Interdisciplinary Minor in Global Sustainability

University of California, Irvine 
ELECTIVE COURSES 

Physical Sciences / Engineering 


Course                 Prereq.   Satisfies Description                                      
                                 Breadth                                                    

16  Physics and        Phys17A-B II        Introduction to the physics underlying the       
Global Issues (4) S.   ;                   issues of war and peace, energy, and the         
                       Phys3A-B            environment.                                     

20C Geophysics: The    None      II        How the earth came to be and how it is studied.  
Making of the Earth                         Causes and effects of earthquakes, mountains,   
                                           valleys, rivers, glaciers, deserts, and oceans.  
                                            Continental drift and plate tectonics.  Causes  
                                           and uses of the earth's magnetic field.          
                                           Geophysics and environment.                      

20E  The Global        None      II        Study of the properties of the atmosphere        
Environment:                               focusing on the causes and consequences of       
Atmospheric Pollution                      human activities.  Air pollution, ozone layer,   
(4) W.                                     and climatic change discussed.                   

20F The Global         20E       II        Oceans and land and their effect on the          
Environment: Climate,                      atmosphere and climate, with discussion topics   
Oceans, and Land (4)                       including ocean circulation, pollution and       
S.                                         climate interaction, and the effect of human     
                                           activities on life.                              

E20  Energy and                            The social, economic, and political aspects of   
Society (4) S.                             energy.  Methods of acquisition, use, and        
                                           disposal discussed.                              

CE125 Transportation   None                Introduction to fundamentals of urban traffic    
Engineering (4) F.                         engineering, including data collection,          
                                           analysis, and design.                            

CE126 Transportation                       Theoretical foundations of transportation        
Systems Analysis and                       planning, design, and analysis methods.  Theory  
Design (4) F.                              and application of aggregate and disaggregate    
                                           models for land use development, trip            
                                           generation, and destination, mode and route      
                                           choice.                                          

CE127 Traffic                              Introduction to fundamentals of urban traffic    
Engineering (4) W.                         engineering, including data collection,          
                                           analysis, and design.  Topics include traffic    
                                           engineering studies, traffic flow theory,        
                                           traffic signals, capacity and level of service   
                                           analysis of freeways and urban streets.          

Chem 245                                   Atmospheric Chemistry

Biological Sciences 


Course                 Prereq.   Satisfies Description                                      
                                 Breadth                                                    

1G California Natural  None      II        Introduction to ecological relationships within  
History (4) F of even                      a variety of California habitats.  Explores      
years                                      aspects of the physical environments and the     
                                           adaptations of organisms to their physical and   
                                           biological surroundings in habitats such as the  
                                           coastal zone, mountains, and deserts.            

59 Civilization and    None      II        An introduction to the role played by epidemic   
Disease (4) W, Summer                      diseases on the development of human             
                                           civilization.  Among the topics covered:         
                                           bubonic plague and the collapse of medieval      
                                           civilization; smallpox and the Spanish conquest  
                                           of Mexico; AIDS and western culture              

91  Origin of Life      None               Study of the origin of life emphasizing          
and Biological                             biological evolution of organisms in increasing  
Evolution (4) S.                           levels of chemical complexity.  Special focus    
                                           on evolution of immune system, nervous system,   
                                           and behavior.                                    

94  Diversity of Life  Chem1A              Introduction to types of living organisms,       
(4) F, W.                                  systematics, and classification.  Evolutionary   
                                           aspects stressed.                                

96  Ecology (4) F, S.  Bio94,95            Principles of ecology and its relevance to       
                                           individuals, populations, communities, and       
                                           ecosystems.  Also examines interactions of       
                                           these levels with the environment.               

118 Microbial Ecology  One Bio             Examines microorganisms and their functions in   
of Natural and         Core                the aquatic environment, specifically            
Polluted Waters (4) S  course              microorganisms' role in the biogeochemical       
                                           cycles of nitrogen, sulfur, and mercury; how     
                                           our activities are affecting these cycles.  How  
                                           and why indicator organisms are used in the      
                                           determination of water quality for public        
                                           health.                                          

150  Conservation      Bio97               Conservation of animal and plant endangered      
Biology (3) S of odd   (pre:Bio9           species, including examination of environmental  
years.                 4,95,96)            degradation, natural and induced extinctions,    
                                           principles of preserve design and management,    
                                           and legislation.                                 


175  Restoration       Bio96               Examines aspects of habitat restoration and      
Ecology (4) F.         (pre:               mitigation.  Field work and
study of design,     
                       Bio                 implementation, and monitoring of restoration    
                       94,95)              projects in local habitats.                      

