUC 308 - Literacy Across the Curriculum


    Designed for students teaching at both the middle and secondary levels. Focuses on literary issues affecting learning across all curriculum areas, as well as the particular reading-writing and discourse issues that affect learning in different disciplines.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically

  
  • EDUC 311 - Teaching and Learning, Part I


    Challenges the theory that there is one best way of understanding that students must learn according to that one way, and that their capacity to learn ought to be judged accordingly. Explores many adequate pathways for developing knowledge and emphasizes that teachers who acknowledge and support different pathways help make learning more accessible for students. This premise and its implications for teaching, curriculum, assessment, the formation of learning communities for diverse groups of students, and the role of the teacher in enabling students to actively construct knowledge are explored.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every May.

  
  • EDUC 327 - Culture, Language and Education


    Graduate-level course dealing with theories and practices relevant to teaching and learning within a sociocultural perspective. Questions about language and cognition, multicultural and social diversity in the classroom, curricular and pedagogical theories and practices, language and literacy development, bilingual education, access and equity, learning across the life span, and the politics of education are discussed. In all areas, analysis of language and communication is used as a key tool for critical understanding.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 329 - Graphic Novels in the Classroom


    Once commonly thought to corrupt the minds of children, comic books and their typically lengthier siblings, graphic novels, are becoming more commonplace in middle and secondary school classrooms. Throughout the past decade a growing number of scholars and educators have argued that graphic novels can serve as fruitful texts for the exploration of topics that are regularly covered in humanities and social science classes. Through the pairing of visual images with words, graphic novels also offer opportunities for teachers to explore how these multimodal texts convey meaning with their students .This course will examine a variety of strategies for introducing graphic novels into the classroom and present a number of these texts that have been successfully integrated into middle and high school classes.
    Throughout the semester, we will examine graphic novels such as The Arrival by Shaun Tan, Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by Jean- Phillippe, Lewis and Clark by Nick Bertozzi, Maus by Art Spielgelman, Nat Turner by Kyle Barker, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan, and Zahara Paradise by Amir and Khalil. Through the reading of these texts we will discuss a variety of possible student learning outcomes and strategies for engaging students in the interrogation of topics such as: the use of anthropomorphism, the development of theme through motif and symbols, the depiction of trauma, subjectivity and perspective in history, visual literacy, and the presence of political messages in art.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Periodically

  
  • EDUC 338 - Literary Non-Fiction


    This course will explore multiple genres of contemporary literary non-fiction, including personal essays, literary journalism, memoirs, interviews, biographies, nature writing and sports writing, as well as hybrid forms of creative and narrative non-fiction.  We will discuss various difinitions of the term “literary non-fiction,” and the ethical questions that can arise when writers draw upon artistry and imagination in their representation of facts.  Authors we will be reading may include Jon Krakauer, Katherine Boo, Alex Kotlowitz, Ted Conover, Mary Roach, John Hersey, Joan Didion, Brent Staples, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Lars Eigner, Annie Dillard, Phillip Gourevitch, Jamaica Kincaid, and more.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every 2-3 years

  
  • EDUC 348 - Understanding Best Practices


    This course introduces Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) middle/secondary students to “best practice” in action, in context-to exemplary teaching and learning as it occurs in an actual setting where teachers teach, students learn, and teachers reflect on and explain their thinking, their students’ learning, and their teaching strategies, and where MAT students actually get to observe and learn with and from 7th and 9th grade students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Summer Only

  
  • EDUC 352 - Ethnography at School


    This course will use the lens of ethnography to examine the process by which social inequality related to race, class, gender and nation becomes manifest in classrooms and schools.  Conversely, we will use the space of schooling to better understand the basic practice of ethnography as one tool for making meaning of social dynamics.  To achieve this, we will critically examine several modern and classic school-based ethnographies to better understand the ways that social inequality is constructed and challenged in schools.  These analyses will be contrasted with students’ own critical interrogation of their own schooling experiences.  Further, students will become situated in local urban classrooms to employ the tools of ethnography in support of teacher action research projects.  Thus, in addition to a critical examination of inequality in schooling, this course will provide students with methodological training in the construction of ethnographic field notes and ethnographic interviewing.  Such analytical training is valuable not only for students interested in qualitative  research, but also for anyone interested in working in schools and seeking to better understand the ways that culture is dynamically negotiated in social groupings.

