Sustainability and Environmental Studies
Departmental Guidelines and Mission Statement
Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SES) offers an in-depth, holistic examination of the relationship between humans and the environment. Our curriculum integrates critical perspectives on coupled human-natural systems relationships and their impacts, while also focusing attention on the action steps individuals, organizations, and societies can take to prevent and reduce lasting harm to the Earth. We explore and work to implement sustainable alternatives to business-as-usual practices. We bridge intellectual approaches from all divisions of the college and help our students develop depth in a particular area or theme of interest within the broad fields of sustainability and environmental studies.
Students who matriculated in fall 2024 are eligible for the Sustainability and Environmental Studies major and minor. Students who matriculated in fall 2021, 2022, or 2023 may follow the Environmental Studies major and minor requirements. Any Environmental Studies major or minor who matriculated before the fall of 2024 must work closely with the program to ensure that they are meeting all requirements appropriately.
Faculty
Sustainability and ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES FACULTY
Academic Administrative Assistant
Sustainability and Environmental Studies Major
The Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SES) Major requires eight courses, one sustainability-themed experiential learning component, and a five-course area of concentration.
1. Three required core courses:
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| SES 100 | Introduction to Sustainability and Environmental Studies |
| SES 200 | Environmental Analysis |
| SES 301 | Sustainability Practicum |
2. Four distribution courses:
Students are to fulfill the requirements of the distribution categories listed below. No double-counting is permitted among these distribution categories or between the distribution courses and the concentration. See the SES myDenison page for an updated list of courses that may be used to fulfill these categories. Also note that some of these courses have prerequisites.
a. A pair of Natural Science courses providing environmental and/or sustainability relevance. Examples include:
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Introductory Natural Science Courses: | |
| BIOL 210 & BIOL 220 | Molecular Biology and Unicellular Life and Multicellular Life |
| EESC 101 | Introduction to Environmental Sciences |
| EESC 111 | Planet Earth |
| Advanced Natural Science Courses: | |
| BIOL 230 | Ecology and Evolution (with BIOL 210/ BIOL 220 prereqs) |
| EESC 234 | Applied GIS for Earth and Environmental Sciences |
| EESC 240 | Earth Resources |
| EESC 270 | Oceanography |
| EESC 280 | Introduction to Meteorology |
| SES 222 & SES 223 | Geographic Information Systems I and Geographic Information Systems II |
| SES 274 | Ecosystem Management |
b. One environmental/sustainability course from the Humanities or the Arts. Examples include:
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| AGRS 312 | Ancient Identities |
| AHVC 263 | World Views: Spatial Imagination in East Asia |
| AHVC 302 | Medieval Art and Architecture |
| ENGL 291 | Environmental Literature |
| ENGL 368 | Studies in 19th-Century American Literature |
| ENGL 391 | Nature's Nation |
| HIST 242 | Environmental History of Latin America |
| JOUR 150 | Fundamentals of Investigative Journalism |
| PHIL 260 | Environmental Philosophy |
| REL 205 | Religion and Nature |
| SES 256 | Farmscape: Visual Immersion in the Food System |
| SES 360 | Telling Stories about Place |
| SES 276 | Environmental Justice |
| See the SES myDenison page for a complete and current list. | |
c. One environmental/sustainability course from the Social Sciences. Examples include:
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| ANTH 202 | Human Origins & Prehistory |
| ECON 202 | Microecon Analysis Lec |
| ECON 427 | Environmental Economics |
| SES 217 | Sustainable Development Goals |
| SES 240 | Environmental Politics and Decision-Making |
| SES 334 | Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems |
| SES 242 | Community Resilience |
| SES 352 | Planetary Health |
| SES 262 | Environmental Dispute Resolution |
| SES 264 | Environmental Planning and Design |
| See the SES myDenison page for a complete and current list. | |
3. Experiential Component
The SES major requires students to engage in a minimum of one sustainability experience. A list of approved experiential opportunities is available on the SES myDenison webpage, and is updated each semester to provide real-time information. The webpage includes an overview of sustainability themes, concepts, and criteria for the approval of experience options so that students understand the parameters under which this experiential component operates. Experiential activities are long-term (minimum 100 hours) and involve articulated learning objectives. Students may propose alternative experiences for approval by the SES program director, and must be approved in advance. The SES Program Director may seek input from the SES FTE’s and/or SES Program Committee regarding approval. Examples include:
1) Internship of 200 minimum hours (summer) and/or 100 minimum hours (school-year)
2) Summer research, on or off campus
3) Project-based study abroad programs
4) Completion of the Sustainability Professionals Initiative
5) Pre-approved non-credit-bearing long-term sustainability project
In order to manage the degree evaluation process for SES majors, students will enroll in a zero-credit course,SES 123, to certify completion of their experiential requirement.
