Course Inventory

Fires and floods, droughts and plagues, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions: these environmental crises are both natural and political events. They transform human environments and require large-scale, coordinated responses, but they are also cultural constructs, emerging through public discourse and debate. This course will explore how natural disasters catalyzed political, cultural, and technological change in the early modern period (roughly 1450-1800), an era of widespread political conflict, unprecedented global exchange and colonial conquest, and the climatic disruption of the “Little Ice Age.” Starting with the Black Death in Europe, we will look at natural disasters across the early modern world to address the following questions: What, and who, made something a natural disaster? How did natural disasters reshape humans’ understanding of their environments and produce new knowledge, especially in colonial contexts? How did different polities, states, and empires respond to these events? And what do these crises tell us about power and politics in the early modern world?

How are adolescents represented in media and what effects do these portrayals have on developing teens, including in the context of climate change? What makes adolescents a “jackpot market” to be targeted by advertising, and how can they be swayed by mediated efforts to encourage health-promoting and pro-climate behaviors? What does the increasingly mediated nature of everyday life mean for adolescents, their friends, and their families during their journey into adulthood amidst a climate crisis? We will explore these questions by reading key empirical studies and by critically analyzing film, public service announcements, and climate change-related media portraying and/or targeting adolescents from the 1950s to the present day.

The purpose of this course is to explore the political dynamics that shape the debate, enactment, and implementation of policies to address climate change. By reading the latest research on the political determinants of climate policy, the course will help students develop a nuanced understanding of the ideas, institutions, and behaviors that structure the climate policy process. We will focus primarily on climate policy and politics in the United States, while occasionally incorporating comparative perspectives to provide insight into the US case. Throughout the course, we will discuss why climate policies are designed in particular ways; when and why policies pass or fail to pass; how various institutional, organizational, and public interests influence the climate policy process; and what questions remain unanswered about how to address the problem of climate change.

Food production, essential to life, is also today a major contributor to climate change. In this course, we examine farming and food through the rubric of agroecology, an approach that integrates biological, cultural, and historical factors to develop understandings of farming and food history as well as agriculture’s multiple contemporary forms, industrial and non-industrial. We will cover basic aspects of crop evolution and growth, soil, water, and nutrients, with a special focus on the historical global diversity of farming systems, especially in terms of potential alternatives to industrial agriculture. This review forms the foundation for a broader consideration of the impacts of food systems on the planet, and ways to address challenges of climate change, food security, and food sovereignty.

This is an ABCS course designed to provide the student with an understanding of air pollution at the local, regional and global levels. The nature, composition, and properties of air pollutants in the atmosphere will also be studied. The course will focus on Philadelphia’s air quality and how air pollutants have an adverse effect on the health of the residents. The recent designation by IARC of Air Pollution as a known carcinogen will be explored. How the community is exposed to air pollutants with consideration of vulnerable populations will be considered. Through a partnership with Philadelphia Air Management Service (AMS) agency the science of air monitoring and trends over time will be explored. Philadelphia’s current non-attainment status for PM2.5. and ozone will be studied. Philadelphia’s current initiatives to improvethe air quality of the city will be discussed. Students will learn to measure PM2.5 in outdoor and indoor settings and develop community-based outreach tools to effectively inform the community of Philadelphia regarding air pollution. The outreach tools developed by students may be presentations, written materials, apps, websites or other strategies for enhancing environmental health literacy of the community. A project based approach will be used to include student monitoring of area schools, school bus routes, and the community at large. The data collected will be presented to students in the partner elementary school in West Philadelphia . Upon completion of this course, students should expect to have attained a broad understanding of and familiarity with the sources, fate, and the environmental impacts and health effects of air pollutants.

An introduction to the chemistry of the earth’s atmosphere. Covers evolution of the earth’s atmosphere, its physical and chemical structure, its natural chemical composition and oxidative properties, and human impacts, including photochemistry, and aerosols; stratospheric ozone loss, tropospheric pollution; climate change, and acidic deposition. Chemistry in the atmosphere of other planets in our solar system will be covered.