    Prerequisites: None

    Corequisites: None

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall

    Placement Guidelines
    NA

  
  • EDUC 353 - Curriculum & Knowing in Art


    This Institute is designed for those who wish to explore possibilities for powerful teaching in the visual arts.  During this Institute, high school, middle school, and elementary art teachers, as well as interested classroom teachers, will share a variety of teaching techniques, processes and methods.  Participants will engage in artistic studios with recycled and non-recycled materials for prototype creation and critique.  Culminating activities will support participants in developing ready-to-use lessons for their own classrooms.

    May be repeatable for credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varies

  
  • EDUC 354 - Curriculum and Knowing: History


    The essential work of any historian or social scientist, whether a professional researcher or a kindergartener, is to carefully examine different documents and evidence to develop conclusions from them. Whether examining photos and maps in a first grade classroom or preparing students for a document based question on an advanced placement test, there is a similar process to engaging in this work. This Institute will explore different ways that teachers can help develop these skills in youthful historians. This Institute will take a workshop approach and offer hands-on activities and strategies for helping students to engage in the work that historians do. Throughout the course of the institute, we will look at how to integrate historical fiction, performance projects and off-site field experiences into the curriculum. Models at the elementary and secondary level will be offered while participants will begin to develop their own units in their respective content areas. Participants will share their experiences and results of implementing this process with students in the fall.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Summer

  
  • EDUC 355 - Curriculum and Knowing: Humanities


    Participants in this week-long summer institute will read, discuss, and respond to literature written for adults, adolescents and children, with a focus on thematic connections and author’s craft. Through a range of active engagements with literature, readings of professional articles, reflective, responsive, and creative writing, we will read and discuss text sets organized by author, genre and theme. Past participants in the Humanities Institute will share their strategies for using diverse modes of responding to literature in classrooms at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels.  Participants will complete literature-based curriculum units in their own classrooms in the fall and reconvene in October to share their work.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Summer

  
  • EDUC 357 - Curriculum and Knowing: Math


    One of the most important goals in any math classroom is to create confident problem solvers who are college-ready.  Have fun making math come alive with us as we explore, discuss, and write about the way we understand concepts found in the Common Core Practice and Content Standards that challenge the learners in our classrooms.  A large part of helping students make sense of mathematics is knowing where they’re coming from and where they are going, so we’ll work as a team both to experience and create interactive lessons across grade levels K-12 that both support and extend the thinking of ALL of our students.  Experiment with geometry, algebra, number sense, and more, and discover and create valuable manipulatives, resources, and activity ideas to take back to your own classrooms.  Prepare to experience “a-ha” moments of your own, which will rejuvenate your excitement about math! Participating teachers will prepare a unit plan to use with their students.  At a follow-up presentation in late fall, teachers will share their unit and student work.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Summer

  
  • EDUC 359 - Teaching and Learning, Part II


    Challenges the theory that there is one best way of understanding that students must learn according to that one way, and that their capacity to learn ought to be judged accordingly. Explores many adequate pathways for developing knowledge and emphasizes that teachers who acknowledge and support different pathways help make learning more accessible for students. This premise and its implications for teaching, curriculum, assessment, the formation of learning communities for diverse groups of students, and the role of the teacher in enabling students to actively construct knowledge are explored.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every Fall.

