First Year Program Spring Course Descriptions (FYS)

Courses offered in "Changing the World: Justice & Advocacy" consider ways that change, rebellion, dissent, leadership, and other movements can promote equity in our world.

Radical Grief

Erika Kissam
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

“Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness, the tender mercy of its people, their respect for the law of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.’ – William Gladstone

Grief and loss are normal, inevitable, and universal human experiences.  Grief is interwoven in our sociocultural context. Grief and loss can cause us to question our identity, relationships, and beliefs. They can take away our sense of control, and agency- which may lead some people to action.

We will practice critical thinking, research, communication skills, and self-reflection while looking at how grief and loss have informed your life through charity events, political/ social movements, policies and public safety regulations, etc. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and the HU general education requirement.

Race in Higher Education

Bruce Yang
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

This course will explore the topic of race in higher education and in the United States. Students will start the semester with the end of the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and several notable legal cases challenging aspects of the "Separate but Equal" doctrine, leading to Brown v. Board of 1954. Following this is an examination of race related policies including the Morrill Land Grant Act, GI Bill, and Affirmative Action. Students will also explore the area of scientific racism, and how these beliefs impacted the perceptions of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly around intelligence and standardized testing. Lastly, students will learn about critical race theory, privilege, racial experiences of students and professionals, and DEI bans and anti-racist training in the higher education setting. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and fulfills the HU general education requirement.

Energy and the Environment

George Repicky
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

Why is every car manufacturer in the world aiming to convert to all electric by 2035? And what does it mean if a lot of that electricity continues to come from fossil fuels? Does the US rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement matter or is the agreement too weak to have any real impact? Why are rural areas around the North Country fighting solar and wind farm development? Why didn’t we see sustained growth in the American Coal industry despite the Trump administration’s promises and policies?  Decisions being made today about energy production and consumption will lead to economic, political, social, and environmental consequences that will remain with us for decades, maybe even centuries. As a result, thoughtful citizens across the country are demanding to be a part of the decision-making process. In this course, students will delve into aspects of the energy debate through course readings and discussion, as well as their own research projects. Please note that this course will make extensive use of technology, such as WeVideo, and audio recordings in both the research process and for the production of the final projects. This course fulfills the FYS requirement, and SS general education requirement.

Who We Might Become: Lessons from Dystopia

Rebecca Jewell
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

What does a just society look like? And who decides what is just? In creative depictions of utopia, authors and artists conjure worlds free from inequality, suffering, and violence—but "utopia" means “no place,” and we know of nowhere that utopia has been achieved. Taking a darker approach, dystopian works often paint scathing portraits of injustice in future, post-apocalyptic worlds, offering us a glimpse of who we might become if we lose touch with our humanity in pursuit of perfection. In this course, we will critically analyze dystopian fiction and films as works of satire that inspire us to question our present-day society and potentially call us to action around issues of social justice. We will read Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s feminist utopia, Herland, the graphic novel adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the chilling and often overlooked science fiction dystopia presented in Ira Levin’s This Perfect Day, and three pieces of speculative fiction by George Saunders; we will also watch depictions of dystopia on the big screen, including the modernized adaptation of The Giver, James McTeigue’s disturbing production of V for Vendetta, and Mike Judge’s cult classic Idiocracy. Students will develop and refine their academic skills through researching a work of dystopia of their choice and presenting their own dystopian film concept. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement.

Gender, Visual Arts, and Film in South and West Africa

Chandreyi Basu
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

This first-year seminar uses gender as the primary lens for analyzing recent examples of art and films created in, or related to, South and West Asia. The course explores the following broad themes: types of gender hierarchies and inequities and the socio-economic, cultural, and political institutions that maintain them; the influence of gender constructs (such as ideal body images and roles ascribed to men and women) on the making and viewing of art; the relationship of gender, art, and religious identities; and socially deviant behavior.

We’ll read, view, and listen to sources produced by scholars, activists, artists and filmmakers, social workers, as well as journalists, and examine how our own social location helps and/or hinders our understanding of these sources. Class time is structured to foster collaborative learning through class discussion,and to develop and practice skills for deep reading and viewing, applying topics to real-life issues, and conducting independent research. This course counts as a 200-level Art History elective as well as Asian Studies and Gender Studies electives. It fulfills the FYS requirement and ARTS general education requirement.