The study of atmospheric science includes the prediction of weather and climate change as well as their impact on society. Designed to provide an understanding of the fundamentals of atmospheric science at the local, regional, and global levels, this course covers the nature, composition, and structure of the atmosphere, its interactions with other parts of the Earth, and the major chemical mechanisms controlling the occurrence and mobility of air pollutants in the atmosphere. Course topics also include global atmospheric composition, ecosystems, living organisms, and environmentally important atmospheric species such as greenhouse gases, stratospheric ozone, acid precipitation, urban smog, and air toxins.

Humans have an enormous impact on the global movement of chemical materials. Biogeochemistry has grown to be the principal scientific discipline to examine the flow of elements through the global earth systems and to examine human impacts on the global environment. This course will introduce and investigate processes and factor controlling the biogeochemical cycles of elements with and between the hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Students will apply principles learned in lectures by building simple computer-based biogeochemical models.

Why is it so hard to stop emitting the greenhouse gases that cause climate change and threaten to upend the planet’s environment? An answer is that since the production and use of energy forms the backbone of the modern economy, we fear that changing our current energy systems will have negative economic outcomes. Fossil fuel energy systems enabled the Industrial Revolution and have led to vastly improved living standards. Doing all the things we need to do to address emissions – building up new systems for generating power and transportation, new production methods for heavy industry and agriculture, and new ways of building design and land use – will require shifting to relatively novel technologies, creating uncertainties about the implications for energy prices, as well as bigger questions around the path forward for economic growth, global competitiveness, and the availability of good jobs. This course will examine energy policy from the perspective of an economic policymaker, asking what do we know about how to foster a clean energy system with low or no greenhouse gas emissions while also delivering strong, stable, shared economic growth? This course will begin by laying out the role that energy systems have played in powering economic development; we will then move on to assess what parts of the economy might be at risk when shifting away from current energy systems to new, clean energy technologies; and the last third of the course will identify the implications for economic policymaking.

Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration has recently emerged as one of the key technologies needed to meeting growing worldwide energy demand while simultaneously reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. The objective of this course is to provide a quantitative introduction into the science and technology of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration. The following topics will be covered. General CO2 chemistry as it applies to capture and sequestration. Applied thermodynamics including minimal work and efficiency calculations for separation. CO2 separation from syngas and flue gas for gasification and combustion processes and the potential for direct air capture. Transportation of CO2 in pipelines and sequestration in deep underground geological formations. Pipeline specifications, monitoring, safety engineering, and costs for long distance transport of CO2. Comparison of options for geological sequestration in oil and gas reservoirs, saline aquifers, and mineral formations. Environmental risk assessment and management. Life cycle analysis

This course will cover some fundamental topics in Climate Sciences, while also teaching how to program & work with big data in Python. We will analyze big climate data (output from the newest generation climate models CMIP6 and NASA satellite datasets) remotely on a National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) supercomputer.

What is climate? This course examines this question by exploring the diverse perspectives of various peoples at different times and in diverse locations. We will then investigate how the myriad of conceptualizations of climate influenced a wide array of topics, including health, race, historical change, human destiny, and responses to environmental challenges. We will investigate the changing ideas surrounding climate by examining historical texts, scientific literature, and cultural artifacts. By the end of the course, students will have developed a nuanced understanding of the complex relationship between climate and human society. Students will also be able to reflect on how the historical and cultural contexts that inform interpretations of climate impact contemporary discussion surrounding climate change and solutions for addressing climate-related challenges.

A course for students who want to try their hand at formulating publication-quality fact and opinion pieces on urgent topics related to the climate and the environment. A course for STEM students who are writing-curious; journalism students interested in sci-tech writing; and prose writers who care about using facts to tell urgently important stories. To learn more about this course, visit the Creative Writing Program at https://creative.writing.upenn.edu.

This course aims to engage undergraduate students at Wharton with fundamental questions at the intersection of climate change, environmental management, ethics, and leadership. Important questions we will address include: (1) What can we learn about leadership from being in “the environment” or “the field” that we cannot as easily learn in other settings? (2) What does it mean to be a leader in the area of climate change and environmental management at a for-profit business firm? A non-profit organization? A social enterprise/benefit corporation? Within this overarching theme of environmental and climate leadership, the course examines a concrete set of timely topics through readings, discussions, guest speakers, and written assignments, including: environmental management and a circular economy; product stewardship; extended producer responsibility; environmental personhood; greenwashing; and the different types of firms and organizations in this space, including for-profit corporations, benefit corporations/social enterprises; and non-profits. The course begins with five traditional classroom sessions on these issues with traditional assignments and readings run and graded by Professor Light. The culminating event of the course is a Leadership Venture – an expedition that combines both “being in the environment” and visiting an organization that is engaged in climate and environmental leadership.

