JINS 336 - The Environment (template course)

This course investigates the natural environment from a variety of perspectives, focusing especially on the interaction between humans and the natural world. Possible topics: Border Crossings in South and Southeast Asian Forests - An exploration of diverse disciplinary perspectives on South and Southeast Asian forests (from Pakistan to Indonesia), including readings from anthropology, biology, geography, history, and literature. Change in the Great Plains After Lewis and Clark - In this course we link scientific knowledge with choices and behavior to examine the human impact on the Great Plains. We examine some of the ecological principles relevant to human existence in the environment and the human perspective on these principles, be they economic, philosophical, political, religious, sociological or psychological. Students write responses to resource management dilemmas based on solid reasoning accounting for scientific knowledge and human perspective. The Neotropics in Literature and Science - This course examines the New World tropics through the dual perspectives of literary and scientific disciplines. We use these disciplines to examine the commonality of relationships in the Neotropics, both the relationships between the organisms that comprise the complex ecosystems of this region and the constantly evolving relationship between human beings and the environment. Water World-Human Influences on Aquatic Ecosystems - Water World is designed to make students aware of the variety, complexity, magnitude, and immediacy of water-related issues that modern human societies must cope with. The two main disciplinary approaches are biology and political science.

Prerequisite: JINS eligibility (55-95 credits applied).
Credit(s): 3
Course Attribute(s):

This course fulfills the Junior Interdisciplinary Writing-Enhanced Seminar Interconnecting Perspective of the Dialogues.
This course is writing-enhanced course.