Fall 2021

The objective is to introduce students to one of the most dominating and compelling areas of human existence and endeavor: energy, with its foundations in technology, from a quantitative sustainability viewpoint with its association to economics and impacts on environment and society. This introduction is intended both for general education and awareness and for preparation for careers related to this field, with emphasis on explaining the technological foundation. The course spans from basic principles to applications. A review of energy consumption, use, and resources; environmental impacts, sustainability and design of sustainable energy systems; introductory aspects of energy economics and carbon trading; methods of energy analysis; forecasting; energy storage; electricity generation and distribution systems (steam and gas turbine based power plans, fuel cells), fossil fuel energy (gas, oil, coal) including nonconventional types (shale gas and oil, oil sands, coalbed and tight-sand gas), nuclear energy wastes: brief introduction to renewable energy use: brief introduction to solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass; energy for buildings, energy for transportation (cars, aircraft, and ships); prospects for future energy systems: fusion power, power generation in space. Students interested in specializing in one or two energy topics can do so by choosing them as their course project assignments. Prerequisite: Any University student interested in energy and its impacts, who is a Junior Senior. Students taking the course EAS 501 will be given assignments commensurate with graduate standing.

This course fulfills Social Science Approaches to Environmental Inquiry requirement.

The course begins with an overview of the science of climate change and then quickly moves to how to use social science to identify and evaluate the application of planning tools and strategies to achieve the mitigation of climate change and make adaptations to climate change. Topics include the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, climate action plans, and international, national, state, local government and private sector actions. Students will understand the causes and effects of climate change and how to implement and evaluate mitigation and adaptation responses through regulations, financial incentives, infrastructure investment, design techniques, and new technology. Emphasis is on planning to create resilient communities.

This course fulfills Social Science Approaches to Environmental Inquiry requirement.

Fossil fuel powered the making--now the unmaking--of the modern world. As the first fossil fuel state, Pennsylvania led the United States toward an energy-intensive economy, a technological pathway with planetary consequences. The purpose of this seminar is to perform a historical accounting--and an ethical reckoning--of coal, oil, and natural gas. Specifically, students will investigate the histories and legacies of fossil fuel in connection to three entities: the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania. Under instructor guidance, students will do original research, some of it online, much the rest of it in archives, on and off campus, in and around Philadelphia. Philly-based research may also involve fieldwork. While based in historical sources and methods, this course intersects with business, finance, policy, environmental science, environmental engineering, urban and regional planning, public health, and social justice. Student projects may take multiple forms, individual and collaborative, from traditional papers to data visualizations prepared with assistance from the Price Lab for Digital Humanities. Through their research, students will contribute to a multi-year project that will ultimately be made available to the public.

This course fulfills Arts & Humanities Approaches to Environmental Inquiry requirement.

This course consists of a detailed examination of evolutionary theory and its philosophical foundations. The course begins with a consideration of Darwin's formulation of evolutionary theory and the main influences on Darwin. We will then consider two contemporary presentations of the theory: Richard Dawkins' and Richard Lewontin's. The remainder of the course will deal with a number of foundational issues including adaptation, the units of selections, the evolution of altruism, and the possibility of grounding ethics in evolutionary theory. Prerequisite: Application required through Penn Global:https://global.upenn.edu/pennabroad/pgs

This course fulfills Social Science Approaches to Environmental Inquiry requirement.

Congress and the United Nations, governments around the world are still refusing to substantively respond to the climate emergency. As a result, the events of climate catastrophe are no longer anticipated future phenomena. Catastrophic hurricanes, wildfires, and flood events and other human disasters are now frequently visited upon several peoples and places around the world, and particularly on marginalized Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. How is climate change affecting social worlds and imaginaries for the future around the world? And what kinds of work are citizens, scientists, activists and policy makers doing to address its most pernicious effects? The course begins by investigating the scientific consensus around climate change, paying particular attention to the practices through which scientific facts are established. Next, it explores how climate change is addressed by governments at different scales. How might we better understand the absence of significant action to address climate change around the world, despite scientific facts? How are citizens, particularly those that are structurally marginalized, responding to the different climate crises that are unmaking their lives, livelihoods and polities? Finally, the course ends by critically engaging with social movements, projects and programs that are working to mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.

This course fulfills Social Science Approaches to Environmental Inquiry requirement.

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 spearkers 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.