GRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS (SUS) Fall 2021

made to regain equilibrium in our natural A weekly series of seminars presented by SUS systems and adapting our social systems to visiting researchers, SBU new realities of life on Earth. researchers, and sustainability graduate Sustainability Studies 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.) students. S/U grading SUS 503: Research Methods in SUS 551: Soil Ecotoxicology Research May be repeated for credit. Sustainability Design and implement a unique project This course will provide a survey of in ecotoxicology. Course covers literature quantitative and qualitative methods used in review, experimental design, hypothesis sustainability research in the natural sciences, formulation, data collection, data analysis, social sciences, and humanities. Students hypothesis testing and write up. Students will read primary literature and analyze the will communicate their research orally and in research design. Students will formulate writing. Projects vary by year and will involve research questions, identify appropriate ecotoxins such as acid rain, heavy metals, methods to investigate the question, and pesticides, plastics or herbicides and organisms develop a research proposal. such as soil microbes or earthworms. Course 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.) may be repeated once with instructor 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.) SUS 543: Age of the May be repeated 2 times FOR credit. Anthropocene is the term coined to explain the current geologic era of our planet as shaped SUS 562: Resilient Communities and defined by human activity. This course As and investment increase in provides a deeper understanding of the ways hazard-prone areas across the world, in which humans have interacted with and and vulnerability are increasing as well. transformed the planet during recent geologic Responding to increased and vulnerability time, including the Holocene, Industrial involves enhancing resilience or our ability Revolution, and into the present. We consider to withstand major shocks without long-term, Earth as a global ecosystem, characterized by debilitating physical, social, or economic interacting and dynamic systems, including damage. Resilience as a process can be biophysical and anthropogenic systems. embodied by communities who proactively This course critically examines the current prepare for, absorb, recover from, and adapt interpretations and applications of the term to actual or potential future adverse events, Anthropocene, and identifies the key tenants instead of bearing repeated damage and and societal outcomes of this powerful continuously demand for federal disaster and sometimes conflicting idea as applied assistance. This course explores the idea of today in science, socio-political discourse, resilience as an outcome and as a process sustainability, and beyond. from different perspectives and in different 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.) contexts. We will first study resilience through the lens of sociopolitical of risk and SUS 548: Urban vulnerability. Then we will explore resilience Mitigation and Adaptation in the face of natural, social and economic Climate change, with its anthropogenic causes instabilities or shocks. Finally, we will discuss and devastating effects on human societies, long term risk management, governance is the grand challenge of our age. This course models, policies and involved in will consider how urbanized areas, especially making our communities more resilient. coastal communities, can reduce their negative 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.) environmental impact while simultaneously working to adapt to the harmful effects of SUS 566: Philosophy and the climate change that are already ¿baked in¿ to Environment earth¿s systems. Along the way we will Philosophical questions raised by human develop a better understanding of the feedback relations with the natural world, ranging from loops that connect human activity with natural basic concepts such as nature, ecology, the systems and human well-being, analyze which earth, and wilderness, to the ethical, economic, varieties of urbanization actually have the political, and religious dimensions of current worst environmental impacts, consider both environmental problems, including the incremental and extreme varieties of risk, question of whether there are values inherent and delve deeply into strategies and tactics in nature itself beyond those determined by for addressing the intertwined mitigation human interests alone. and adaptation challenges of climate change. Our focus will be on public sector actions 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.) and the public policy, and SUS 580: Research Seminar governance responses that will need to be

Stony Brook University Graduate Bulletin: www.stonybrook.edu/gradbulletin 1