The course will explore all 4 sectors of the water business in the United States: The Drinking Water Industry, The Stormwater Utility, Water Resources (rivers, streams, reservoirs) Management and the Water Pollution Control Industry. The course will have 2 primary foci: 1. The influences on the industry from new technologies and infrastructure, acceptable levels of risk, public and private sector competition, climate change, the bottled water industry, resource recovery, rates and affordability and other influences will be investigated. 2. The management of a 21st century utility will be explored, including topics of organization and leadership, the role of environmentalism, infrastructure financing, water / wastewater treatment facility operations, public affairs and media, and designing a capital improvement program are examples of topic areas.

This course will focus on a critical exploration of the social movements and policies related to environmental injustices from a community development perspective. The course includes an overview of the Environmental Justice Movement as an evolution from the Civil Rights Movement as well as an exploration of the political economy of environmental inequalities and uneven development that contribute to urban land use patterns that catalyze a range of environmental injustices. This course will emphasize authentic engagement of frontline communities to address a range of environmental inequalities using urban planning and community based solutions. Exploring a Philadelphia-area organization is a key component in this course.

How do government policy-makers make decisions about potential threats to human health and the environment in the face of scientific uncertainty? The course develops the concept of Risk Assessment from the publication of the 1983 National Research Council (NRC) report commonly known as the "Red Book" which was used to rank the initial hazardous waste sites under the Superfund program. Using a variety of teaching tools, including lectures, panel discussions, and case studies, the course examines how public policy decisions regarding environmental risk are made and how effective those decisions are at reducing risks to affected populations. The course focuses on the complex interaction of science, economics, politics, laws, and regulations in dealing with environmental and public health risks. The course will begin with a review of the policy process and methods used in evaluating human health and environmental risks, including the traditional steps in the risk assessment process, including quantitative and qualitative aspects of hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. The course will then focus on how scientific uncertainty, risk perceptions, socio-economic disparities, risk communication, and politics influence environmental risk-based decision-making. Issues such as special populations (e.g., children, elderly, immune-compromised, woman of pregnancy age, etc.) must be considered when developing risk reduction strategies. The use of the "precautionary principle" will be discussed in the context of different types of environmental stressors (e.g., pesticides, chemicals, climate change, air pollution, water quality, and land use) and how this important controversial principle is applied differently in contrasting national and European risk management policies.

This broadly interdisciplinary course is designed for Graduate and Undergraduate Fellows in the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH) who hail from departments across Arts and Sciences as well as other schools at the university. The course is also open to others with permission of the instructors. Work in environmental humanities by necessity spans academic disciplines. By design, it can also address and engage publics beyond traditional academic settings. This seminar, with limited enrollment, explores best practices in public environmental humanities. Students receive close mentoring to develop and execute cross-disciplinary, public engagement projects on the environment.

The culmination of the Environmental Studies major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis. Prerequisite: ENVS 400-level course and declaration of the ENCVS major. The environmental Studies major, as of the fall of 2008, requires 1 semester of ENVS 399 and two semesters of ENVS 498.

The culmination of the Environmental Studies major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis. Prerequisite: ENVS 400-level course and declaration of the ENCVS major. The environmental Studies major, as of the fall of 2008, requires 1 semester of ENVS 399 and two semesters of ENVS 498.

The culmination of the Environmental Studies major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis. Prerequisite: ENVS 400-level course and declaration of the ENCVS major. The environmental Studies major, as of the fall of 2008, requires 1 semester of ENVS 399 and two semesters of ENVS 498.

The culmination of the Environmental Studies major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis. Prerequisite: ENVS 400-level course and declaration of the ENCVS major. The environmental Studies major, as of the fall of 2008, requires 1 semester of ENVS 399 and two semesters of ENVS 498.

The culmination of the Environmental Studies major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis. Prerequisite: ENVS 400-level course and declaration of the ENCVS major. The environmental Studies major, as of the fall of 2008, requires 1 semester of ENVS 399 and two semesters of ENVS 498.

The culmination of the Environmental Studies major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis. Prerequisite: ENVS 400-level course and declaration of the ENCVS major. The environmental Studies major, as of the fall of 2008, requires 1 semester of ENVS 399 and two semesters of ENVS 498.