4. Senior Project
Generally speaking, majors enroll in SES 401 to complete the senior experience requirement: SES requires a one-semester experience. Students planning to fulfill the SES senior experience other than through SES 401 are expected to consult with the SES Program Director before registration for the Fall of their senior year.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| SES 401 | Sustainability and Environmental Senior Project |
| Sustainability and Environmental Senior Project alternatives, must be pre-approved, include: | |
| SES 451 | Senior Research (can be extended to include SES 452) |
| GH 400 | Global Health Capstone |
| DA 401 | Seminar in Data Analytics |
| ENGL 453 | Senior Writing Project |
5. SES Concentration Options
The Sustainability and Environmental Studies major involves both breadth and depth. In addition to fulfilling the eight core/distribution courses itemized above, each student identifies a concentration, a five-course area of depth relevant to the field. Concentrations fall into two categories: thematic and sub-disciplinary. Students are required to have one area of concentration, and select either a thematic or sub-disciplinary option. Dual concentrations are permissible for double majors where a sub-disciplinary concentration is feasible.
THEMATIC CONCENTRATIONS
Thematic concentrations delve into particular topics that integrate multiple disciplines and approaches, and provide students with skills and perspectives on areas of particular interest. At present, SES has identified seven themes, itemized below. A list of qualifying courses and the structure associated with each theme is available from the SES office and on the SES myDenison webpage each semester. Additionally, students may propose individually-designed thematic concentrations in consultation with the SES Program Director. These are reviewed by the SES Program Committee.
Note that students seeking to major in SES are required to submit a concentration proposal early in the Spring of the sophomore year, and should make sure to declare the SES major to receive email information regarding the proposal process.
Also note that a maximum of two study-abroad courses from a summer or single-semester program may count toward the SES major, and must be approved in advance by the SES Program Director. Off-campus courses may be applied to the distribution course requirements and/or the area of concentration, within the two-course limit.
Established thematic concentrations:
● Creative Environments
● Ecosystem Conservation
● Environmental Decision-Making
● Global Environmental Justice
● Sustainable Agriculture
● Sustainable Design
● Sustainable Development
Creative Environments
This arts- and humanities-based concentration offers students the opportunity to explore a range of ways humans and societies have represented, performed, mediated, and otherwise imagined built and natural environments. By studying verbal, visual, and performative representations of the environment across periods and traditions, students will think critically about cultural constructions of built and natural environments. By immersing themselves in the imaginative process and creating artistic works that engage the environment, students will reflect on the ways our personal and cultural assumptions about the environment inflect the ways we represent, narrate, and otherwise imagine both built and natural environments. SES majors with this concentration will achieve a solid grounding both in the critical assessment and interpretation of mediated environments and in the creative, imaginative making of such mediations. Students who pursue this concentration will be well-equipped for jobs in the environmental arts and humanities in particular, but the skills developed in this concentration have broad application to a wide array of career paths.
Ecosystem Conservation
The Ecosystem Conservation concentration offers students an integrated understanding of ecological systems, including theoretical foundations, practical applications, and socio-ecological connections. The three required foundational courses provide a conceptual basis of systems ecology and the field, lab, and data management skills that are essential for ecosystem practitioners. The subsequent electives in the concentration provide opportunities for the application of conservation concepts in complex political and biological environments. SES majors with a concentration in Ecosystem Conservation will be well-prepared for careers in such fields as environmental consulting, land use planning and regulation, land and water stewardship, and geospatial analysis.
Environmental Decision-Making
This theme offers a lens onto the process by which environmental decisions are – and can – be made. It is not content-specific, though certainly a student could focus attention on a particular category of decisions – a particular policy area – for some of the coursework chosen as part of the theme. The courses included in the list below are all aimed at better understanding the factors that affect behavior and various frameworks in which environmental decision-making takes place, ranging from the individual to the group, from the community to the institutional. Some courses aim at skill-building, while others emphasize a normative exploration or an emphasis on theory-building.
Global Environmental Justice
Global environmental justice is an important field of academic study and the basis for a major form of social action and practice. Questions of justice are multi-scalar and arise within societies and across nations, cultures, and species. This theme examines how and why certain populations experience disproportionate environmental and health harms as well as unequal access to resources associated with well-being. Key focus areas of the concentration include studying: 1) the structural factors underpinning injustices and inequalities, and 2) the meaningful inclusion of all people in environmental and social decisions impacting their communities. In sum, this concentration involves an interdisciplinary investigation of all three concepts in its title as ones that require careful analysis, and are often contested by activists and scholars: “global,” “environmental,” and “justice.”
Sustainable Agriculture
This concentration addresses interdisciplinary perspectives on the issue of food production and food distribution. These perspectives allow students to think critically about the environmental, social, and economic impacts of food and agriculture writ large. To this end, students are expected to take two science courses related to plant biology, earth systems, or climate change. Additionally, students take a course on social movements and/or issues of justice to help identify the social factors that have played a role in the sustainability of food systems (e.g., workers’ rights, labor movement). The last requirement is flexible to include any pre-approved food-related course.
