Trinity University
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
GLENN C. KROEGER, Ph.D., Director
The Environmental Studies minor is an interdisciplinary study of the Earth's
environment and human interaction with that environment. The required courses
address environmental issues from natural science, economic, and sociocultural
perspectives.
Given the breadth of this minor, a significant overlap with a student's
choice of Common Curriculum courses is both expected and encouraged. To
that end, courses which fulfill an understanding are indicated in the following
lists.
Requirements for the minor are as follows:
I. Required lower division courses
ANTH 1301. Introduction to Anthropology (World Cultures)
BIOL 1318. Evolution, Ecology and the Diversity of Life (Natural Science)
ECON 1311. Principles of Microeconomics (Social Science)
GEOS 1304. Environmental Geology: Humans and Their Physical Environment
(Natural Science)
II. Required upper division courses (check catalog for prerequisites)
ECON/URBS 3330. Economics and the Environment (Interdisciplinary)
GEOS 2306. Oceanography (Natural Science)
III. One course from the following list (check catalog for prerequisites)
GNED 1306. Energy and Society (Natural Science)
PHYS 1303. The Earth's Changing Environment (Natural Science)
BIOL 3434. Ecology
CHEM 2319, 2119. Organic Chemistry (Natural Science)
GEOS 3311. Hydrology
GEOS 2405. Geomorphology
IV. One course from the following list (check catalog for prerequisites)
ANTH 2357. Humans and the Environment
ANTH 3367. South American Indigenous Peoples: Conquest and Development
ANTH 3364. Economic Anthropology
ENGL 4325. Seminar in American Nature Writing
HIST 4330. Seminar in United States History
PLSI 3346. Geography and World Politics
URBS 3347. Urban Systems (Major Institutions)
Anthropology
1301 Introduction to Anthropology
Variation in human thought and behavior is viewed in diverse cultural settings.
The anthropological perspective on sociocultural processes at work in contemporary
societies is presented.
2357 Humans and the Environment
The seminar will analyze human's relationship with the natural environment.
It will first focus on cultural adaptation to natural resources, with case
studies drawn from African foragers, South American gardeners, and Asian
farmers. The course will also analyze the effects of contemporary development,
focusing on the destruction of the rainforest. The class will try to create
new models for development from indigenous people's use of tropical resources.
3364 Economic Anthropology
The course addresses rationality and morality in economic relations from
a cross-cultural perspective. Lectures and readings will draw on neoclassical,
Marxist and cultural ecological models and look at case studies in Southeast
Asia and Latin America. In addition to analyzing tribal and peasant economies,
this course will study theories of global economic development.
3367 South American Indigenous Peoples: Conquest and Development
The impact of colonialism and development on tropical forest and Andean
Indian societies in South America with emphasis of the influence of native
social and cultural systems in these groupsí relations with national
societies and international economies.
Biology
1318 Evolution, Ecology and the Diversity of Life
The main themes of this course are 1) that living organisms are genetically
related to one another, 2) that all organisms interact with one another
and their physical environments, and 3) that over time these interactions
and changes in genetic composition produce an amazingly complex and diverse
world. 3 class hours a week for one semester.
3434 Ecology
The characteristics of the major levels of ecological organization (ecosystem,
community, population, individual), the interactions of organisms and their
environments (adaptation, energy flow, competition and predation) and the
patterns which emerge from these interactions are presented. Two field trips
are required. 3 class hours, 3 laboratory-field hours a week for one semester.
Prerequisites: MATH 1304 or MATH 1311 and one course selected from BIOL
3425, BIOL 3426, BIOL 3427, BIOL 3430, or ANTH 2310.
Chemistry
2319 Organic Chemistry
Introduction to the basic principles of organic chemistry through studies
of the structures, properties, and reactions of carbon-based compounds.
Lecture, 3 hours per week.
Corequisite: CHEM 2119.
Prerequisite: CHEM 1318 or equivalent.
