A. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

CHEM ENG 364-0 Chemical Processing and the Environment
Application of chemical engineering fundamentals to environmental problems. Chemistry and mechanisms, chemical reaction and rate, and transport emphasized. Risk assessment and analysis revealed through case studies.

CHEM ENG 365-0 Sustainability, Technology, and Society
Technical discussion of sustainability, sustainable development, global warming, natural and renewal resources and utilization, industrial ecology, ecoefficiency, technology related to sustainability, and risk assessment.

CIV ENG 206-0 Environmental Literacy
Simple concepts from the sciences and engineering applied to specific environmental problems, including the concepts of risk. Understanding of and quantitative facility in

CIV ENG 260-0 Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
Mass and energy concepts applied to major issues facing environmental engineers: safe drinking water, surface water quality, ambient air quality, global atmosphere, managing solid and hazardous wastes.

CIV ENG 261-0 Environmental Engineering Analysis
Development of quantitative analytical tools for describing physical, chemical, and microbiological processes in natural and engineering systems relevant to environmental engineering.

CIV ENG 267-0 Chemistry of the Natural Environment
Fundamental principles of organic and inorganic chemistry applied to air, water, soil, and sediments. Focus on problem solving. Laboratory/field projects.

CIV ENG 349-0 Environmental Management
The roles and responsibilities of project managers who deal with environmental issues. How managers deal with previously created environmental problems, respond to current requirements, and anticipate future needs.

CIV ENG 359-0 Hazardous Waste Management
Definition and regulation of wastes. Pollutant transport, fate, and toxicology. Management via audits and prevention. Treatment and control. Risk and site assessment and site remediation.

CIV ENG 360-0 Environmental Impact Evaluation
Environmental legislation and quality indices. Methods for evaluating impact of engineering projects on environmental quality. Impact statements, projects, and summary impact reports.

CIV ENG 361-0 Environmental Microbiology and Public
Health Evaluation of the disease status of a community; elements of vital statistics and epidemiology; etiology of infectious and noninfectious diseases; control of environmentally based health hazards.

CIV ENG 363-0 Environmental Engineering Applications I: Air and Land
Nature and control of community air pollution. Sources, physical and chemical properties, and effects of major air pollutants; analytical measurements and monitoring of air pollutants; engineering and legislative control.

CIV ENG 364-0 Environmental Engineering Applications II: Water
Engineering elements of water supply and water pollution abatement. Water quality standards, water and wastewater treatment processes, and the management of receiving waters to control pollution.

CIV ENG 366-0 Ecosystems and Ecotoxicology
Terrestrial, freshwater, marine, and estuarine ecosystems. Fundamentals of toxicology and their application to natural environments and biotic components; tolerance limits and adaptation of organisms to environmental change brought on naturally or by human technology and activity.

CIV ENG 367-0 Aquatic Chemistry
Terrestrial, freshwater, marine, and estuarine chemical equilibria in natural waters. development of theoretical basis for the investigation of chemical behavior of aquatic systems emphasizing a problem-solving approach.

CIV ENG 370-0 Environmental Engineering Design
Decision making in selection and implementation of environmental control measures. Water supply and wastewater
management: quantities to be handled, transportation systems, treatment processes, solid wastes management.

CIV ENG 382-0 Infrastructure Facilities and Systems
Theory, function, planning, design, ownership, finance, and operation of contemporary infrastructure systems presented in lecture-discussion format, along with weekly field trips to sample systems.

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B. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

CHEM 393-0 Green Chemistry
Practices of environmentally benign chemistry as applied to the chemical industry. Introduction to the concept and discipline of green chemistry;

ENVR SCI 201-0 Earth: A Habitable Planet
Chemical and physical perspective on the evolution of the planet; the emergence of life and the nature of biogeochemical cycles; the role of human activities that are now part of these cycles.

ENVR SCI 202-0 The Health of the Biosphere Population
Processes in nature; role of human population growth; interactions between populations; major impacts of human populations on the environment.

ENVR SCI 203-0 Energy and the Environment: The Automobile
Integrated study of fundamental chemistry, industrial production, energy use, and public policy, using the automobile as an example.

EARTH 111-0 Human Dimensions of Global Change
Natural and human causes of climate and environmental changes on land, in waters, and in the atmosphere. The earth system on long and short timescales. Lectures and discussion.

ECON 370-0 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
Externalities and the role of property rights, pollution, waste disposal, common property problems, renewable
resource management, nonrenewable resource use and depletion, recyclable resources, water allocation, and management of public lands.

PHYSICS 301-0 Radiation in the Environment
In-depth look at radioactivity in the environment, including physical descriptions of radiation and the biological basis for radioactive
standards. Nuclear power generation, nuclear waste, techniques for detecting radioactive contamination, and the effects of electromagnetic radiation.

PHIL 268-0 Ethics and the Environment
Topics include our relationship to the environment, the obligation to future generations, pollution and population control, food and energy production and distribution,

POLI SCI 329-0 (371-0) U.S. Environmental Politics
Political problems associated with human impact on natural environment; pollution, natural resources, public lands, land use, energy, and population.