178  Ocean Ecology     Bio96               Study of the relationship between physical       
(4) W.                 (pre:               processes in the ocean, biological               
                       Bio                 productivity, and the exploitation of ocean      
                       94,95)              resources.                                       

179  Limnology and     Bio96               Examines the biology of freshwater               
Freshwater Biology     (pre:               environments, including study of distribution    
(4) W of even years.   Bio                 of organisms.                                    
                       94,95)                                                               

186  Population and    Bio96               Population structure, function, development,     
Community Ecology (4)  (pre:               and evolution.  Includes study of population     
W.                     Bio                 growth and regulation, dispersion patterns, and  
                       94,95)              other issues related to community.               

?? Conservation in     ?         ?                                                          
the American West                                                                           

Social Science/ Social Ecology 
Course                 Prereq.   Satisfies Description                                      
                                  Breadth                                                   

1  Introduction to     None      III       Analysis of the problems society faces in        
Economics (4) F, W,                        organizing itself to provide goods and           
S.                                         services.  The relationship between decisions    
                                           made by government, business, and the            
                                           individual and current economic problems are     
                                           examined.                                        

44  Populations (4).   None      VII-B     Introduction to the analysis of human            
                                           population including fertility, mortality, and   
                                           migration and their effects on age               
                                           distributions, physical dispersion, sex          
                                           distribution.                                    

E3  Human              None      II        Introduction to concepts of demography,          
Environments (4) W.                        utilization of resources, growth and carrying    
                                           capacity.  Focuses on the biological and         
                                           physical aspect of current human problems.       

E5  Introduction to    None      II        Preliminary survey of people's interaction with  
Environmental Quality                      the physical and biological environments.        
and Health (4) S.                          Components included are water, air, food,        
                                           noise, and housing.
E8  Introduction to    None      II        The natural environment restrains the 
Environmental Analysis                     direction and intensity of social
and Design (4) F.                          development. Yet the environment itself is 
                                           evolving, both independently
                                           This course integrates perspectives
                                           from both the social and natural 
                                           sciences to examine contemporary
                                           issues in environmental analysis 
                                           and their application to public health
                                           and ecosystem management. 
                                           Topics include: human influences upon the
                                           natural biotic and abiotic environments, 
                                           world population trends,economic 
                                           productivity, environmental pollution, 
                                           ecosystem remediation,
                                           impact assessment, and world health.  

E15 Native American    None      VII-A     Examines Native American religions and their     
Religions & the                            perspectives on the human relationship to the    
Environmental Ethic                        natural environment.  Topics include the rise    
(4) S.                                     and fall of pre-Columbian state theocracies,     
                                           the ceremony of the Sacred Pipe, revitalization  
                                           movements, and sacredness and ritual in          
                                           contemporary life.
E100 State of the World                    Introduction to Global Sustainability                           

140E Native American   None      VII-B     An introduction to the history, evolution,       
Culture (4).                               ecology, and cultures areas of North American    
                                           Indians.                                         

149B  Global                               Explores how states, international institutions  
Environmental                              and other actors have responded to               
Politics (4).                              international environmental problems such as     
                                           ozone depletion, global climate change and       
                                           deforestation.  The politics of international    
                                           cooperation on the environment will be the       
                                           focus.                                           

145E  Economics of                         Introduction to economic aspects of natural      
the Environment (4).                       resources, pollution, population, and the        
                                           environment.  Studies the causes of pollution    
                                           and public policy.                               

169A  Environmental                        Examination of the relationship between the      
Politics (4).                              environment and society, how society             
                                           contributed to the current state of the          
                                           environment, and how it should change to         
                                           improve the environment.                         

E154  Environmental    None                History and evolution of environmental ethics    
Ethics & American                          in America.  Management problems in national     
Lands (4) S.                               parks, wilderness areas, wild and scenic         
                                           rivers, national forests.  Contemporary and      
                                           historical perspectives studied.                 

E105  Environmental    E8                  Environmental law as combination of traditional  
Law (4) W.                                 legal principles and newly created statutes,     
                                           rules, and decisions applied to environmental    
                                           protection.                                      

E106 Human Ecology     E8                  Examines the contradictory forecasts of a range  
(4) F, S.                                  of population-environmental models.  Historical  
                                           and modern theories studied.                     

E146  Dynamics of      E8                  Introduction to social demography, including     
Human Populations (4)                      world population explosion, the revolution in    
                                           longevity, the American baby boom, and women in  
                                           the workforce in industrial societies.           

125A  Economic         One       VII-B     Comparative study of economic systems based on   
Anthropology (4).      course              production, distribution, and consumption in     
                       in                  market and non-market economies.                 
                       science,                                                             
                       anthro,                                                              
                       econ,                                                                
                       geog or                                                              
                       sociol.                                                              

125B Ecological        Anth 2A,  VII-B     Studies of relationships between human           
Anthropology (4).      2B or 2C            communities and their natural environments.      
                                           The role of environment in shaping human         
                                           culture and biology is addressed.                

Anthropology and                           pending                                          
Development (4).                                                                            


Your comments and suggestions on this document are welcome. Please send them to:
Dr. Peter J. Bryant (pjbryant@uci.edu)
School of Biological Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92717, USA
Phone (714) 824-4714 Fax (714) 824-3571