Sustainable Development
In 1987, the Brundtland Commission defined this term for the ages: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Our Common Future). While its focus may be largely on parts of the world where “needs” are unmet and poverty is endemic, a concentration in sustainable development will also seek to address the systemic nature of ecological, social, historical, and economic crises the world over. Therefore, the courses in this theme are generally international in their orientation and aimed at fostering a culturally sensitive understanding of the distinct challenges faced by developing countries and post-industrial societies in their socio-economic development trajectory.
Sustainable Design
This theme interrogates the ways we construct our built environment, with an eye to approaches that emphasize ecological harmony, local materials, waste reduction, energy efficiency, and stewardship in the form of both cultural and environmental sensitivity. While Denison does not have any curricular dedication to city planning or architectural studies, there are a variety of courses that students can combine into a liberal arts examination of the core issues in these areas of study. Students who select this theme have the option of choosing a technological/ structural or behavioral approach, and should be able to articulate individualized reasoning as to why particular courses are chosen for the orientation of interest.
SUB-DISCIPLINARY CONCENTRATIONS
Students majoring in SES have the option to focus their area of concentration in an environmental or sustainability-focused sub-discipline instead of a particular theme. Examples of disciplines where this may be possible are Art History and Visual Culture, Biology, Communication, Data Analytics, Environmental Writing, Economics, Global Commerce, Global Health, and International Studies. Like thematic concentrations, all sub-disciplinary options involve five courses, and are either subsumed under the heading of the particular discipline (e.g., Biology, Economics) or connect directly with the advanced specialization designated for the field in question (e.g., global focus in Global Commerce, thematic focus in International Studies, area of domain in Data Analytics). All sub-disciplinary concentrations must be developed in close association with the director of SES and the chair/director of the discipline in question. Proposals are submitted in the same way as thematic concentration proposals and are reviewed by the SES Program Committee for final approval.
Additional Points of Interest
Choosing a Concentration for the SES major
Students who major in SES choose an area of concentration during the sophomore year. Prospective majors are encouraged to discuss possible concentrations with any of the SES-affiliated faculty listed on the SES myDenison web page before the sophomore year. The concentration proposal deadline is typically early in the Spring semester.
SES courses and General Education (GE) requirements
Courses taken under the SES heading typically fulfill the Interdivisional (I) General Education requirement. In the case of cross-listed courses, students may choose to enroll under the SES heading to earn the Interdivisional (I) GE, or the heading of the home department to earn the GE designation appropriate for that department. In either case, the course will count toward the SES major or minor. Students are typically able to fulfill a maximum of five GE requirements through the SES major.
Off-Campus Study
Students are encouraged to participate in study abroad programs when appropriate to enhance the concentration area or otherwise supplement course offerings at Denison. Students who want to study abroad should plan to do so during their junior year. Courses taken abroad that serve as substitutes for courses listed above or that are otherwise used to satisfy elements of the SES major must be approved in advance by the SES Program Director before the student departs for the off-campus program. A maximum of two off-campus courses may be used to satisfy requirements in the major for students who spend one semester (or summer) off-campus, and a maximum of three off-campus courses may be used to satisfy requirements in the major for students who spend two semesters off-campus.
Sustainability and Environmental Studies Minor
The Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SES) Minor requires six courses and one experiential component. Regular offerings are listed here for each category. Check with the SES program office or website for a list of special offerings that may be allowed to fulfill each requirement. Also, note that some of these courses have prerequisites.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| SES 100 | Introduction to Sustainability and Environmental Studies |
| SES 200 | Environmental Analysis |
Four distribution courses: Students are to fulfill the requirements of the distribution categories listed below. No double-counting is permitted among these distribution categories. Specific courses that may count toward these requirements are listed under the distribution requirements for the SES major above, and are available on the SES myDenison webpage, providing real-time information. Note that some of these courses have prerequisites.
3. One environmental/sustainability course from the Humanities or the Arts.
4. One environmental/sustainability course from the Social Sciences.
5-6. A two-course sequence in the Natural Sciences.
The SES minor requires students to engage in a minimum of one sustainability experience. A list of approved experiential opportunities is available on the SES myDenison webpage and is updated each semester to provide real-time information. The webpage includes an overview of sustainability themes, concepts, and criteria for the approval of experience options so that students understand the parameters under which this experiential component operates. Experiential activities are long-term (minimum 100 hours) and involve articulated learning objectives. Students may propose alternative experiences for approval by the SES program director, and these must be approved in advance. The SES Program Director may seek input from the SES FTE’s and/or SES Program Committee regarding approval. Examples include:
1) Internship of 200 minimum hours (summer) and/or 100 minimum hours (school-year)
2) Summer research, on or off campus
3) Project-based study abroad programs
4) Completion of the Sustainability Professionals Initiative
5) Pre-approved non-credit-bearing long-term sustainability project
Students pursuing an SES minor will enroll in a zero-credit course, SES 123, to certify completion of their experiential requirement.