POLI SCI 349-0 International Environmental Politics
International cooperation and conflict resolution of global and transnational environmental problems such as climate change. Role of political, economic, and normative considerations in the formation of politically feasible solutions to international environmental problems.

SOCIOL 305-0 Demography and Population Problems
Social causes and consequences of population dynamics (fertility, mortality, marriage, divorce, migration) and population structures (age, sex, size, density). Possible roles of population changes in environmental and economic development problems.

SOCIOL 312-0 Social Basis of Environmental Change
The role of production structures and other social institutions on pollution and depletion. Social support for and resistance to environmental protection policies. Inequalities in use of resources and incidence of environmental hazards.

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C.  Medill School of Journalism

EDIT 382-0 Environmental Reporting
The Environmental Reporting Seminar teaches you an understanding of science and technology focused on environmental news, nature writing and global issues such as global warming and energy alternatives. The class develops research, reporting, sourcing and cross-media storytelling skills applicable to science reporting in general and environmental journalism in particular. The course includes weekly lectures, workshops, field trips, research and reporting and bi-weekly story  assignments that will be edited and produced for the Medill Reports Web site and for Medill News Service clients. The course will concentrate on teaching you how to obtain information, evaluate it and make it relevant and understandable to your audience, a good grounding for enterprise reporting on any topic.

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D.  Law School

PPTYTORT 610 - Environmental Law 
This course provides an overview of modern legislation dealing with environmental problems and various policy questions that arise under that legislation.¦nbsp; Students are introduced to four generic types of regulatory regimes, presented through a study of particular statutes that embody these approaches: command and control regulation (the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act); market mechanisms (the Clean Air Act); liability rules (CERCLA or Superfund); and information disclosure (the Emergency Community Right to Know Act, OSHA's Hazard Communication rules, and California Proposition 65). Building on this foundation, the course will then look more closely at several issues that cut across different environmental media and regulatory regimes, including interjurisdictional problems (both within the American federal system and globally); problems of risk assessment and comparative risk analysis; distributional concerns (including both taking problems and environmental justice problems); and enforcement issues.

PPTYTORT 611 - Environmental Law Seminar 
This seminar offers students with an opportunity to explore public interest environmental advocacy.  Students will participate in public interest environmental work by completing research assignments arising from cases in which the course instructors are representing environmental groups.  Students will also explore the ways in which federal, state and local environmental laws empower citizens to participate in environmental issues.  Finally, students will explore how practical lawyering skills are applied in this area of law.  The course instructors are attorneys with the Chicago Environmental Law Clinic, a collaboration between the Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc. and Chicago-Kent College of Law
 
PPTYTORT 613 - Public Policy and Law: Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development 
One of the greatest challenges facing government policymakers at all levels is how to construct policies that support both economic development and preserve and enhance environmental goods such as clean air and water, and open space with diverse habitat. This seminar explores various aspects of energy, environmental and other sources of law that are or could be utilized to achieve the goal of "sustainable development." Among the topics we will consider are: (1) how federal and state energy law, including provisions to restructure the electricity industry, might support economic development and environmental values, including promotion of new clean renewable energy resources; (2) the intersection between transportation policies, infrastructure funding and environmental law, particularly the challenge of "smart growth" versus "sprawl"; (3) the legal and policy efforts to align agricultural practices and law and environmental concerns; (4) the balance struck between economic development and environmental concerns in the context of the redevelopment of "brownfields," underutilized contaminated properties in urban areas; and (5) the particular problems of balancing development and environment concerns in poorer countries experiencing high rates of population growth. There are no prerequisites for the seminar, although basic environmental law or natural resources law might be helpful.

PPTYTORT 660 - International Environmental Law
This seminar examines the question of how global resources like rare species, marine environments, and clean air can be protected within an international legal framework where state actors reign supreme.  Sources of international environmental law and associated enforcement mechanisms will be discussed with reference to various environmental problems including climate change, ozone depletion, transboundary air pollution, loss of biodiversity, and over fishing.  The relationship between trade, development, and environmental protection will receive particular attention throughout the seminar, as will issues arising from the evolving role of non-state actors. 

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E. Kellogg

2008SP BUS INST 390-0 SEC22   SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION
This dynamic course responds to pressing business concerns and offers unique preparation for future careers. We will delve into the critical, complex, and dramatically changing context for sustainable innovation.  You will work in multi-disciplinary and multi-functional consulting teams of students reviewing strategies and organizational structures and carrying out projects to improve service and product design. “Sustainable” in this course will include but go beyond both environmental concerns and corporate social responsibility to include long-term planning and dealing with a wide range of stakeholders required by

  •  shifting standards and regulatory conditions;
  •  changing cost/availability parameters of inputs, values/prices and threats and opportunities from new outsourcing and competitive behavior
  •  complex demands of emerging economies
  •  the expected impact of emerging and converging science-based technologies, e.g., nano and biotechnology;
  •  growing customer demand for total integrated solutions that include services and extend beyond isolated products and components – pushing firms into new, flexible and international alliances.