  
  • EDUC 360 - Literacy Development


    An overview of the development of reading, writing and literacy-related oral-language abilities from the preschool years through high school. Links between oral and written skills and between reading and writing are examined. Special attention will be given to the teaching of reading and writing in ways that support greater student engagement. Field work in schools will enable students to try out various instructional approaches.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 361 - Human Development and Learning


    Introduces students to central and evolving understandings of human development and their implications for learning and pre-K through 12 schooling. Particular emphasis will be given to cognitive and sociocultural theories of learning and development.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 362 - Teaching and Learning, Part III


    Challenges the theory that there is one best way of understanding that students must learn according to that one way, and that their capacity to learn ought to be judged accordingly. Explores many adequate pathways for developing knowledge and emphasizes that teachers who acknowledge and support different pathways help make learning more accessible for students. This premise and its implications for teaching, curriculum, assessment, the formation of learning communities for diverse groups of students, and the role of the teacher in enabling students to actively construct knowledge are explored.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every Spring

  
  • EDUC 364 - Knowledge, Development and Instruction


    This is an advanced seminar that combines an in-depth examination of research in cognitive development and the learning sciences, with classroom-based research in a public school setting (focusing on learning progressions of key concepts in math, science, and classroom discourse).

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically

  
  • EDUC 367 - Clinical Experience I (Elementary)


    This course integrates at least 200 hours of focused field work with group professional development activities such as “rounds” and seminar discussion.  Students will be mentored by education faculty and/or professonal development school teachers as they broaden and deepen their understanding of particular approaches to curriculum (consistent with local, state and national curriculum frameworks) and develop expertise in teaching practices (e.g., fostering and assessing literacy development) that engage groups of children, including children with special needs, in active and developmentally appropriate learning.  This experience promotes students’ capacity to build and participate in a professional learning community reflecting on teaching, children’s learning, schooling and education

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 370 - Teaching for Powerful Learning


    This course aims to develop understanding of powerful learning and the teaching practice that supports it.  The course is conducted as a reflective and inquiring community of practice.  Course members study, share, develop, reflect on, and inquire into teaching and learning that transforms classrooms into powerful thinking and learning communities which engage all students in developing their full academic and personal capabilities.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Bi-annually

  
  • EDUC 371 - Inquiry for Powerful Learning


    This course is designed for teachers from grades 4-12 who have already taken EDUC 370 Teaching for Powerful Learning or who have instructor permission because of prior experience. This follow-up course not only continues the practice-focused learning of EDUC 370, it adds a more focused inquiry dimension, engaging teachers in investigating their own practice in the light of student experience and learning. May be repeatable for credit.

    Prerequisites: EDUC 370  or Instructor permission

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 376 - Powerful Learning through Teacher Research


    SPRING 2018

    EDUC 376: Powerful Learning Through Teacher Research is a graduate seminar that will provide professional development, support, and a collegial learning community for pre-K-12 teachers.  The goal is to use teacher research – to support everyone to take their teaching to the next level of excellence, and to support teachers (and by extension, their students) as powerful, transformative learners and agents of change.

    Teacher research - documentation and reflection of one’s own classroom practice - is a centerpiece of this seminar.  Participants will read about and practice a variety of ethnographic and discourse analytic tools and approaches for bringing their classrooms “to the table” with colleagues.  Participants will document – through video taping, collecting student work, and using a variety of epistemic tools – the participation and learning that takes place in key discussions over the course of the semester.  Therefore, the course will introduce participants to not only the principles and “ways of knowing” of teacher research, but also to the “tools” of data collection and analysis.

    Throughout the course, we will grapple, individually and collectively, with several key questions, including

    • What does it mean to be a teacher researcher? How do teachers research their practice? What can be learned or known from researching our practice?
    • What does it mean to understand teacher research as a “way of knowing”?
    • What is the relationship between classroom research and teaching practice?  What is the relationship between knowledge and practice? What is the role of “theory” in the work of teachers?
    • What does teacher research have to contribute to our understanding of teaching and learning?

    Teachers from all grade levels, K-12 and the university, and all subject areas - will work together on equal footing.  Together, we will use the tools of ethnographic and discourse analytic research to ask and answer our own questions, and generate new knowledge for the field, working toward presentations of our work for other educators involved in urban education, both locally and nationally. 

    May be repeated one time for credit.

