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Environment and Society

This concentration is designed for students interested in human-environment relations, sustainable development, and natural resource management.

These classes prepare students to find domestic or international entry-level positions in resource- and human-development related jobs. Career areas include resource management, parks and recreation, land use planning and economic development. Visit the Jobs in Geography page for more ideas.

The Curriculum                                                             Advising Sheet

I. LOWER DIVISION CORE COURSES (take all, 8 units)

• GEOG 202 World Regional or 203 Human Geography (3 units)
• GEOG 204: Global Environmental Systems (4 units)
• GEOG 205: Map Reading and Interpretation (1 unit)

II. UPPER DIVISION BREADTH COURSES (18 units)

• The Biophysical Environment (4 units)
• GEOG 360: Geomorphology (4)
• GEOG 370: Weather and Climate (4)
• Geospatial Techniques (3-4 units)
• GEOG 380: Remote Sensing and Image Processing (4)
• GEOG 385: Cartographic Visualization (3-4)
• GEOG 387: Introduction to GIS (4)
• Regional Synthesis (4 units)
• GEOG 392: Latin America: Culture and Environment (4)
• GEOG 393: South Asia (4)
• GEOG 394: Africa, South of the Sahara (4)
• GEOG 396: Special Topics in Area Studies (4)
• Field Courses and Internship (2-3 units)
• GEOG 314AB: Field Experience, Northern California (1-2)
• GEOG 314C: Field Experience Beyond Northern California (2)
• GEOG 314D: Field Experience Abroad (2-3)
• GEOG 315: Field Methods in Geography (2)
• GEOG 499AB: Internship (2-4 units)
• Geographic Research and Synthesis (4 units)
• GEOG 490: Senior Seminar (4)

III. CONCENTRATION COURSES (16 units)

• GEOG 322: Liberation Ecologies (4)
• GEOG 335: Global Food Systems: Scarcity and Sustainability(4)
• GEOG 340: Conservation of Natural Resources (4)
• GEOG 345: Tourism Geographies (4)
• GEOG 365: Biogeography and Landscape Ecology (4)
• GEOG 372: Global Climate Change: Past, Present, Future (4)
• GEOG 375: Natural Hazards (4)

IV. SUPPORTING COURSES (8 units)

Suggested courses, with substitutions possible in consultation with an advisor

• ANTH 345: Topics in Anthropology and the Environment (3)
• ECON 381: Natural Resource and Environmental Econ (4)
• ENSP 307: Environmental History (4)
• ENSP 310: Introduction to Planning (3)
• ENSP 330: Energy, Technology and Society (4)
• ENSP 404: Environmental Law (3)
• ENSP 416: Environmental Planning (3)

Learning Objectives

Students who follow this concentration will:

1. understand how human-environment relationships differ between regions, based on their biophysical, historical, political, economic, technological, and cultural contexts

2. understand how major social transformations, such as colonization, industrialization and globalization, have influenced our modes of living, our relationship with nature, and our landscapes

3. understand how resource-extraction regions (from agriculture, to mining, to fishing) are linked to global processes, contributing to uneven development, environmental and social impacts, and conflict within those regions

4. assess environmental problems and their resolution, incorporating biophysical, political, economic, legal, ethical, technical and cultural factors