Courses
SES 100 - Introduction to Sustainability and Environmental Studies (4 Credit Hours)
In this course students will consider environmental problems through the lenses of many different academic disciplines. The purpose of this approach is two-fold: 1) to enhance the student’s understanding of environmental issues as multi-dimensional dilemmas; and 2) to evaluate and promote sustainable alternatives to business-as-usual. We will explore environmental problems and sustainable solutions in four major realms: Biodiversity, Agriculture and Food Systems, Consumption and Climate Change, and Environmental Justice. Each section will begin with content mastery and proceed to applied case study analysis and finally to the design of sustainable solutions. Active learning components of the course will expose students to local and regional environmental geographies, problems, and tools for sustainable action.
SES 123 - Sustainability Praxis (0 Credit Hours)
SES majors and minors are required to complete ONE sustainability experience. These activities involve a minimum of 100 hours during the academic year, or a minimum of 200 hours during the summer. Successful completion of SES 123 serves as the official recognition that all of the experiential requirements have been satisfied for this component of the major and minor. Completion of the course involves the written articulation of learning objectives, submitted to the Director of SES in advance of the experience.
SES 150 - Fundamentals of Investigative Journalism (4 Credit Hours)
This course helps students new to journalism to learn the principles of investigative reporting and storytelling in an applied way by practicing them on a unique and important story to our community, and to the world. Each semester the class will focus on a unique issue and work collectively to report and write stories about that issue.
Crosslisting: JOUR 150.
SES 188 - Sustainability Seminar (1 Credit Hour)
New efforts to achieve sustainability in the face of environmental problems are generating innovation and opportunity at an ever-increasing pace. This seminar exposes students to cutting-edge ideas, technologies, research, and potential career pathways in environmental sustainability. The seminar will feature guest speakers, opportunities for networking with Denison alumni, presentations from students who have completed internships and off campus study, faculty research spotlights, and conversations with environmental professionals. Seminar participants will meet once each week during each semester. This course adheres to Denison’s Academic Credit policy. It does not fulfill a GE requirement.
SES 189 - Environmental Careers (1 Credit Hour)
New efforts to achieve sustainability in the face of environmental problems are generating innovation and opportunity at an ever-increasing pace. This seminar exposes students to cutting-edge ideas, technologies, research, and potential career pathways in environmental sustainability. The seminar will feature guest speakers, opportunities for networking with Denison alumni, presentations from students who have completed internships and off campus study, faculty research spotlights, and conversations with environmental professionals. Seminar participants will meet once each week during each semester. This course adheres to Denison’s Academic Credit policy. It does not fulfill a GE requirement.
SES 191 - Sustainability Consulting (1 Credit Hour)
This Denison Edge course provides students with a foundational understanding of the principles, practices, and professional landscape of sustainability consulting. Through a combination of lectures, case studies, and practical exercises, students will learn how to identify sustainability challenges and opportunities within an organization, apply basic analytical frameworks to sustainability auditing and reporting, and effectively communicate a business case for sustainable change. Students will identify a specific company or organization as their case study to analyze throughout the course. This course is designed for students interested in a career in consulting, corporate sustainability, or environmental organization management.
SES 200 - Environmental Analysis (4 Credit Hours)
In this course, students will learn and practice different methods of addressing environmental questions and expressing environmental perspectives. Central themes are writing and quantitative analysis: for each of the topics and methods used, students will gain experience with a variety of professional writing styles and analytical approaches. Environmental issues will be investigated through both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and statistical analysis, along with a variety of writing styles. Students will also examine the human connection with the nonhuman world through the use of media and spatial representation. Through successful completion of this course, students will have applied a variety of methods to the analysis of environmental issues.
SES 202 - Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability (4 Credit Hours)
Economic growth is traditionally perceived as the solution to the socioeconomic ills of poverty, unemployment, and more generally underdevelopment. However, economic growth is also accompanied by increased pressure on and, over time, deterioration of the natural environment. The objective of this course is to explore the relationship between economic growth and the natural environment. While economic growth occupies a central place in economic policy-making, we will discuss whether economic growth is compatible with the sustainable development worldview adopted by the UN and many other global and local economic actors. Sustainable development emphasizes the need to embark upon a development path that considers the environmental, social, and economic needs of the present generation and those of future generations.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 101 and ECON 102.
Crosslisting: ECON 202.
SES 204 - High Renaissance, Baroque Art and Architecture (4 Credit Hours)
This course provides an introduction to the visual culture, architecture, and selected patterns of urban development in Rome during the High Renaissance, Mannerism, and the Baroque era through the papacy of Alexander VII (1655-67). Developments from ca. 1450 on in Rome leading to Julius II and the Roman High Renaissance will be a focus. Consideration of Mannerism, the Council of Trent, and early Baroque visual and architectural forms (later 16th century) will lead to a second focus on 17th-century visual and spatial practices in Counter-Reformation Rome. A third focus will be Iberian and Italian colonial practices, transculturation, and the hegemony of Counter-Reformation visual culture and urbanism under the Habsburgs and beyond.
Crosslisting: AHVC 204.