    Fall 2017

    This face-to-face graduate seminar – using the NGSX PD System – will provide professional development, support, and a learning community for K-12 science teachers, supporting the implementation of the new vision of science as set forth in the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (adopted by MA in Spring, 2016). The goal of the course is to support a cadre of science teacher leaders in Worcester, who can support other teachers in understanding the shifts in the NGSS using the Next Generation Science Exemplar System for professional learning (NGSX).  Teacher research and documentation and reflection on one’s own classroom practice is a centerpiece of this seminar.

    Participants will engage in the NGSX Introduction to 3-Dimensional Science Teaching (6 Units) as well as the NGSX Facilitator Pathway (5 Chapters).  Taken together, these two pathways will not only prepare participants to lead an NGSX study group, but also provide quality professional learning for teacher leaders themselves – around model-based inquiry, evidence-based reasoning and talk, and adapting curriculum to align with the NGSS.  Participants who successfully complete this seminar will get 1.5 units of graduate course credit from Clark University, and become certified NGSX teacher leaders, able to lead other teachers in an NGSX study group back at their home site or elsewhere in the district or state.

    The Next Generation Science Exemplar System (NGSX) for Professional Development is a new kind of PD environment for science educators composed of multiple learning pathways. It is a blended model of learning, combining face-to-face work in a study group that draws on resources in a web-based environment. This model enables study group participants to engage in and analyze three-dimensional (3D) science learning-learning that draws on the three major dimensions of the National Research Council’s Framework for
K-12 Science Education (NRC Framework)
and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-core ideas of science, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. NGSX provides participants with guided practice in adapting curricular materials to reflect designated NGSS-based student performance expectations, and with ways of bringing this professional learning back into the participants’ own classrooms.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 378 - Practicum: Middle-School


    Involves at least 300 hours of teaching/learning experience at a partner school. Students will be supervised by education faculty and/or partner school teachers.

    May be repeated for credit

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 379 - Practicum: Secondary Education


    Involves at least 300 hours of teachinglearning experience at a professional-development school. Students will be supervised by education and/or partner school teachers.

    May be repeated for credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 380 - Teaching English Language Learners


     

    This course focuses on the theoretical perspectives, research and pedagogical practices involving English Language Learners. The course is designed for MAT candidates and undergraduates who are interested in exploring the practices and approaches for supporting language and literacy development of English language learners, the conceptual frameworks and research out of which the practices have evolved, and the applications of the principles of Sheltered English Immersion.

    Prerequisites: Complexities of Urban Education

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually each semester

  
  • EDUC 381 - Critical Pedagogies


    Critical Pedagogies frames a critique of the role of education as a means for reproducing social inequalities and presents a radical alternative of education for liberation and social change. It seeks to bridge theory with action – enacting a social justice agenda in one’s work with others. In this course, we will think deeply about various anti-oppressive pedagogies – critical, feminist, queer and critical race – while also practicing together our learning using these different pedagogies. We will attempt to learn by doing and modeling as much as by reading and listening. As well, this is a course in which you will actively engage with action, working collaboratively on education projects designed for social transformation in and beyond the local community.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Periodically

  
  • EDUC 383 - Ways of Knowing in History (Elementary)


    This Way of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in History, critical content, questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 384 - Ways of Knowing in the Humanities (Elementary)


    This course will address teaching and learning within the field of English Language Arts through various engagements with literature written for children and young adults.  Through class discussions, readings, writings and school based placements participants will consider how elementary students learn about literature.  As participants consider what it means to ‘know’ something in the discipline of literary study they will:

    • Examine the fields, discourses, and practices of the English Language Arts as a ‘way of knowing’,
    • Engage in the construction of literary understanding through investigation of texts,
    • Explore specific literacy strategies with particular emphasis on meeting the needs of English Language Learners (ELL),
    • Participate in classroom observation with a focus on facilitating understandings about how students ‘come to know’ through literary study, and
    • Investigate the qualities of best practice instruction that promotes a love of life-long reading for elementary students, and
    • Come to better understand how to design and implement exemplary curriculum involving literature.

