Models are lenses. They are instruments with which we view, interpret, and give meaning to data. In this course, students will be exposed to and do work in all phases of the modeling life-cycle, including model design and specification, model construction (including data gathering and testing), extraction of information from models during post-solution analysis, and creation of studies that use modeling results to support conclusions for scientific or decision making purposes. In addition, the course will cover critical assessments of fielded models and studies using them. The course will focus broadly on models pertaining to energy and sustainability. This is not only an inherently interesting and important area, but it is very much a public one. In consequence, models, data, and studies using them are publicly and profusely available, as is excellent journalism, which facilitates introductions to specific topics. The course covers selected topics in energy and sustainability. Essential background will be presented as needed, but the course is not a comprehensive overview of energy and sustainability. Modeling in the area of energy and sustainability analytics is rife with uncertainty, and yet decisions must be made. Uncertainty, and how to deal with it in model-based decision making, is an overarching theme of the course. We will focus on energy and sustainability, but that area is hardly unique in being beset with deep and vexing uncertainties. The lessons we learn will generalize. The overall aim of the course is to teach facility with modeling and to use real-world data, models, and studies in doing so. In addition, students with interests in investment or policy analysis in the energy sphere will find the course's subject area focus useful. OIDD 3250 is not a prerequisite for this course, but it's helpful if you have already taken it.

These elective courses explore relevant topics in ecological design and new technologies as they relate to contemporary landscape architecture. The courses explore topics such as ecology, sustainability, habitat restoration, hydrology, green roof and green architecture technology, soil technology, and other techniques pertinent to the construction of ecologically dynamic, functioning landscapes. The teaching faculty are leading practitioners and researchers in the field. These courses are open to all interested Weitzman students. Recent topics have been: Large-Scale Land Reclamation Projects (annually since 2005), instructor: William Young; Green Roof Systems (spring 2010-2014), instructor: Susan Weiler

This seminar will explore a collection of ideas influencing energy policy development in the U.S. and around the world. Our platform for this exploration will be seven recent books to be discussed during the semester. These books each contribute important insights to seven ideas that influence energy policy: Narrative, Transition, Measurement, Systems, Subsidiarity, Disruption, Attachment. Books for 2018 will be chosen over the summer; the 2017 books are listed here as examples: Policy Paradox (2011) by Stone, Climate Shock (2015) by Wagner and Weitzman, Power Density (2015) by Smil, Connectography (2016) by Khanna, Climate of Hope (2017) by Bloomberg and Pope, Utility of the Future (2016) by MIT Energy Initiative, Retreat from a Rising Sea (2016) by Pilkey, Pilkey-Jarvis, Pilkey.

With the world’s population exploding – 2050 will see the addition of some 2 billion inhabitants, primarily in cities in low and middle income countries – decision-makers are pressed to meet basic infrastructural needs (transportation, water and sanitation, public space, electricity, social service facilities and others) while responding to such large global issues as climate change. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed additional weaknesses in national and subnational infrastructure. No global estimate of urban infrastructure needs exists. However, the G-20’s infrastructure hub illustrates the gaps by country and region. Examples of the current and needed investment by 2040 reveal significant gaps: Brazil $1.2 trillion, $India 526 billion, Nigeria $221 billion. This course will review the history, theory, and current practice of financing with special attention to urban places. It will examine the challenges of the planning and financing projects, explore innovation and best practices in the field and suggest needed regulatory and governance reforms, as well as new and disruptive financial tools for cities. Student research undertaken in the course will contribute to the “Cities Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Financing Initiative (C2IFI)” under the direction of Penn IUR and in collaboration with Perry World House and the Kleinman Center. C2IFI is an important project being incubated at the University of Pennsylvania in partnership with the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (https://www.citiesclimatefinance.org/), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and others.

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to transnational issues and world politics and to acquaint them with some of the leading issues, theories, concepts and processes, and history that shape and define world events. It is suitable for students embarking on long-term study of international affairs as well as for students with other majors and intellectual interest who simply want to know more about how the world works and how the material covered in this class affects their lives. It is expected that students taking the course will gain an ability to analyze, understand objectively evaluate and appreciate the complex dynamics that affect "global politics" writ large, including issues relating to trade, diplomacy, people-to-people and business transactions, and shifts in demography, borders, international institutions and global governance. In additional to issues of diplomacy, statecraft, and security we will assess some of the major international issues of our time (i.e. climate change, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, genocide and human trafficking) and debate the prospects for bringing peace and prosperity to a world that is rife with conflict and poverty.

The course provides a unified introduction to momentum, energy (heat), and mass transport processes. The basic mechanisms and the constitutive laws for the various transport processes will be delineated, and the conservation equations will be derived and applied to internal and external flows featuring a few examples from mechanical, chemical, and biological systems. Reactive flows will also be considered.

Can we successfully adapt our urban water systems to meet the growing challenges of flood, drought, water contamination, heat/fires, extreme weather and sea level rise? How do we make our cities resilient and our communities sustainable, even in the face of these threats? When does change begin? How does it happen?

Climate change, aging infrastructure, pollution, and institutional barriers are all contributing to urban water management crises around the globe. This course examines the systems and policies that comprise urban water, while looking for integrative, flexible solutions. First, we review water system fundamentals, ensuring everyone has a basic understanding of hydrology and traditional infrastructure. Next, we examine key challenges, concepts, and arguments in water management today. Then, we develop solutions, emphasizing integrated water resource management, demand-side management strategies, water portfolios, and decentralized systems. Through the course, you apply the lessons learned from readings, lectures, and class discussions in one city that you select. Final projects are published on urbanwateratlas.com.

As a result of climate change, the world that will take shape in the course of this century will be decidedly more inundated with water than we're accustomed to. The polar ice caps are melting, glaciers are retreating, ocean levels are rising, polar bear habitat is disappearing, countries are jockeying for control over a new Arctic passage, while low-lying cities and small island nations are confronting the possibility of their own demise. Catastrophic flooding events are increasing in frequency, as are extreme droughts. Hurricane-related storm surges,tsunamis, and raging rivers have devastated regions on a local and global scale. In this seminar we will turn to the narratives and images that the human imagination has produced in response to the experience of overwhelming watery invasion, from Noah to New Orleans. Objects of analysis will include mythology, ancient and early modern diluvialism, literature, art, film, and commemorative practice. The basic question we'll be asking is: What can we learn from the humanities that will be helpful for confronting the problems and challenges caused by climate change and sea level rise?

The course focuses on the natural history of different wetland types including climate, geology, and,hydrology factors that influence wetland development Associated soil, vegetation, and wildlife characteristics and key ecological processes will be covered as well. Lectures will be supplemented with weekend wetland types, ranging from tidal salt marshes to non-tidal marshes, swamps, and glacial bogs in order to provide field experience in wetland identification, characterization, and functional assessment. Outside speakers will discuss issues in wetland seed bank ecology, federal regulation, and mitigation. Students will present a short paper on the ecology of a wetland animal and a longer term paper on a selected wetland topic. Readings from the text, assorted journal papers, government technical documents, and book excerpts will provide a broad overview of the multifaceted field of wetland study.