SES 206 - Global Green New Deal (4 Credit Hours)
This course engages with the theoretical and policy literature on what might be termed a Global Green New Deal (Global GND), which is an attempt to simultaneously address global inequality, socio-economic exclusion, and the negative impact of climate change on overall quality of life. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach drawing from the literature on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), decolonization, economic development, structural reparations, ecological economics, international law, and climate science to assess the case for a global network of truth and reconciliation commissions on colonial and climate reparations. The course pays particular attention to the structural differences between developed and developing countries, and highlights the importance of South-South cooperation and South-North solidarity as the economic and geopolitical prerequisites for building systemic resilience to the inevitable consequences of climate change.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 101 and ECON 102.
Crosslisting: ECON 206.
SES 211 - Landscape Painting (4 Credit Hours)
This course introduces students to the genre of landscape painting. Art making will be completed in the studio and out in the field. Art projects are devised to have students develop acute observations about the landscape while creating newfound relationships with it. Technical demonstrations in paint application and design are coupled with strategies of research and preparation to produce thoughtful and critical pictorial representations. An introduction to the historical lineage of the painted landscape will be balanced with exposure to contemporary artists and concepts. Students will use painting as an excuse to probe their landscape, to dissect and invert it, to wander off the path, and to redefine where it starts and ends. Group readings, presentations, and discussions complement the studio workshop environment by helping to contextualize an art practice to the broader world.
Crosslisting: ARTS 211.
SES 215 - Renewable Energy Systems (4 Credit Hours)
Renewable Energy Systems provides students with a comprehensive overview of the different alternative energy systems that are in use today. The course will introduce the basic scientific and engineering concepts used in designing and analyzing different energy technologies. Some emphasis will be placed on real-world applications of such technologies through the introduction of several case studies related to the field.
SES 217 - Sustainable Development Goals (4 Credit Hours)
Imagine the world in five years. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a part of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda to create a healthier, more peaceful, and prosperous planet for all. The international community created the SDGs as both a guide for future development as well as an urgent call to action to address today’s most pressing global challenges. All SDGs are inherently interrelated and difficult to unravel, for example, SDG13 Climate Action includes creating both: SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG7 Affordable and Clean Energy. Moreover, many argue climate change is the result of severe global inequality and unsustainable consumption and production, addressed by SDG10 and SDG12 respectively. Nonetheless, the SDG framework breaks these global challenges down in a way that productively channels resources and focuses attention on more targeted solutions. This course will examine the creation, history, and evolution of the SDGs as well as the myriad solutions being implemented at the state level, and across civil society and the private sector to address the SDGs. Students in this course will explore an SDG of interest in-depth through a series of oral presentations & projects focusing on existing solutions to these pressing global challenges. Students will therefore gain both depth and breadth of knowledge about the SDGs and 21st century integrated sustainability value creation.
Crosslisting: INTL 270.
SES 220 - Sustainable Global Finance (4 Credit Hours)
A well-functioning financial sector is key in improving economic efficiency and producing high economic growth, but in the 21st-century, those goals cannot be achieved without considering both environmental and social sustainability issues. This course gives students a foundation in how sustainability issues (ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance) create challenges to businesses, economies and society, and the role of the financial sector in addressing environmental and social challenges. The course explores questions such as: what is sustainability and why does it matter, what are the challenges to corporations and the economy posed by sustainability, how to value financial assets and how integrated reporting can facilitate valuation and improve transparency. Applications on sustainable investment products such as green bonds, climate financing, and social impact bonds will also be discussed.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 101 and ECON 102.
Crosslisting: GC 220.
SES 222 - Geographic Information Systems I (2 Credit Hours)
This course is an introduction to the concepts and uses of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with particular application to environmental issues. The course consists of laboratory exercises on GIS data structures and sources of data, on the use of specific GIS tools, and on practical applications of GIS to real-world tasks. The student will gain skills in spatial data analysis, map generation, and data presentation using ArcGIS software. After successful completion of this course, students who wish to develop advanced GIS skills may enroll in SES 223.
Crosslisting: EESC 222.
SES 223 - Geographic Information Systems II (2 Credit Hours)
A sequel to SES/EESC 222, this course is intended to give the student experience with advanced GIS applications. The focus will be on novel analyses of spatially explicit data pertaining to real-world issues. We will explore GIS as a tool for posing scientific applications involving spatial hypotheses. These will include questions of distribution, proximity, suitability, spatial pattern, and spatial and temporal change.
Prerequisite(s): EESC 222 or SES 222.
Crosslisting: EESC 223.
SES 236 - Political Ecology (4 Credit Hours)
What really causes deforestation? How is a fish ‘cultural ’? Why do Americans spend so much time and money on their lawns? Should we be saving people or endangered species? Why are ecosystem services so hard to privatize? Is obesity truly just a question of consuming too many calories? These are all questions that political ecology can help us to answer. Political ecology is an interdisciplinary field that situates environmental change within broader networks of political, economic, and social relations. It differs from other environmental approaches in that it views power, material nature, everyday struggles and practices, social justice, and discourse to be critical components of human-environment interactions. In this course, we will: (a) study the theoretical foundations of political ecology, (b) evaluate some of the theses it puts forward, and (c) apply political ecology insights to contemporary environmental issues.
