Environmental Analysis and Sustainability at CSU Northridge
Program Design & Assessment
Overview
Environmental Analysis and Sustainability is NOT YET a program at CSUN, but over the next several years we hope to build a NEW BA PROGRAM that is deeply interdisciplinary, partners with Northridge's Sustainability Institute, and draws on the insights of the humanities, sciences, business and economics, and social sciences.
Impetus
We hope that a new program can reach the broader spectrum of the CSUN student body who have a keen interest in 'doing something to help the environment,' but who do not have either the preparation to succeed in math, chemistry, physics, and the traditional upper-division geology courses or the desire to pursue a career in technical science.
Program Goals
Our plan is to create a program in which a student who majors in EAS will: 1) gain a basic understanding of earth materials, systems, and structure, 2) engage, assess, and critique an interdisciplinary scholarly literature, 3) apply relevant theoretical techniques and methodological insights to environmental issues across the disciplines, 4) speak and write clearly and persuasively, and 5) understand the real-world dimensions of environmental problem-solving.
Alumni Careers
We hope to prepare our students for careers in many environmental problem-solving fields, including law, policy, conservation, global climate change, urban planning, and resource management.
Program Assessment
Not applicable as the program does not yet exist.
Courses and Sequencing
Entry into the program
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS A POSSIBLE LIST OF ENTRY COURSES INTO THE YET-TO-BE-PROPOSED PROGRAM- Geology of Planet Earth
- Living with Earthquakes in California
- Geology Goes Hollywood
- Earth and Life Through Time
Core courses
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS A POSSIBLE LIST OF CORE COURSES FOR THE YET-TO-BE-PROPOSED PROGRAM- Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Sustainability
- Best Practices in Sustainability
- Applied Sustainability
- Mathematical Methods in Earth Science
- Geochemistry
- Introduction to Geophysics
- Earth Materials and Lab
- Earth Systems and Lab
- Earth Structure and Tectonics and Lab
- Introduction to Field Methods
- Introduction to Scientific Writing
Electives
Students are required to take four to five courses of electives, chosen from the following list:
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS A POSSIBLE LIST OF ELECTIVE COURSES FOR THE YET-TO-BE-PROPOSED PROGRAM
- Urban Anthropology
- Ecological Anthropology
- Environmental Justice and Health
- Interrogating Globalization: The Ethnography of Global Problems
- Ecology and People
- Conservation Biology/Field Studies in Biology
- Environment, Development and Social Exclusion in Central America
- Environmental Chemistry I/Lab
- Environmental Chemistry II/Lab
- Fundamentals of Green Buildings
- Economic Principles and Problems
- Environmental Economics
- Environmental Health Law
- Air Pollution and Health
- Senior Comprehensive Interior Design Project
- Sustainability in Family and Consumer Sciences
- Sustainable Building and Interior Design
- Interior Design and the Building Process
- Environmental Geography
- Urban Geography
- Geography of World Ecosystems
- Global Warming
- Conservation
- Environmental Impact Studies
- Natural Environment and Judaism
- Energy and Society
- Principles of Recycling and Municipal Waste Management
- Alternative Energy Engineering I
- Alternative Energy Engineering II
- Introduction to Environmental Engineering
- Strategic Leadership of Sustainability
- Environmental Policy
- Comparative Public Policy
- Religion and Ecology
- Recreation and the Natural Environment
- Outdoor and Environmental Education
- Principles of Sustainable Tourism
- Cultural Aspects and Global Perspectives in Tourism
- The Urban Scene
- The Planning Idea
- Growth and Development of Cities
- Planning for the Natural and Built Environment
- The California Environmental Quality Act for Urban Planners