Climate change might be the defining challenge of our times, with a wide range of effects on financial markets and the broader economy. At the same time, financial markets play an important role in financing the transition to a net-zero economy, and incentivizing firms and investors to adapt their strategies. In this course, we examine how climate risks—both physical and regulatory—affect firms, financial markets (including equity, corporate debt, green bonds, municipal bonds, insurance, and carbon markets), and markets for energy, real estate and mortgages. We also examine the role that firms’ disclosures and third-party information sources play. Because financial markets are shaped by the information that is available to market participants, we investigate the impact of ESG reporting and rating agencies, including the costs and benefits of regulating ESG reporting and the impact of greenwashing. In the second part of the course, we study how governments and private investors finance investments in climate technologies. Here, we discuss various financial instruments that have been developed to address climate-change concerns. Given the enormous importance of electrification as a pathway towards a low-carbon future, there is special emphasis on renewable energy finance and economics. We also discuss the latest evidence of how climate risk has shaped decisions inside organizations, such as spin-offs, hedging, and the structure of executive-compensation contracts.

Climate change is happening right now! Climate change is a hoax this is normal variation! Climate change is something we can worry about in 50 to 100 years, no need to worry about it now. On an almost daily basis we are bombarded by mixed messages about climate in the media. Who is right? What is the truth? This course will examine the cryosphere and build on the previous Climate Certificate courses CLCH 160 Oceanography and CLCH 220 Atmospheric Science to better understand Earth’s climate system. We will explore past climate, how we know what that climate was like, and how and why we believe it has changed. We will then examine current evidence for climate change (sea level rise, loss of glacier mass, changes in weather systems) and critique various climate models. Once the class has a good understanding of the science behind climate change we will examine potential impacts in various parts of the world. Finally we will examine climate policy in the US at the federal, state and local level and in various parts of the world.

Climate change presents an imminent threat to social and ecological systems and a fascinating set of legal and governance challenges. This course explores the institutions and policy tools available for responding to these challenges, with emphasis on the political economy and distributional consequences of action at various scales. After an introductory unit on the science and politics of climate change, the course examines potential and actual legal and policy responses at the local, state, federal, and international levels; the possibility and limits of addressing climate change via litigation and private governance; the social and racial justice implications of climate change and climate change policy; and the ways in which multi-scalar regimes fit together in a complex and contested legal tapestry. Seminar sessions will be heavily discussion oriented. Grades will be based on a combination of writing assignments and class participation, including student presentations and a simulated climate diplomacy exercise.

This course will focus on understanding the multiple ways in which climate science is communicated to publics and how they come to understand it. In the process, we will explore ways to blunt susceptibilities to misconceptions, misconstruals, and deliberate deceptions about climate science. Forms of communication on which the class will focus include consensus statements, manifestos, commentaries, court briefs, news accounts, fact checks, op-eds, letters to the editor, speeches, and media interviews. Students will have the opportunity to interact with guest lecturers, among them leading journalists, climate activists, and climate survey analysts. Students will write letters to the editor and fact checks and will participate in mock interviews designed to increase their understanding of the nature of the interactions between journalists and climate scientists. As a class project, students will collaborate on a white paper on climate discourse fallacies to be distributed at the April 3-7 Society for Environmental Journalists annual convention (hosted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and Media). Students will interview attendees at that conference as part of the class project.

This course will focus on understanding the multiple ways in which climate science is communicated to publics and how they come to understand it. In the process, we will explore ways to blunt susceptibilities to misconceptions, misconstruals, and deliberate deceptions about climate science. Forms of communication on which the class will focus include consensus statements, manifestos, commentaries, court briefs, news accounts, fact checks, op-eds, letters to the editor, speeches, and media interviews. Students will have the opportunity to interact with guest lecturers, among them leading journalists, climate activists, and climate survey analysts. Students will write letters to the editor and fact checks and will participate in mock interviews designed to increase their understanding of the nature of the interactions between journalists and climate scientists. As a class project, students will collaborate on a white paper on climate discourse fallacies to be distributed at the April 3-7 Society for Environmental Journalists annual convention (hosted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and Media). Students will interview attendees at that conference as part of the class project.