SES 240 - Environmental Politics and Decision-Making (4 Credit Hours)
This course gives students a chance to explore the realm of proactive change in the environmental arena. It combines the theories of policy, the tools of problem-solving, and the practice of dealing with environmental challenges in the real world of the American government. The premise of the course is this: if you want to improve the state of the planet, you have to propose a solution. To make a solution happen, you should understand the process of getting an idea through the decision-making system. Effecting change requires a background in the system(s) that make things happen, whether you ultimately want to work within the system or outside it. This course is divided into two main components: an overview and implementation of problem-solving techniques, and an in-depth examination of the U.S. Congress' role in environmental policy formation. The latter section culminates in a "Moot Congress" undertaken by students at the end of the semester. Not recommended for first-year students.
SES 242 - Community Resilience (4 Credit Hours)
The impacts of a shock on a community are not necessarily determined by the scale of the shock, but greatly influenced by community preparation. Community resilience is the capacity of a community to withstand, recover from, and respond positively to crisis or adversity. This course focuses on place-based communities in a variety of local and global contexts and the assets that shape those community’s efforts to maintain or improve local quality of life and sustainability.
SES 256 - Farmscape: Visual Immersion in the Food System (4 Credit Hours)
Every human being has an intimate relationship with food, often with deep emotional facets. Yet we in the U.S. know very little about the food system that sustains us – it is a mysterious and often invisible set of processes, organizations, and people. This remarkably complex web of inputs, labor, machinery, laws, subsidies, mergers, and so many other components is one that we take largely for granted. This class seeks to align that reality with another: we are an intensely visual species. A critical part of our existence that we experience through all of our senses is one we fail to comprehend through our primary sense. And we have this occasion to use sight in a formalized way – photography – to tell new stories, and to bring an artistic sensibility to our understanding of food, and perhaps ourselves. Through imagery, writing, and the curatorial process of exhibiting our work in a public setting, we have a truly unique opportunity. Our immersion in these critical issues can bring full circle the understanding we gain through many eyes to enhance awareness in other people about how our food system connects us all.
Crosslisting: JOUR 256.
SES 260 - Environmental Philosophy (4 Credit Hours)
This course investigates the question of our ethical relations and responsibility to objects and systems in the natural world, including animals, other living beings, non-living entities, ecosystems, and "nature" as a whole. It also asks about nature as such: what nature is, what the place in it is of humans, the role of human action in transforming nature, etc. The question of the relation of the natural to the social will receive special attention.
Prerequisite(s): One previous course in Philosophy, ENVS/SES major or minor, or consent.
Crosslisting: PHIL 260.
SES 262 - Negotiation and Environmental Conflict Resolution (4 Credit Hours)
An in-depth investigation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as an improved means to affect change in environmental conflict. Both an intellectual and hands-on introduction to the theory and practice of ADR, relying on research into theoretical aspects of conflict, attendance at both conventional litigatory and ADR hearings, and actual participation in ADR exercises.
SES 263 - World Views: Spatial Imagination in East Asia (4 Credit Hours)
This course engages the question: ‘How are images used to imagine our place in the world?’ Students are invited to study fascinating practices of spatial image-making in East Asia from the inside out, by exploring these world-views from the perspective of their makers. You will be asked to pay special attention to how social and economic power structures inflect these representations: to envision and decode spatial imagery as a site of imagination, control, and resistance. Artists and patrons in China, Japan, and Korea have for centuries produced elaborate maps and landscape imagery, photographs, and film to imagine the world in a variety of ways. This course invites you to approach modern and contemporary representations of space in East Asia both in theoretically and historically informed ways. In the first part of the course, students build a frame of reference for their analysis of post-war case studies, by reading core texts in spatial theory and exploring important visual representations of space from pre-modern East Asia. In the second part of the course, students apply these theoretical and historical approaches to select cases that exemplify more recent struggles over space and its imagination in East Asia.
SES 264 - Environmental Planning and Design (4 Credit Hours)
This course examines a variety of local environmental planning processes and issues, focusing primarily on the communities surrounding Denison (Granville, Licking County), as well as the theories, concepts, and tools of design, both at a community level and for individual buildings. Particular attention will be paid to controversial models of architecture and planning to understand some of the negative implications of conventional approaches. Field trips, group exercises, research, and project competitions will form the basis for course evaluation.
SES 274 - Ecosystem Management (4 Credit Hours)
Many of Earth's ecosystems are stressed and degraded as a result of human activities. Ecosystem management is the process of evaluating the biotic and abiotic features of ecosystems and stressors and manipulating those features toward a defined goal, such as conservation or restoration. In this course, students will apply aspects of systems ecology to management scenarios in particularly stressed ecosystems. Students will gain an understanding of systems ecology and will learn how ecological communities function within ecosystems and landscapes. After establishing this foundation, students will lead the exploration of some of our planet's greatest ecological systems. Lab sessions will allow students to construct a computer-based simulation of an ecosystem and to apply ecological modeling as a management tool in both lab and field settings.