    This course is worth a half unit (0.5) of credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 385 - Ways of Knowing in History (Secondary)


    This Ways of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in History, critical content questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 386 - Ways of Knowing in the Physical and Natural Sciences (Elementary, Middle/Secondary)


    Basing our approach on the way scientists themselves learn about nature, this course explores science learning through experiment and theory. Our students are often simultaneously cast as both learner and teacher, in which roles they investigate a variety of science curricula and experience different classroom learning environments. Through discussions, readings and hands-on science lessons, they confront science content, science pedagogy, and the real-world constraints of state curriculum frameworks, professional standards and high-stakes testing. Observations in Worcester Public School classrooms provide a rich resource for testing the ideas against the everyday realities.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 387 - Ways of Knowing in Mathematics (Elementary, Middle/Secondary)


    This Way of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in Mathematics, critical content questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 388 - Practicum: Elementary Teaching/Learning


    Involves at least 300 hours of teaching/learning experience at a professional-development school. Students will be supervised by education and/or partner school teachers.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EDUC 389 - Ways of Knowing in the Humanities (Secondary)


    This Ways of Knowing course is designed to support the development of pedagogy and assessment practices aligned with the distinctive habits of learning in the Humanities, critical content questions, core curriculum standards, and the academic needs of students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EDUC 399 - Directed Readings — Graduate


    Independent critical analysis of literature related to individual research. Offered for variable credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • EN 101 - Environmental Science and Policy: Introductory Case Studies


    This course explores the complexities of environmental science and policy through exploration and analysis of three clusters of topics: 1) Climate change and energy 2) Environmental impacts of modern agriculture and food systems; and 3) Urban and marine waste challenges and management options. This course is highly interdisciplinary and deals with many deeply controversial topics at the nexus of environmental science and policy. These include nuclear energy, GMOs, organic agriculture, vegetarian verses meat eating, and the dependency of modern lifestyles on plastics. As such, it deals with a diverse array of knowledge and perspectives from both the natural and social sciences, in addition to examining the complexities of environmental policy making from the perspective of various stakeholders such as scientists, government officials, industry and civil society. Frequent film screenings and class discussions are also a key means by which students will acquire knowledge and share views in this course.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annual -Spring/Fall

  
  • EN 120 - Discovering Environmental Science


    Covers key scientific and technical topics and emphasizes quantitative skills of problem solving. Topic areas include: mass and energy transfer; environmental chemistry: mathematics of growth; risk assessment; water pollution; and air pollution. The course aims to provide a solid foundation in important scientific aspects of environmental problems, complementing policy-oriented courses. Above all the course is designed to make students literate and comfortable with the language used to describe and analyze physicochemical processes. Study journals and homework problems are used to encourage literacy. Math skills emphasized.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: FA

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually - Spring

  
  • EN 177 - Health and the Urban Environment


    One of the next frontiers in environmentalism is the urban environment and the ways that the social, physical, and built environments can influence human health. This course explores that frontier, looking at risks that the built environment can pose to human health; roles that science can play in assessing these risks; and challenges of that approach. We will also look at urbanization and early public health movements; current trends in globalization and urban growth; susceptible populations and disparities in urban health; the health effects of urban sprawl; social capital and other aspects of the urban environment that can be health promoting; food and the urban footprint.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: GP

    Anticipated Terms Offered: -

  
  • EN 207 - Climate Change, Energy and Development


    This course explores the challenges associated with climate change, energy and development from multiple perspectives, disciplines and scales. The course explores the evolving science of climate change, the uneven distribution of climate change impacts throughout the world, the challenges of integrating science into effective climate policy, energy technology innovation, technologies and policies for climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation, and the associated conflicts between and diversity among challenges of developed and developing countries. This course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EN 241 - Environmental Toxicology


    Focuses on the assessment of hazardous properties of toxic chemicals in the environment and on development of public-health policy. Covers the principles of absorption, distribution, excretion, and toxic action of chemicals on humans; animal testing; and human epidemiology. Also covers assessment of public-health risks on the basis of animal and human test results, development of standards for air and water contaminants, and uncertainty in regulating hazardous chemicals.

    Prerequisites: One semester of organic chemistry or permission of the instructor.

