This course explores how Japanese literature, cinema, and popular culture have engaged with questions of environment, ecology, pollution, and climate change from the wake of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 to the ongoing Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in the present. Environmental disasters and the slow violence of their aftermath have had an enormous impact on Japanese cultural production, and we examine how these cultural forms seek to negotiate and work through questions of representing the unrepresentable, victimhood and survival, trauma and national memory, uneven development and discrimination, the human and the nonhuman, and climate change's impact on imagining the future. Special attention is given to the possibilities and limitations of different forms--the novel, poetry, film, manga, anime--that Japanese writers and artists have to think about humans' relationship with the environment.

This course examines environmental and energy issues from an economist's perspective. Over the last several decades, energy markets have become some of the most dynamic markets of the world economy, as they experienced a shift from heavy regulation to market-driven incentives. First, we look at scarcity pricing and market power in electricity and gasoline markets. We then study oil and gas markets, with an emphasis on optimal extraction and pricing, and geopolitical risks that investors in hydrocarbon resources face. We then shift gears to the sources of environmental problems, and how policy makers can intervene to solve some of these problems. We talk about the economic rationale for a broad range of possible policies: environmental taxes, subsidies, performance standards and cap-and-trade. In doing so, we discuss fundamental concepts in environmental economics, such as externalities, valuation of the environment and the challenge of designing international agreements. At the end of the course, there will be special attention for the economics and finance of renewable energy and policies to foster its growth. Finally, we discuss the transportation sector, and analyze heavily debated policies such as fuel-economy standards and subsidies for green vehicles. Prerequisites: An introductory microeconomics course (ECON1, or another course approved by the instructor) will be sufficient in most cases; BEPP 250 or an equivalent intermediate microeconomics course is recommended.

This seminar focuses on the interrelations of equity, justice, and environmental crisis. Beginning with a discussion of the emergence of climate justice as a critical term in international negotiations, we will consider several dimensions of substantive and historical inequality and the framing of justice as an environmental right as they arise from these settings. Broadening the discussion to include a larger framework of environmental issues in relation to inequality, the course will draw on considerations of geographies of vulnerability, environments as inhabited risk, and ecological debt in relation to “natural disaster” or environmental crisis. Moving from an historical account of structural inequalities in socio-natural systems to contemporary environmental politics, we will then discuss the disjuncture in environmental movements and aspirations between the global south and north, and particularly, how justice and equity figure into environmentalism(s) on a global basis. Finally, we discuss emerging frameworks including Just Transition movements, ecological sovereignty and rights discourses, and flourishing and capabilities approaches.

This is a required, non-credit course for entering Master of Science in Design:Environmental Building Design students. The workshop provides an introduction to digital modeling and scripting techniques for environmental performance analysis. Students also learn protocols for transferring data between various design software packages and how to create data compatible with the School of Design's plotting and digital fabrication equipment. Course fee: $750.00. Course enrollment is by permit only

A detailed, comprehensive investigation of selected environmental problems. Guest speakers from the government and industry will give their acccounts of various environmental cases. Students will then present information on a case study of their choosing.

The course aims to teach chemical content and principles in the context of significant environmental issues. Topics to be covered include: composition of the atmosphere; protecting the ozone layer; chemistry of global warming; traditional hydrocarbon fuels and energy utilization; water supply, its contaminants, and waste water treatment; acid rain; nuclear energy; and new energy sources. Students will develop critical thinking ability, competence to better assess risks and benefits, and skills that will lead them to be able to make informed decisions about technology-based matters.

Evaluation of environmental contamination and liability is an important tool during acquisition of real estate property, and a standard work product in the environmental consulting field. This course will cover the purpose and history of the Superfund law, the various classifications of Superfund liable parties, and protections against Superfund liability, specifically with regard to bona fide prospective purchasers (BFPP). In the context of the BFPP liability defense the course will focus on the performance of "All Appropriate Inquiry" for the presence of environmental contamination (e.g. Phase I environmental site assessment). Our study of "All Appropriate Inquiry" will include evaluation of historical maps and other resources, aerial photography, chain-of-title documentation, and governmental database information pertaining to known contaminated sites in the area of select properties on or near campus. Site visits will be performed to gain experience and knowledge for the identification of recognized environmental conditions. Students will prepare environmental reports for select properties and will have an opportunity to hone technical writing skills.

This course provides an introduction to environmental history--the history of the interrelationship between humans and the rest of nature. In the words of historian J.R. McNeill, "Human history has always and will always unfold within a larger biological and physical context, and that context evolves in its own right. Especially in recent millennia, that context has co-evolved with humankind." In this course we will study this co-evolution between human actors and non- human actors in global history, analyzing political, social, cultural and economic factors that affect ideas about nature and material effects on nature. We will consider the concept of the Anthropocene and study current environmental changes and challenges.

