Environment and Development Concentration

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Environment and Development

The concentration in Environment and Development focuses on the interplay between economic development and natural resources.  The goal of this concentration is to help students understand the difficulties and opportunities in the area of sustainable development.  Economic activity has environmental effects at all scales from local pollution and resource depletion such as deforestation , to regional impacts from overfishing or excessive use of water resources, and on to global concerns such as climate change.

Language Requirement:

Students with a primary concentration in Environment and Development must demonstrate competency in a language appropriate to the region of their secondary area of concentration.  (Competency means the equivalent of six courses in the same language.)

LSU Courses in the Environment and Development Concentration:

  • ANTH 4086/GEOG 4086 – Human-Environment Interactions (3) Cultural adaptation to difficult and distinctive environments, including mountains and highlands, the arctic, deserts, the humid tropics and grasslands; subsistence strategies, local knowledge, household economies, land use practices and resource management institutions.
  • ECON 4520 – International Trade (3) Prerequisite:ECON 2000 and ECON 2010; or ECON 2030. Introduction to the basic theories of international trade including classical, neoclassical and post-neoclassical theories; discussion on how these theories relate to current economic events and policies; brief overview of major U.S. trade law; overview and analysis of major bilateral and multilateral trading agreements including the North American Free Trade Agreement, the European Union and the World Trade Organization.
  • ECON 4550 – International Finance (3) Prerequisite:ECON 2035 or equivalent. Exchange rates and the foreign exchange market; exchange rate determination in the short run and in the long run; alternative international currency systems, macroeconomic policy coordination under fixed and floating exchange rates.
  • ECON 4070 – Economic Growth (3) Prerequisite:ECON 2000 and ECON 2010; or ECON 2030. Analysis of the determinants of economic growth through development of theoretical and empirical models of economic growth; discussion of both old and new growth theory and convergence of income levels across countries.
  • ECON 4320 – Environmental Economics (3) Prerequisite:ECON 2000 and ECON 2010; or ECON 2030. Market failure and government failure, benefit cost analysis, the economics of energy, the efficient allocation of pollution, stationary and mobile source air pollution, water pollution and toxic wastes.
  • ECON 4325 – Applied Resource Economics (3) Prerequisite:ECON 2000 and ECON 2010; or ECON 2030. Analysis of environmental and resource problems; cost-benefit and other empirical techniques used to examine these problems.
  • EMS 1011/ENVS 1000 – Environment and Technology: Perspective on Environmental Problems (3) Environmental quality problems involving water, air and land, and society’s response to such problems; analysis of the interrelationships and nature of ecological stresses.
  • EMS 3040 – Applied Environmental Management (4) Prerequisite:EMS 1011, ENGL 2000. 3 hours lecture; 3 hours lab. Applications of planning, management and decision- making to environmental policy, systems and management; evaluation of environmental decision making; environmental ethics; analysis of environmental issues at the local, state and national levels.
  • ENVS 1126 – Introduction to Environmental Sciences (3) [LCCN: CEVS 1103, Environmental Science] This is a General Education course. An honors course, ENVS 1127, is also available. Credit will not be given for both this course and ENVS 1127. Essential principles of environmental sciences; comprehensive and fundamental understanding of sound science, stewardship and sustainability in environmental sciences; interactions and relations between humans and earth; an up-to-date look at today’s global, national and regional environmental issues.
  • ENVS 4261 – Energy and the Environment (3) Methods of stationary power generation; pollution related to fuel production, transportation and use; energy use and pollution problems related to transportation; energy resources, regulatory aspects and control technology related to stationary and moving sources of air pollution.
  • GEOG 2200 – Hazards, Disasters, and the Environment (3) Exploration of the interaction processes between natural/technical hazards and society that cause disasters; introduction to the natural and technological hazards and disasters; hazards and disaster management; environmental considerations and impacts.
  • GEOG 4014 – Climatology (3) Prerequisite:GEOG 2050 or equivalent. Climatic phenomena; methods in development of regional climatology.
