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Description of Core Courses
FALL
U4735 Environmental Science for Decision Makers
This course examines ecological systems and how their sensitivity to a variety of stresses plays into the complex interactions between resource use, pollutant generation, and resource contamination. It focuses on analyses of three broad areas, which present important scientific and policy problems now and will continue to do so in the next century: water resources, climate change, and energy resources.
There is an optional one-hour per week recitation that provides quantitative understanding of some natural environmental processes related to the general topics of water, energy, population ands climate. The recitation is intended for SIPA students seeking more quantitative skills in analyzing natural systems. It earns one credit point. We strongly advise EPS students to avail themselves of this option.
ENVP U6320 Political Context of Public and Private Management
Political Context of Public and Private Management This course focuses on the role of politics, interest groups, elected leaders, public opinion, and governmental institutions in the formulation and management of public policy and programs. It includes a discussion of agenda setting, political management, and political-executive relations. The course also discusses campaign finance rules, the changing role of the media in public policy, and the development of international environmental regimes. It will analyze the impact of citizen participation and the media on public policy with an emphasis on environmental policy."
SPRING
U6241 Environmental Politics and Policy Management
This course provides an introduction to the politics of the environment and pollution prevention through regulation and public works, the development of institutional mechanisms, and how political systems respond to environmental crises.
U6243 International Relations of the Environment
This course examines issues central to the theory and practice of international environmental politics. It provides a foundation of conceptual frameworks and factual knowledge important for individuals planning future work in the field. Readings, lectures and discussion address many issues but the focus is on factors that contribute or impede the creation and implementation of effective international environmental policy.
W4625 Economics of the Environment
This course examines issues in environmental and resource economics including: the interaction between markets and the environment; policy issues related to optimal extraction and pricing; property rights in industrial and developing countries; international trade in goods such as timber and oil; the use of the world's water bodies and the atmosphere as economic inputs; and market mechanisms such as emission permits and environmental taxes.
ENVP U6230 Economics of Sustainable Development (W4329)
The Economics of Sustainable Development This course builds on the first half of the core microeconomics course and addresses issues of environmental and resource economics. It focuses on the interaction between markets and the environment; policy issues related to optimal extraction and pricing; property rights in industrial and developing countries and how they affect international trade in goods such as timber, wood pulp, and oil. The use of the world's water bodies and the atmosphere as economic inputs to production are also examined. The economics of renewable resources is described and sustainable economic development models are discussed and analyzed.
U6238 Environmental Finance
The course provides a broad overview of environmental finance and will discuss market-based environmental regulation as a technique to regulate pollution, finance the restoration of natural environments, and manage environmental risks. Topics include: markets for tradable emissions permits and market-based incentives for environmental restoration; the role of monitoring, information, and innovation; markets for certified "eco-friendly" products; and environmental entrepreneurship and project finance. Prerequisite: An introductory course in microeconomics. Recommended Co-requisites: Economics W4625, Economics of the Environment, and an introductory course in finance.
U8906 EPS Workshop
This capstone course of the EPS program can include 6-8 graduate students who work closely as a team under faculty direction with a client (e.g., government agency, corporation, international organization, public interest group, etc.) on a significant issue of environmental policy. Students can gain valuable experience by testing theories and skills acquired in the classroom to an existing problem while at the same time enabling the client to explore additional ramifications of an environmental problem. Written and oral presentations are made to the client and to the SIPA community at the conclusion of the course, and the class report becomes part of the Lehman Library Reserve Collection.