SES 276 - Environmental Justice (4 Credit Hours)
Using waste as a focusing lens, this course examines the theory and application of environmental justice and environmental inequality within a global context. The objective of this course is to understand, explore, and analyze the inequities and power dynamics associated with many types of socio-environmental issues, thus illustrating environmental (in)justice at multiple scales. Using several case studies (e.g., electronic waste, renewable energy, and climate change, among others), we explore three core questions: 1) How are justice issues experienced locally by different social groups? 2) How do socio-environmental issues relate to broader structural injustices? And 3) How can we reimagine solutions for environmental justice? By thinking critically about these questions, we challenge our thinking on a variety of topics, including consumption, circular economy, the meaning of waste, and why it matters today and in the future. Importantly, students in this course engage significantly with the oral communication of environmental justice issues to different audiences within the broader community.
Crosslisting: INTL 266.
SES 291 - Environmental Literature (4 Credit Hours)
This course examines humanity's relationship with and shifting conceptions of the nonhuman world through a range of literary and cultural texts. While reading selections will vary, they will generally include writers who reflect different ethnic, regional, and/or national outlooks and who work in various modes, including fiction, poetry, memoir, natural history, and science writing.
Crosslisting: ENGL 291.
SES 301 - Sustainability Practicum (4 Credit Hours)
This core major course is primarily for SES majors; minors are welcome. This course provides the opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience working on real-world environmental problems. As a group, students work in an intensive format with a real "client" and real deadlines to research a problem, assess options, recommend solutions, and evaluate outcomes. Examples of projects include energy and water conservation, local land use planning, wetlands management, reuse/recycling programs, agriculture preservation, and environmental education. Should be taken during the junior year.
Prerequisite(s): SES 100 and SES 200, must be SES major or minor.
SES 302 - Medieval Art and Architecture (4 Credit Hours)
This course is an advanced investigation of art and architectural developments in the Latin West during the medieval and early modern periods. Selective foci include western monastic art, building, and lay patronage in Spain, France, and Italy during the Romanesque through Gothic periods and beyond. The early urbanism of the communes of Italy is a focus, with their expansion of civil art and architecture through the fourteenth century, and the rise of new religious orders.
Crosslisting: AHVC 302.
SES 310 - Wetland Ecology (4 Credit Hours)
This course is a comprehensive study of wetland ecology, management, and policy. The main emphasis is on the biological, chemical, and physical aspects of major wetland ecosystems found in North America. The course also deals with the valuation, classification, and delineation of wetlands. A significant portion of the course focuses on local and regional wetland ecosystems: their history, ecology, and current status. Labs will be field-based explorations of the biology, chemistry, and ecology of these regional wetlands.
Prerequisite(s): BIOL 210, 220, 230, and CHEM 131 or consent.
Crosslisting: BIOL 310.
SES 334 - Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (4 Credit Hours)
This course will expose students to the purposes and methods associated with sustainable agriculture. We will do this through readings, discussion, and experience on local and sustainable farms. Throughout the semester we will reflect on the social, economic, and environmental aspects associated with sustainable agriculture as well as actual practices affiliated with the modern sustainable agriculture movement. Students must be prepared to commit to working on farms each week as part of the lab requirement of this course.
SES 351 - Restoration Ecology (4 Credit Hours)
Many of Earth’s ecosystems are degraded to the point where they no longer fully support the species and processes on which we depend. In response, western science has recently applied ecological theory to techniques of restoration. Some of these practices have long been used by cultures around the world, while others are experimental approaches to novel situations. In this course, students will learn foundational concepts and skills for the planning, design, actualization, and evaluation of restored ecosystems. Using literature review, discussion, projects, and labs, we will explore the following: landscapes in which ecological restoration may occur, including sociocultural landscapes; abiotic features of ecosystems and associated physiological limits of organisms; genetic aspects of restoration; population dynamics and community assembly; principles of succession and disturbance ecology; nonnative species and invasion ecology; and methods of evaluation. A primary focus of the course is exposure to real-world situations through fieldwork and consultation with professionals. This is a lab science course that fulfills the Y GE and adheres to Denison’s Academic Credit policy.
Prerequisite(s): SES 274, BIOL 230, or consent.
Crosslisting: BIOL 351.
SES 352 - Planetary Health (4 Credit Hours)
Human health is intimately linked to the natural systems on which it depends. With advances in technology, agriculture, and health knowledge, humans are living longer than ever. However, those same technologies have pushed planetary systems to a breaking point. This class seeks to elaborate a path forward that recognizes the profound impact human ‘progress’ has on our planet and the reciprocal impact changes in natural systems will have on the future of human health.
Prerequisite(s): GH 100 or SES 100.
Crosslisting: GH 352.
SES 360 - Telling Stories about Place (4 Credit Hours)
Place is fundamental to storytelling, and therefore to good reporting. Understanding where a story takes place means knowing which descriptive details to put in and leave out. Place is reflected in and shapes the people we write about. Good reporters need to understand that someone from a small rural village is going to have a different worldview that someone from a city, and they need to understand why, and how it affects their motivations and shapes the institutions that govern their lives. Understanding and respecting the places where we report from helps us produce authentic and compelling stories with depth and insight. This course will explore "places" that are easily accessible to students and faculty--Rural America, Appalachia, the City, the Suburbs, Rust Belt America--for example.
