“The Problem of Environmental Justice” is a short, weekend course that is designed to broaden and deepen awareness among students of the problems in the area of Environmental Justice (EJ) through an interdisciplinary study. Course objectives include defining EJ and detailing the extent of the problem, surveying the field of EJ and EJ activism, identifying causes of the problem at the organizational, social, cultural, economic and public policy levels and identifying potential solutions to the problem. Nationally known experts in the field will present diverse perspectives on EJ and there will be a video presentation of the classic PBS documentary “Toxic Racism.” Students will engage in pre-course research and complete a project dealing with a specific topic in EJ to earn 3 CMU units.
Visit the speakers page to see a list of all the course presenters.
Visit the course timeline page for a complete schedule.
The general goal of this immersion course is to broaden and deepen awareness among students of the pressing issues, problems and dilemmas inherent in the area of Environmental Justice. The following specific learning outcomes of the course are designed to develop student abilities and skills to:
The student requirements for this 3-day “weekend immersion course” are as follows:
The above learning activities will form the basis of a student’s final grade in the course which will be distributed as follows:
Attendance: 20 points
Pre-program activities: 20 points
Blackboard discussion: 20 points
Final project: 40 points
Final grades then will be assigned as follows:
100 - 90 points = A
89 - 80 points = B
79 - 70 points = C
69 - 60 points = D
59 and below = R
Peter Madsen, SEER faculty member and H&SS student advisor for environmental programs, is the CMU faculty coordinator of this course and will also serve as a presenter in it. Madsen is Distinguished Service Professor for Ethics and Social Responsibility and the Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy at CMU. He teaches a variety of applied ethics courses in the Department of Philosophy and the H. J. Heinz School of Public Policy and Management. He is also an adjunct faculty member of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. More details on his work can be found at: http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/bio/faculty/pm2n.html
Britney McCoy is studying for her PhD in Engineering and Public Policy and an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering at CMU and she will serve as the course graduate assistant. Her undergraduate research program was on the topic of environmental justice and urban water systems.