  • GEOG 4045 – Environmental Remote Sensing (3) Prerequisite:consent of instructor. May be taken for elective geology credit. 2 hours lecture; 2 hours lab. Basic energy and matter relationships; principles of primary remote sensors; environment studied via remote sensing techniques.
  • GEOG 4070 – Environmental Conservation (3) Factors governing human use of the earth and its resources.
  • GEOG 4078 – Environment and Development (3) Geographic theories and methods for analyzing relationship between environment and development.
  • GEOG 4080 – Historical Geography (3) Advanced concepts and principles of historical geography.
  • LA 2201 – Landscape History I (3) Development of earliest landscape traditions; relationship of humans to landscape in major cultural areas of the ancient world; development of landscape traditions in western Europe and America from the 15th to 19th centuries.
  • LA 2401 – Landscape Ecology (3) Prerequisite:GEOG 2051 and RNR 1001 or equivalent. Class includes field trips. Application of ecological principles and relationships to resource, recreation and landscape planning, with attention to conservation ethics and legal regulations leading to sustainability of the landscape.
  • LA 3201 – Landscape History II (3) Prerequisite:LA 2201. Major landscape movements in the 19th and 20th centuries; theory and aspects of contemporary practice of landscape architecture.
  • OCS 4465 – Coastal Zone Management (3) Non-law students encouraged to participate. Written and oral presentation required; special projects relating to the primary field of interest permitted. Resources allocation and environmental quality issues in coastal and estuarine zones of the U.S.; evaluating alternative solutions to topical coastal zone issues; preparing legal devices for meeting the issues, such as legislation, regulations, contract provisions and deed restrictions; traditional law courses in water law, environ-mental law, natural-resources law and land-use planning.
  • OCS 4550 – Biological Oceanography (3) Prerequisite:two-course undergraduate science sequence above 2000 level or graduate student status in science department. Participation in oceanographic cruise is generally required. Biology of open oceans, continental shelves and large river deltas.
  • POLI 4062 – Comparative Political Economy (3) Credit will not be given for both this course andPOLI 7976. Cross-regional comparison on the interaction between politics and economics; topics include electoral business cycles, foreign trade, foreign investment, industrial policy and the environment.
  • POLI 4064 – Comparative Politics of Developing Areas (3) Problems of development confronted by contemporary states and societies of the Third World; emphasis on role of ethnic pluralism, political parties, bureaucracies and the military.
  • RNR 1001 – Natural Resource Conservation (3) This is a General Education course. An honors course, RNR 1070, is also available. Credit will not be given for this course and RNR 1070. Relationship of humans to the natural environment; ecology and conservation of soil, water, forest, range, wildlife and fisheries resources.
  • RNR 2039 – Introduction to Renewable Natural Resource Policy (3) An honors course,RNR 2071, is also offered. Credit will not be given for this course and RNR 2071. Development and implementation of policies in renewable natural resources; current environmental issues.
  • RNR 4023 – Marine Fisheries Resources (3) Survey of the biology, harvest and management of commercially important marine organisms throughout the world; emphasis on stock trends and the effects of biological and socio- economic factors on development of management programs.
  • RNR 4107 – Human Dimensions in Natural Resources (3) Prerequisite:RNR 2039 or RNR 2072, 6 hours social science general education electives. Human behavior as related to management and use of natural resources.
  • SOCL 4341 – Social Change (3) Prerequisite:SOCL 2001 or equivalent. Theoretical approaches to understanding social change; applications to major national and global social and cultural dynamics.
  • SOCL 4551 – Global Society (3) Prerequisite:SOCL 2001 or equivalent. Presents central concepts and major perspectives on international development, globalization and world poverty and income inequality.

Note: Course offerings will vary from semester to semester, and there are invariably new courses or special topics classes which are applicable to this concentration but do not appear on the list below.  A scheduling guide listing course offerings will be circulated before scheduling begins for each semester.  Also students who study abroad can ask to count courses taken abroad toward their concentration.  Generally any course focusing on issues of economic development, natural resource conservation, sustainability, or climate can be applied to the concentration

Study Abroad Options:

Study Abroad options for this concentration are numerous.  Please visit the Academic Programs Abroad for more information.

 

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