Crosslisting: JOUR 360.
SES 361 - Directed Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
A student in good standing may work intensively in areas of special interest under the Directed Study plan. A Directed Study is appropriate when, under the guidance of a faculty member, a student wants to explore a subject more fully than is possible in a regular course or to study a subject not covered in the regular curriculum. A Directed Study should not normally duplicate a course that is regularly offered. Directed Studies are normally taken for 3 or 4 credits. A one-semester Directed Study is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Directed Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.
SES 362 - Directed Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
A student in good standing may work intensively in areas of special interest under the Directed Study plan. A Directed Study is appropriate when, under the guidance of a faculty member, a student wants to explore a subject more fully than is possible in a regular course or to study a subject not covered in the regular curriculum. A Directed Study should not normally duplicate a course that is regularly offered. Directed Studies are normally taken for 3 or 4 credits. A one-semester Directed Study is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Directed Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.
SES 363 - Independent Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
Independent Study engages a student in the pursuit of clearly defined goals. In this effort, a student may employ skills and information developed in previous course experiences or may develop some mastery of new knowledge or skills. A proposal for an Independent Study project must be approved in advance by the faculty member who agrees to serve as the project advisor. Note: Independent Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.
SES 364 - Independent Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
Independent Study engages a student in the pursuit of clearly defined goals. In this effort, a student may employ skills and information developed in previous course experiences or may develop some mastery of new knowledge or skills. A proposal for an Independent Study project must be approved in advance by the faculty member who agrees to serve as the project advisor. Note: Independent Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.
SES 389 - Social Change and the Environment (4 Credit Hours)
In the era of the Anthropocene, the survival of planetary systems depends less on our understanding of atmospheric chemistry and more on our understanding of human behavior. This course investigates the complex bridges between how we think, how we organize, and how we govern. We begin at the individual level, using cognitive psychology and behavioral economics to analyze the "value-action gap" - why we often fail to act on our environmental beliefs. From there, we scale up to sociological and political theories, examining how individual habits transform into collective social movements. Ultimately, we will explore the question of how a broad understanding of human behavior -from the unconscious habit to the conscious vote - can be harnessed to navigate the unprecedented ecological crises we face today.
SES 391 - Nature's Nation (4 Credit Hours)
This course explores how a range of nineteenth-century American authors represented the natural world, examining how those representations of nature are informed by gender, class, and racial identities and how they become implicated in discourses of nationalism and imperialism.
Crosslisting: ENGL 391.
SES 401 - Sustainability and Environmental Senior Project (4 Credit Hours)
This course is required for SES majors with senior standing unless they are pursuing senior research (SES 451/452 or equivalent). This course provides an integrating and culminating experience for students, individually or in small groups, to engage with an environmental issue, either by conducting research related to this issue or by taking action on it in a way that is informed by their academic understanding. The primary objective is for each student to integrate their study of environmental issues at Denison and to develop skills in critically analyzing environmental problems and promoting environmental change. A primary focus is on writing: crafting a project proposal, communicating objectives and cogent arguments, reviewing and incorporating relevant literature, analyzing results, and synthesizing conclusions. Students will have the opportunity to hone a major written work through several stages and to provide and receive peer review on written work.
Prerequisite(s): SES core and SES 301, or consent of instructor.
SES 427 - Environmental Economics (4 Credit Hours)
This course provides an examination of various economic issues facing business and government regarding the use of natural resources and the management of environmental quality. Students will develop an understanding of both the economic nature of environmental problems and the economic tools necessary to explore and devise potential policy solutions for environmental problems. In addition, students will examine the institutional framework within which environmental problems exist to understand those factors that may mitigate against economic solutions. The course fulfills the SES Social Science requirement.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 302.
Crosslisting: ECON 427.
SES 451 - Senior Research (4 Credit Hours)
Students may enroll in Senior Research in their final year at Denison. Normally, Senior Research requires a major thesis, report, or project in the student's field of concentration and carries eight semester-hours of credit for the year. Typically, a final grade for a year-long Senior Research will not be assigned until the completion of the year-long Senior Research at the end of the second semester. In which case, the first semester Senior Research grade will remain "in progress" (PR) until the completion of the second semester Senior Research. Each semester of Senior Research is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Senior Research may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.
SES 452 - Senior Research (4 Credit Hours)
Students may enroll in Senior Research in their final year at Denison. Normally, Senior Research requires a major thesis, report, or project in the student's field of concentration and carries eight semester-hours of credit for the year. Typically, a final grade for a year-long Senior Research will not be assigned until the completion of the year-long Senior Research at the end of the second semester. In which case, the first semester Senior Research grade will remain "in progress" (PR) until the completion of the second semester Senior Research. Each semester of Senior Research is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Senior Research may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements. SES 452 is the continuation of SES 451 course.