Language and Business Skills for the Global Workplace

Robin Rhodes
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

Do you envision yourself working for a multinational corporation, in global diplomacy, or international development? In this seminar we will build skills necessary for international professional life as we explore how to be culturally savvy no matter where your career takes you. We will examine the role of language and culture to prepare for the global workplace in which an understanding of linguistic and cultural diversity is increasingly important. Cultural understanding has been noted to be neglected in the study of international business despite its effect on successful business negotiations. In this seminar, students will self-reflect on their own background through examination of Harvard Business Review case studies, podcast episodes, and readings which highlight considerations for successful cross-cultural careers. The course will focus on research and projects with an eye not only to international corporate business but also to government agencies, education, and other industries. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement and is equated to ESOL 3002 and is open to all students. Students who are enrolled in or have previously completed ESOL 3002 may not enroll in this FYS course.

Courses offered in "The Intentional Life: Interconnectedness & Wellness" seek out practices, discussions, and ways of being intentionally connected to one another in our daily lives through our work and our play.

The Science of Attraction and Relationships

Megan Carpenter
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

Our romantic and sexual relationships are among the most impactful in our lives. Being desired by and desiring others drives much of our behaviors, including how we dress, what we post online, and even how we spend our money. Throughout this course we will provide a broad overview of the research topics, methods, and findings related to the scientific study of intimate relationships. Content will include an investigation of how our early attachment to caregivers influences our relationships as adults, the factors (physical and otherwise) that influence our initial attraction to others, theories of relationship initiation, growth, and maintenance, as well as predictors of relationship dissolution. We will examine different relationship structures, including “friends-with-benefits” and consensual non-monogamy, as well as cross-cultural differences in attraction and relationship norms. This course is grounded in social psychology and personality psychology theory and is not intended as a self-help course or a proxy for relationship counseling. When you are finished with this course you will have a greater understanding of the factors that promote relationship satisfaction. Through our exploration of this topic, students will develop their research and oral communication skills. This course fulfills the FYS requirement.

Psychoanalytic Explorations: Desire, Sexuality, and Movies

Mahrou Zhaf & Mark Denaci
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

This course invites students to explore the complex interplay of desire, sexuality, and subjectivity in cinema. We will examine foundational psychoanalytic theories, particularly those of Freud and Lacan, and re-evaluate them through the lenses of feminist, queer, and postcolonial perspectives while applying them to a wide array of remarkable films. Focusing on cinema as a space where the unconscious reveals itself, we will question how cinema both reflects and shapes cultural norms regarding gender, sexuality, and power. Students will critically assess such provocative topics as the impact of the male gaze, the monstrous feminine, and the abject in the cinematic portrayal of women and men. In addition, the course addresses contemporary film theories that challenge traditional narratives and highlight the diversity of sexual identities and expressions on screen. By the end of this course, students will not only gain a deeper understanding of psychoanalytic theory but also learn to apply its tools to the analysis of films that reveal the intricacies of gendered desire and the unconscious. This course counts as a 100-level Gender Studies course and fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement.

Courses in "Figuring it Out: Purpose, Problems & Solutions" engage students in probing problems or purpose to understand solutions and why some are more readily solved than others.

Extreme Physiology and Medicine

Alex Schreiber
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

This reading-, writing-, and content-heavy course is designed for students interested in the health sciences. What happens to the body and mind at the limits of human endurance? How do humans acclimate physiologically to extreme environments, such as Mt. Everest, Antarctica, the Sahara Desert, the ocean depths, and space? This course investigates how geographic exploration has transformed modern medicine and our understanding of how the human body is capable of surviving extreme duress. You will learn core principles of cardiovascular, respiratory, water balance, and stress physiology by studying human performance under adverse conditions. You will learn the physiological basis of conditions like hypothermia, high altitude pulmonary edema, decompression sickness, nitrogen narcosis and dehydration, as well as how to treat these. This course fulfills the FYS requirement.