Environmental Humanities: Theory, Methods, Practice is a seminar-style course designed to introduce students to the trans- and interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities. Weekly readings and discussions will be complemented by guest speakers from a range of disciplines including ecology, atmospheric science, computing, history of science, medicine, anthropology, literature, and the visual arts. Participants will develop their own research questions and a final project, with special consideration given to building the multi-disciplinary collaborative teams research in the environmental humanities often requires.

Environmental Humanities: Theory, Methods, Practice is a seminar-style course designed to introduce students to the trans- and interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities. Weekly readings and discussions will be complemented by guest speakers from a range of disciplines including ecology, atmospheric science, computing, history of science, medicine, anthropology, literature, and the visual arts. Participants will develop their own research questions and a final project, with special consideration given to building the multi-disciplinary collaborative teams research in the environmental humanities often requires.

Drawing on theories of worldmaking and ethnographic works on culture and environment, this seminar will examine the production of Cartesian-based environmental imaginaries and their alternatives across a range of genres and practices.

The MSD-EBD students will develop research papers related to the work done in ARCH708 Bioclimatic Studio and ARCH754. The students will learn how to plan and conduct experiments and will develop the tools to write research papers based on these experiments. During the semester, exemplar case-studies of novel work in architectural technology will be presented to the students by the instructor and guest lecturers. The prototype developed during the course may be a digital prototype such as a simulation tool, or a physical prototype which will be tested using sensing techniques.

A creative writing workshop devoted to journalistic writing about the environment. Taking inspiration from the long history of naturalist writing as well as the current state of reporting on the climate, students will craft their own reportage, opinion pieces, and criticism. To learn more about this course, visit the Creative Writing Program at https://creative.writing.upenn.edu.

The practice of environmental law embraces a broad and often intersecting set of sub-areas, including protection of human health and natural resources, equity and justice, energy production and regulation, and land use. An environmental lawyer’s regular caseload might involve such disparate elements as regulatory counseling and permitting, civil and criminal enforcement, private litigation over environmental contamination, policy advocacy, administrative law, and commercial transactions, all governed by a variety of legal frameworks that operate on federal, state and local levels (and in some cases, international levels). The Environmental Law Practicum is designed to introduce students who are concurrently enrolled in environmental externships to the practice, provide students with fundamental lawyering skills necessary to succeed in their field placements, and help them develop sound communication strategies and reflective practices that they will carry forward into their professional careers.

The Environmental Law Practicum is a weekly 2-hour seminar (in addition to the time each week that students will spend in their field placements) that will address a combination of lawyering skills and environmental practice-specific skills. The class component is designed to support and contextualize students’ field placements while also addressing their professional development. The seminar will introduce students to important areas and current topics in environmental law; examine how concepts and principles from other areas of law intersect with environmental law; and provide a sense of what is required to succeed in environmental law practice. The seminar will be primarily experiential and will include both simulation exercises and opportunities for group and individual reflection on fieldwork and assigned readings. Group discussions of fieldwork will be managed to respect client confidentiality and potential conflicts of interest.

This course provides an introduction to environmental management by focusing on foundational concepts of environmental law and policy and how they affect business decisions. The primary aim of the course is to give students a deeper practical sense of the important relationship between business and the natural environment, the existing legal and policy framework of environmental protection, and how business managers can think about managing their relationship with both the environment and the law.

This course provides an introduction to environmental management by focusing on foundational concepts of environmental law and policy and how they affect business decisions. The primary aim of the course is to give students a deeper practical sense of the important relationship between business and the natural environment, the existing legal and policy framework of environmental protection, and how business managers can think about managing their relationship with both the environment and the law.

Environmental Policy

This seminar will explore how sociologists and adjacent social scientists have investigated the intersections of the environment with inequalities of wealth and power, with a focus on a broad "climate change and society" field. The seminar will cover a) recent efforts to reframe the history of capitalism as the history of a socio-environmental system (and overlaps between that agenda and the "racial capitalism" framework); b) the genesis of US-based environmental justice scholarship; c) the global sociology of carbon emissions and international environmental movements; and, d) new trends in "climate change and society" studies.

This course provides an overview of topics related to corporate sustainability with a focus on how environmentally sustainable approaches can create value for the firm. The course explores trends in corporate practices and students consider specific examples of such practices to examine the interactions between the firm and the environment. This course has three objectives: to increase students' knowledge of sustainability practices and their impact on firm performance; to teach students to think strategically and act entrepreneurially on environmental issues; and to help students design business approaches to improve environmental outcomes, while simultaneously creating value.

An introduction to the influence of thermal and luminous phenomenon in the history and practice of architecture. Issues of climate, health and environmental sustainability are explored as they relate to architecture in its natural context. The classes include lectures, site visits and field exploration.