GOAL AREA 10: PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Requirements
One course
Three credits
Goals
To improve students' understanding of today's complex environmental challenges. Students will examine the interrelatedness of human society and the natural environment. Knowledge of both bio-physical principles and socio-cultural systems is the foundation for integrative and critical thinking about environmental issues.
Critical Thinking
The practice of critical thinking skills associated with environmental awareness, including ability to gather and apply factual information, recognition and articulation of the value assumptions made by ourselves and others, consciousness of possible bias in factual information.
Student Competencies
Students will be able to:
- explain the basic structure and function of various natural ecosystems and of human adaptive strategies within those systems.
- discern patterns and interrelationships of bio-physical and socio-cultural systems.
- describe the basic institutional arrangements (social, legal, political, economic, religious) that are evolving to deal with environmental and natural resource challenges.
- evaluate critically environmental and natural resource issues in light of understandings about interrelationships, ecosystems, and institutions.
- propose and assess alternative solutions to environmental problems.
- articulate and defend the actions they would take on various environmental issues.
Courses that satisfy this goal area include:
BIOL 1120 General Biology: Evolution And Ecology (3 credits)
BIOL 2925 People & The Environment: Biological Perspectives on the Environment (3 credits)
CHEM 2925 People and the Environment: Chemistry Perspective (3 credits)
ECON 2925 People and the Environment - Economic Perspective (3 credits)
*ED 2925 People and the Environment - Education Perspective (3 credits)
ENGL 2925 People and the Environment: American Nature Writers (3 credits)
ENGL 2926 People and the Environment: Writing and Nature (3 credits)
ENVR 2000 Introduction to Environmental Science (3 credits)
ENVR 2925 People and the Environment - The Global Pollution Perspective (3 credits)
GEOG 2925 People and the Environment: Geography Perspective (3 credits)
GEOL 1110 Physical Geology (4 credits)
GEOL 2925 People and the Environment: Earth Science Perspective (3 credits)
*HLTH 2925 People and the Environment: A Health Perspective (3 credits)
HST 2925 People and the Environment: Environment and History (3 credits)
MATH 1120 Environmental Mathematics (3 credits)
MASC 2925 People and the Environment: Mass Media Perspectives (3 credits)
*PHED 2925 People and the Environment: (3 credits)
PHIL 2925 People and the Environment: Environmental Ethics (3 credits)
POL 2925 People and the Environment: Political Science Perspective (3 credits)
PSY 2925 People and the Environment: Psychology Perspective (3 credits)
SCI 2925 People and the Environment: Science Perspective (3 credits)
SOC 2925 People and the Environment: Sociology Perspective (3 credits)
SPCM 2925 People and the Environment: Communication Perspective (3 credits)
OTHERS:
All-University course numbers 1958 and 2958 are available to any department for use as study-travel courses, subject to approval, and will satisfy this goal area (also requires approval by the People and the Environment director).
*This course will satisfy Liberal Education at BSU, but does not qualify for inclusion in the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum as currently interpreted by Minnesota State, and may not be accepted as a Liberal Education course at other Minnesota State institutions or the University of Minnesota.