Climate change has emerged as a defining societal challenge. Economics and econometrics can be powerful tools for analyzing climate change and environmental challenges more broadly: for understanding how it is caused, who is hurt by it, and how policy solutions may be designed to mitigate it. Exploring the market and non-market forces that drive economic opportunity and inequality, and how these forces could interact with climate change may be important for policymakers and practitioners given the breadth of climate impacts and the wide-ranging implications of energy policy. This course provides an introduction to applied economic scholarship on climate change, with an emphasis on studies and perspectives that use real world data and empirical analyses that permit valid causal inference, which is the science of disentangling cause and effect using real-world data. We will explore the market failures that give rise to climate change; emerging evidence on its effects on human health, economic productivity, crime, and well-being broadly construed; and the forces that may influence whether and how societies will adapt to a changing climate.

Climate Change and The Energy Evolution In order to address the climate crisis, the global energy system is and must be rapidly reshaped over the coming decades. Much of the energy evolution will be driven by decisions made by the private sector and the institutions that provide them capital. The aim of this course is to (a) explore the relationship between international agreements on climate change, national and local government actions, and the emergence of private governance as factors driving the energy evolution and (b) provide an overview of the critical themes, players, structures, and issues in renewable energy deal making. Students in this course will work first hand with climate and renewable energy practitioners to learn how to evaluate the key factors driving decision making in energy investment today and understand the basics of how the renewable and clean energy business works.

This course will be run as an ABA simulation course. Students will be asked to participate in a variety of hands on exercises, including mock negotiations, mock client meetings, and markups of client climate reports and renewable energy transactional documents. Grading is based on a series of assignments presented throughout the semester, and there is no final exam or paper in this course.

This doctoral-level, academically based community service (ABCS) research seminar empowers local youth in West Philadelphia to identify, research, and address pressing community issues through evidence-based communication strategies. Working directly with Sayre High School partners, graduate students will co-develop research questions and communication campaigns that matter most to youth and their communities. While topics may include climate change, health, violence prevention, or other community concerns, the specific focus will be selected in collaboration with youth partners. Through learning about strategic messaging, social media engagement, and school/community outreach campaigns, students will develop an intervention in groups to foster meaningful community change. The course involves both scheduled seminars and required fieldwork at Sayre High School. Drawing on frameworks from communication theory, behavior change, and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), students will engage in hands-on projects that empower youth voices and enable community action through communication. Graduate students will learn core theories about behavior change relevant to communication interventions and YPAR. They will gain experience designing and implementing a multi-method or mixed-methods study, combining qualitative with quantitative research techniques to conduct formative research, message design, and testing in partnership with youth. Through this project, students will develop proficiency in data analysis, interpretation, and presentation of findings. The course will also cover ethical and practical considerations in youth-centered research, relationship building, community engagement strategies, and effective facilitation skills. This course provides a unique opportunity for doctoral students to gain practical experience in participatory research while addressing pressing social, environmental, or health issues in the West Philadelphia community.

The course will exam Pacala and Socolow’s hypothesis that “Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical and industrial know-how t solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half-century.” Fifteen “climate stabilization wedges” i.e., strategies that each have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 1 billion ons per year by 2054, will be examined in detail. Technology and economics will be reviewed. Socio-political barriers to mass-scale implementation will be discussed. Pacala and Socolow note “Every element in this portfoloio has passed beyond the laboratory bench and demonstration project; many are already implemented somewhere at full industrial scale”.

The course will exam Pacala and Socolow’s hypothesis that “Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical and industrial know-how t solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half-century.” Fifteen “climate stabilization wedges” i.e., strategies that each have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 1 billion ons per year by 2054, will be examined in detail. Technology and economics will be reviewed. Socio-political barriers to mass-scale implementation will be discussed. Pacala and Socolow note “Every element in this portfoloio has passed beyond the laboratory bench and demonstration project; many are already implemented somewhere at full industrial scale”.