  
  • EN 242 - Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning


    We confront one of the most pressing issues of our time: How can society transition to more sustainable development (SD)? Specifically: How can diverse social groups work in concert to vision a sustainable future, assess existing development, compare the impacts - economic, social, political, cultural and ecological - of alternative development pathways, and move towards more sustainable development? Our responses to SD challenges/opportunities require a synthesis of social and technical approaches in ways rarely seen: a) a dialogue-enabled multi-stakeholder assessment and planning process at the core; b) integrative information/communication and education technologies; c) multi-issue/multi-sector integration models (e.g. water * health * energy * food etc.); and d) ways to navigate inherent complexity, including the political context and the mitigation of corruption. The goal of the class is: to help students think about, design and consider the deployment of 2nd generation sustainable development projects. Case studies are used extensively for discussions, and simulations provide practice and insight. The course includes a major SDA&P Team Project Practicum based on either a domestic development case study or an international one (previous cases include the Cape Cod Wind Farm, the Three Gorges Dam in China, a mining project slated for Indonesia). Students work in their SDA&P Team to do three things: a) critically analyze how positive and negative impacts have been estimated (on what basis), also considering their spatial distribution; b) articulate the socio-economic, political, cultural and ecological contexts of the proposal, incl. the power dynamics; and c) design an improved socio-technical SDA&P process.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • EN 245 - Natural Resource Management


    Is natural resource management about managing resources or managing people? In this course, students will examine contemporary topics and approaches in natural resource management including decentralization, governance, and community-based resource management both in theory and in practice. Through an examination of a range of natural resource management projects (i.e., land, climate change & REDD, forestry and protected area management, water and irrigation), students will consider the cultural politics of resource management, examine various stakeholder agendas, and assess the outcomes of a range of projects implemented around the world.

  
  • EN 255 - Epidemiology and Biostatistics


    This course will explore current issues in global health from a multidisciplinary perspective, with emphasis on the tools of epidemiology. At a time of immense global changes, we will examine the changing spatial and temporal patterns of disease in developing and industrialized countries; the major social, demographic, and environmental determinants of health and health disparities; and public-health approaches to global health problems at the population level. The course will prepare you to use the scientific and medical literature to research public-health problems; integrate a range of disciplinary perspectives on health; and analyze public-health problems from a population perspective. The course has a seminar format with class discussion and student presentations. Case studies will include problems related to environmental health, such as air pollution and respiratory conditions; infectious diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS; and chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EN 258 - Food Production, Environment and Health


    Agriculture and animal production have changed dramatically over the last century, bringing higher yields and less expensive food. The changes also brought considerable costs to the natural environment and human health. This course will investigate the causes and consequences of the transformation. We will explore economic and political determinants of the industrialization of food and animal production; the effects on farmland and on water resources; the politics of nutrition guidelines; the costs and benefits of genetically modified organisms; the nutrition transition and global rise in chronic disease; the over-use of antibiotics; the potential benefits and costs of corporate organic food; regional food systems and other alternatives. While many topics focus on the United States, we will also look at topics from a global perspective. The course has a seminar format. Advanced undergraduate course for juniors and seniors with instructor’s permission.

  
  • EN 264 - Environmental and Social Epidemiology


    Epidemiology investigates the distribution and determinants of health at the population level, in contrast to medicine, which traditionally has focused on health in individuals. Social epidemiology tries to understand how social and economic factors influence population health and contribute to disparities in health. This course will cover basic principles of epidemiology and social epidemiology and the use of epidemiologic methods to study the associations between environmental exposures and the risk of disease. We will also investigate how social and economic factors influence environmental exposures, particularly among susceptible populations. Lectures, discussions, problem solving.

  
  • EN 269 - Sustainable Communities


    Communities around the world are taking a lead role responding to sustainability challenges, including climate change, by pursuing various forms of sustainable communities which seek to re-imagine the relationship between human societies, the built environment, and ecological systems. This course will explore the different approaches to sustainable community development and it will interrogate the assumptions, philosophies, and economic models that underlie these different approaches. It will investigate the many dimensions of sustainability that are valued in lived communities, including ecological integrity, economic security, empowerment, responsibility, and social well-being, and it will consider the extent to which different approaches to sustainable communities support these goals. Case studies will be drawn from around the world.