Underlying and interrelated economic, developmental, historical, social and cultural-anthropological factors will be emphasized. Examples will be drawn from a wide range of global regions. A key take away competency will be in applying industry-derived analytic and planning tools to team projects.
Finally, reflecting its practical orientation, the course will include a Saturday workshop with senior industry managers, international faculty, government officials and consultants (in lieu of a regular session.)

FINC-930-A  - Environmental Finance
The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed the convergence of environmental and capital markets. Market-based mechanisms such as emissions trading have become widely accepted as a cost-effective method for addressing environmental concerns, especially as societies move towards a carbon-constrained future. These mechanisms also have potential benefits to address issues in other pressing matters such as water quality, fisheries and biodiversity protection. The purpose of this course is to explore environmental finance from a public policy viewpoint and to examine the implications for financing corporations.

MKTG-938-B - Cases in Sustainability
This course uses case studies to examine the three chief components of corporate sustainability: financial, social and environmental/natural. The cases are oriented toward business rather than policy or politics, although these are incorporated, as the course takes a systems approach to the triple bottom line. Students will explore the strategy and execution of major Fortune 500 organizations in todays context and will learn how to incorporate sustainability issues, opportunities and approaches in the executives decision-making process. Each of the three sustainability components includes presentations from outside expert speakers and practitioners

MORS-925-0 - Business Design for Environmental Sustainability
Will you lead the next industrial revolution? To lead and profit from the revolutionary alignment of business practice with environmental sustainability requires abilities to rethink and redesign the core functions of business organizations. Through a mixture of case studies, class discussion, team-based projects and class visitors, this course helps students build strength in designing organizations for environmental sustainability. Students will learn how the green redesign of core organizational processes is generating competitive advantage for existing companies throughout the world; develop skills in identifying and prioritizing the many profitable opportunities to green business practices in light of shareholder value and ecological integrity; and consider how relations between organizational components can foster or undermine organizational commitments to sustainability, as well as how one firms leadership can spark the revolution in core organizational practices needed to sustain the lasting health of natural, social and economic systems. The course provides students an opportunity to craft a professional response to the world's monumental environmental challenges.

MORS-926-0   SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION: MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION
In this course, “sustainable” innovation includes but goes beyond “green” issues and compliance with environmental and corporate social responsibility edicts to consider a wide range of potential threats to the success of an innovation. Leading firms recognize that traditional innovation approaches are insufficient to meet the complexity of emerging strategic and organizational challenges in today’s quick-moving and interconnected global market. New perspectives and alliances, as well as the redefinition of core competencies, are required. But along with the pressures, the market also offers new opportunities for innovation. Competitive potential comes from new and converging technologies, emerging international social and economic development contexts, changing outsourcing and competitive behavior in services and manufacturing fields, broadened domain definition and enhanced stakeholder identification and interaction. Students in this practice-oriented course are introduced to key decision tools and apply them to case analyses and team-based projects. The class also assesses interrelated and underlying economic, developmental, historical, social and cultural-anthropological factors, with examples drawn from around the globe. This course may be used to satisfy the MORS major and also the sustainable design requirement of the Master of Science in Engineering Design and Innovation.

SEEK-916-0 - Socially Responsible Business Practices
This course imparts an understanding of how nonprofit organizations are governed. It is designed for students who will serve as board members, volunteers or staff of nonprofit organizations. The intent is to help students appreciate the nature of nonprofit organizations; the roles and responsibilities of boards, the staff and volunteers; how the boards of nonprofit organizations function; and what makes boards and individual board members effective and ineffective. The course is developed through readings, lectures, discussions and individual and group projects. Guest speakers bring additional perspectives to the class.

SEEK-915-0 - Sustainability Lab
This lab course gives students an experiential opportunity to work on sustainability-related projects for companies. In addition to 10 to 12 hours of lectures in which students learn the basic frameworks and tools for their projects, teams of four or five students will dedicate about 100 hours of project work per student. Teams will be assigned projects soon after bidding is completed, they will then prepare an engagement plan that is agreed to by the client company and faculty adviser before the start of class.

SEEK-935-0 - Environmental Management and Sustainability
Challenges arising from energy consumption and natural resource use are increasingly contributing to the complexity of the business environment. Environmental concerns shape both the policy arena in which firms form and implement their business plans and the consumer arena in which firms offer their goods and services. These interactions also affect the nature and amount of innovation that brings about novel business and technological approaches to environmental concerns. This class will focus on topics at the intersection of environmental policy, innovation, sustainability and corporate strategy, including environmental markets (such as sulfur dioxide and carbon permit markets), innovative "green technology" in transportation and in buildings, electricity restructuring, smart grid technologies and business strategies, for-profit/nonprofit partnerships, and "green" marketing and product labeling.

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