Global climate change is here, from sea level rise, to stronger storms, and more dangerous wildfire seasons – just to name a few impacts. What does it mean to live in this new environment? What does it mean for our ecosystems and civilization? How can we adapt to a new and unpredictable climate and mitigate practices that could lead to further warming? We will examine the causes and consequences of climate change on the environment and people, incorporating a local to global approach. Both scientific (environment, ecology, wildlife, weather events) and humanistic (politics, ethics, economics, social justice) pieces of the climate puzzle will be investigated. This course will place a special emphasis on valuing differential impacts on vulnerable people and habitats. While working toward identifying a problem that your team can solve, you will build skills in critical thinking, teamwork, communication, and ethics.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit BB1000 credit and 1/3 unit INTL1000 (counts towards HUA) credit.

Course numbers FY 1100 sand FY 1101

Throughout most of Earth’s history, species disappeared at an average rate of 1 to 5 per year, and fossil evidence shows that five mass extinction catastrophes have occurred. Scientists estimate that we are witnessing the sixth mass extinction; species are currently disappearing at 1,000 to 10,000 times the normal background rate. Where are extinctions currently having the greatest impact? How might conservation efforts prevent extinctions? This Great Problems Seminar will examine debates about past and present causes of extinction, the factors that contribute to vulnerability or resiliency of endangered species, and the consequences of species loss. For example, studies now demonstrate that the trade of wild animals and increasing habitat loss driven by human activities are making pathogenic outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic more common. Student project groups will focus on specific extinction-related problems and develop and present sustainable solution approaches based on their investigations.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit BB1000 credit and 1/3 unit HU1100 credit.

Course numbers FY 1100 and FY 1101

This course focuses on material resources and reusing them—recycling. It blends engineering with humanities and builds a framework for the world in which students will live, showing them how they can make the world different through their ingenuity and innovation. Policy and societal issues are also discussed in the context of the recovery and recycling. Students collaborate with the NSF Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3) and work on projects sponsored by leading global corporations.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit ES 1000 credit and 1/3 unit HU1100 credit.

Course numbers FY 1100 and FY 1101

If the moment we are living in has revealed anything, it is that our contemporary modes of life are deeply unsustainable. The world’s ecosystems and social systems are vulnerable to a number of accelerating threats from environmental degradation and climate change to economic inequality and environmental injustice. The recent global pandemic has added to this and shone a light on unsustainability while also giving us a glimpse of a possible future with reduced fossil fuel use and carbon emissions. In this class we will look at these problems from a number of perspectives and try to understand what a transition to a more sustainable mode of existence might entail.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit SS1000 credit and 1/3 unit HU1100 credit.

Course numbers FY 1100 and FY 1101

What are the greatest threats to global health? Antibiotic resistant ‘super bugs’? Lack of access to needed medications and adequate health care? Substance abuse and mental wellbeing? Access to green spaces? In this hands-on course, students will work in teams to research and develop technological, biological, policy-driven, and other types of solutions to help answer these questions in cases around the world. Student project groups will explore issues of inequity, resource scarcity, and historical barriers to access, and design ethical, sustainable solutions based on their research.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit CH1000 credit and 1/3 unit SSPS1000 credit.

Course numbers FY 1100 and FY 1101

This course tackles one of humankind’s greatest challenges: How do you provide shelter for over 7 billion people, almost half of whom live on less than $5.50 a day? With rising slum populations and increasing natural disasters, homes damaged by earthquakes and overflowing refugee camps, how do we address the growing demands for safe living spaces? What do we need to understand as designers, engineers, or aid workers to provide shelter for the world? Working in teams in this design studio, we will learn about relevant design concepts, the Design-Build process, materials, and structure to address this housing challenge. We will build a shelter-model that is affordable, safe, and appropriate for our selected population.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit CE1000 credit and 1/3 unit SSPS1000 credit.

Course numbers FY 1100 and FY 1101

This course explores the concepts of development, technology, and water access in a remote region of southwest Morocco, where indigenous people have historically been denied access to basic human rights, including water and sanitation. In recent decades, climate change and other factors have further damaged the water access of these rural villages. To both study and address the problem, this course will explore the culturally appropriate and technologically advanced methods of harvesting water from fog that have been used by the NGO Dar Si Hmad (http://darsihmad.org/fog/), which operates the largest fog water harvesting system in the world. Our approach is integrative, where students work on teams to learn approaches and concepts from engineering, humanities, and the integration of these disciplines.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit HU1100 credit and 1/3 unit ES1000 credit.

Every community faces energy problems. Solutions to these problems involve both positive and negative consequences. Fossil fuels currently dominate the energy landscape but have impacts that are becoming less and less acceptable. Renewable sources of energy, like wind and solar, are gaining traction but present a whole new set of challenges. This course investigates the depth and breadth of energy

production, transmission, and use. It explores the technical, social, economic, and environmental effects and challenges of power generation.

This GPS carries 1/3 unit PH1000 credit and 1/3 unit SSPS1000 credit.

Course numbers FY 1100 and FY 1101

In today’s challenging and ever-changing world, many people, towns, states, and nations are unwilling to compromise and play by shared rules. Divisiveness and partisanship have impacted our relationships from interpersonal to international. Recent critical, collective challenges – from a global pandemic to the rise of violent ideological movements – have put strain on our institutions and our individual capacity to engage across difference. There are many ways we can approach the challenge of divisiveness and lack of collaboration that is characteristic of our time. For this course, we will be using the lens of sports as a framework for understanding the barriers and opportunities for stronger teamwork in our world. Teamwork and collaboration can be connected to large questions about how and who we are in the world, how we relate to others, and what boundaries and barriers prevent us from collaborating. Dimensions to explore related to those goals include interpersonal communication, emotional self-regulation and support, inclusivity, and voice in teams, and how we design for more equitable, participatory teams.

Course numbers FY 1100 and FY 1101

This GPS carries 1/3 unit SS1000 credit and 1/3 BUS1000 credit.