  
  • EN 277 - Sustainable Consumption and Production


    The increasingly unsustainable pressure on the Earth’s natural systems calls for radical changes in the way people in the industrialized and in the rapidly growing economies satisfy their appetite for goods and services. Some believe that innovation in technologies is our great hope, while others emphasize the need to change the consumption patterns of individuals and societies. Both necessitate changes in institutions, values, and social arrangements. This advanced seminar examines the role that changes in technology, institutions and culture might play in bringing about the necessary change toward more environmentally sustainable development. Four types of innovation are discussed: in the production process, in product design, in function delivery by way of products and services, and in a larger sociotechnical system. The course draws on theories of technological innovation, consumer behavior and institutionalism as well as empirical case studies from the United States, Europe and some developing countries. The course considers the key drivers of change, such as government policy, market forces, cultural norms, activities of mission-oriented organizations, social movements and others.

  
  • EN 282 - U.S. Environmental Pollution Policy


    In this course, we study approaches to regulating pollutants in air, water, and land in the United States. The course will provide an in depth review of the process of environmental policymaking in the U.S., while exploring the pros and cons of different regulatory approaches. The course has four primary objectives: (1) examining the trades-offs inherent in crafting pollution policy; (2) the role of science in the policy making process; (3) the different approaches used to motivate various societal players to act in ways that minimize the release of environmental pollutants; and (4) business perspectives on environmental policy and risks. The course draws on a wide range of academic and professional materials, including economic theories, political science, environmental law and policy, and technical/scientific information.

     

    The Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act are two of the major environmental statues in the United States, which we will explore as part of the course. Each law has spurned a wide range of regulations and standards, which have been shaped and modified by subsequent legal decisions, new scientific data, and changing administrations. We study these laws by studying their key provisions and the resulting regulations, and by analyzing their implementation in specific cases. The following key questions are addressed: At what point in the pollution generation process to intervene? What type of intervention to take? What societal issues to consider in the regulatory decision? At what level of government to regulate? How to apportion the responsibilities among different levels of government? What scientific data to use and what analytical methods to apply? How to motivate polluters to comply with the regulations?

     

    In addition to these major media-based statutes, we will also focus on emerging environmental issues, including the environmental risks and debate surrounding the expanded role of “fracking” in oil and natural gas production in the United States, and the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Because of the advanced and ever-changing nature of the material for this course the readings are taken from many sources: excerpts from books, published articles, the web, the Federal Register, internal reports from research organizations, and so on. In addition, students perform independent research on specific topics, especially recent relevant case studies.

     

    The course has a seminar format. Students have regular writing assignments, give presentations in class, and are expected to actively participate in class discussions. Attendance is mandatory except for well justified personal hardship cases. In addition to the weekly seminars, the course will include a seminar on environmental databases, data manipulation, and data presentation. The seminar will include instruction on some of the advanced functions and features of Microsoft Excel.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • EN 290 - Capstone Research


    A required course for senior environmental science and policy majors, this seminar offers an opportunity to integrate the strands of the environmental science and policy major. The product will be a completed research project and a poster presentation. A research proposal for an honors project or a master’s thesis is optional but strongly encouraged. Specific topics for investigation are chosen largely on the basis of student interest from a broad array including global environment threats, energy and other resource issues, community brownfields, and technological risk assessment and management. Unlike a regular course, student presentations constitute a major portion of class meetings, with the instructor as a facilitator of discussion and as a general resource for the group.

    Prerequisites: Students must be seniors or second-semester juniors and must have completed a substantial fraction of their major requirements.

  
  • EN 297 - Honors Research


    Honors in environmental science requires directed research for at least two semesters under the supervision of a faculty member of the program, a thesis, and an oral presentation.

    May be repeated for credit.

    Prerequisites: Permission of the ES Director.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: fall & spring

 

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