Economics
1311 Principles of Microeconomics
An introduction to the economic organization of society, with emphasis on
how markets, prices, profits and losses guide and direct economic activity.
Throughout the course, economic analysis is applied to a wide range of contemporary
problems and issues.
3330 Economics and the Environment
The economic problem of coping with a finite environment. Study of the interrelationships
among economic growth, environmental quality, urban concentration, and resource
constraints. Economic analysis of pollution control and other environmental
policy problems. (Also listed as URBS 3330.) Prerequisite: ECON 1311.
General Education
1306 Energy and Society
A study of the physics and technology of energy systems and their impact
on society.
Geosciences
1304 Environmental Geology: Humans and Their Physical Environment
A study of geological hazards associated with volcanism, earthquakes, mass
movements, flooding, and erosion and sedimentation; the impact of human
activities (e.g., dam construction, urban development, agricultural activities)
on the geologic environment; problems associated with geologic resources
(mineral, energy, and groundwater) including future reserves, environmental
impact of resource exploitation, and alternative resources; waste disposal.
Field trip is required; field trip costs must be paid by each student. The
laboratory component of Understanding the World Through Science may be satisfied
by completing GEOS 1304 and 1100. Only one of GEOS 1301, 1304, or 1305 may
be taken for credit.
2306 Oceanography
A study of the geologic, chemical, physical and biological aspects of the
Earth's oceans. Topics include plate tectonics, seawater composition, waves,
tides, currents, marine habitats and ecosystems, economic resources, and
the problems of pollution and waste disposal at sea. Field trip required;
field trip expenses must be paid by each student. Prerequisite: Successful
completion of college-level laboratory-science course.
2405 Geomorphology
A study of the classification, genesis and evolution of the many diverse
landforms which make up the surface configuration of the Earth. Emphasis
on surficial processes and the resulting erosional and depositional features
and deposits produced by these actions. 3 class hours, 3 lab hours a week
for one semester. Field trips required; field trip expenses must be paid
by each student. Prerequisites: GEOS 1100, plus one of GEOS 1301, 1302,
1303, 1304, or 1305, or consent of instructor.
3303 Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing
Introduction to computer based mapping and spatial data analysis used in
earth and environmental sciences. Topics include: data and image storage
formats; contouring and visualization of two-dimensional data sets; acquisition
and analysis of multispectral remote sensing data, including airborne and
satellite platforms, principal component analysis and classification techniques;
raster and vector based Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Prerequisites:
CSCI 1303, or completion of computer skills requirement and GEOS 2102; completion
of at least two college level laboratory science courses; or consent of
instructor.
3311 Hydrology
A study of the terrestrial hydrologic cycle and its fundamental components
including precipitation, evapotranspiration, infiltration, hillslope hydrology,
runoff, flood hydrology and groundwater flow. Emphasis will be placed on
physical principles governing the movement of water across and through the
earth's surface. Human interaction with all aspects of the hydrologic cycle
will be addressed. There will be an analytical aspect of the course emphasizing
data collection and computer analysis. Field trips are required; field trip
costs must be paid by each student. Prerequisites: GEOS 2301 and 2102, and
PHYS 1311/1111 (may be taken concurrently), or consent of instructor.
Physics
1303 The Earth's Changing Environment
An introduction to the application of physics to understanding environmental
processes. Topics include: force, energy, power, thermodynamics, energy
transfer, environmental biophysics, the Greenhouse effect, the ozone layer,
energy conservation, nuclear processes and energy.
Political Science.
Urban Administration
3346 Geography and World Politics
An examination of the state as a bridge between geography and world politics,
with a focus on states of the world, nations and states, states in the international
political economy, and states and their role in the global environment.
3347 Urban Systems
This course examines the historical and contemporary human consequences
of urbanization from an urban systems perspective. The comparative basis
is multidisciplinary and multi-national, and includes non-Western as well
as Western examples. Problems of evolving urban systems are also analyzed
along with institutional responses at both urban and national levels.