Urgent Wisdom: Philosophy in the Age of Climate Change

Katharine Wolfe
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

Climate change is one of the most urgent environmental problems currently facing the world. It is also a profoundly ethical and philosophical one, for some of the most fundamental questions we must ask include: How should we live, what does it mean to live well, and what virtues are necessary to do so? What is our place in nature and how ought we relate to the myriad other beings with whom we share the Earth? What kinds of human communities and societies ought we celebrate, uphold, or create? And what do we owe to future generations as well as to each other today? Engaging with ancient works of philosophy, contemporary writings by philosophers of science and ethical theorists, as well as indigenous forms of knowledge and lifeways, this course also asks students to consider the possibility that the insights and worldviews of past generations, preserved in ancient texts and carried forward in many communities today, might hold keys to living ethically and sustainably not just now but for generations to come. This course counts as PHIL 100 and fulfills the HU general education requirement. Students who are enrolled in or have previously completed Philosophy 100 may not enroll in this FYS course.

Molecules that Changed History

Stephanie Tartakoff
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

What makes a pepper spicy, a medication work in the body, or TNT explode? It all boils down to something smaller than our eyes can see, MOLECULES! Modern science has made some pivotal discoveries on a molecular level that have altered the directions of historical timelines. Spices and the subsequent spice trade and colonialism, antibiotics and the preservation of human life, and explosives and their applications to society are just a few molecules we will explore in this class and their impacts on humankind. While gaining some foundational organic chemistry knowledge along the way, we will discover the economic, physical, social, and political effects of 17 molecules. Writing and effective communication will be an important part of your future career whether you plan to be a scientist, doctor, or storyteller. The written assignments and oral presentations are tailored to improve your communication skills and will cover a variety of styles and formats culminating in a research project on an important historical molecule that you will share in the Festival of Science, Scholarship, and Creativity! This course fulfills the FYS requirement.

Who Gives You Work, and Why Should You Do It: Placing Work in Human Experience

Paul Doty
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

The promise (or perhaps threat) of Artificial Intelligence has prompted much discussion about the future of work, including debate about whether employment, as we know it, is an important component of a life well-lived. This course will invite you to contemplate the concept of work: what exactly is work, what does it mean to build something, and what does work makes of us. This will involve reading and writing, and a dose of research, but along the way we’ll also get our hands dirty, digitally and otherwise, making art and music and a version of the device that cracked the hardest code in human history. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement.

Courses in "Human Invention: Knowledge, Practice & Action" focus on understanding the how and the why, but ultimately end up practicing the “doing."

“Techniques of Creative Nonfiction Writing”

Bob Cowser
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

An intro to the formal concepts and technical problems of the personal essay. In a 2013 New York Times op-ed, Princeton professor Christy Wampole claimed the personal essay and its spirit provide an alternative to the dogmatic thinking that dominates much of social and political life in contemporary America. She advocates approaching the essay as a ‘way of life,’ calling for “a conscious and more reflective deployment of the essay’s spirit in all aspects of life as a resistance against the zealous closed-endedness of the rigid mind.” Students in this course will consider what that way of life might be like, accepting Wampole’s invitation “to maintain the elasticity of mind and to get comfortable with the world’s inherent ambivalence.” This course fulfills the FYS requirement and ARTS general education requirement.

Devise & Conquer: Live Action Roleplay

Matthew Hultgren
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

Beyond board games. Beyond stage & screen. There are no spectators, only participants. A world built by and for the players in it. Students in this course will explore the intersection between live gameplay, simulation, and narrative. As scholars, they will research theories and practices of Nordic LARP, American freeform, and immersive theater. They will engage in improv acting exercises and chamber games to investigate concepts of competitive interaction and collaborative storytelling, while analyzing their game experiences through oral and written reflections. Students will experiment with concepts of ludic play, narrative world-building, and character development through a group TTRPG project, and incorporate their own research into pitching and presenting original game concepts in a Devised Game Proposal Paper. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and ARTS general education requirement.

Courses in "New Horizons: Global & Historical Conversations" invite students to investigate a culture, time, space, and/or place different than St. Lawrence University in the contemporary time.

Adirondack Arts & Archives

Mark Sturges
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

This first-year seminar explores the cultural geography of the Adirondacks of northern New York through the lens of literary, visual, musical, and material artifacts. For the past four hundred years and more, the North Country has inspired a flourishing culture of traditional arts and crafts, folk tales and music, landscape painting and photography, fiction and poetry. We’ll discuss a variety of such artistic responses, including Haudenosaunee artworks and cultural artifacts, the regional poetry of Jeanne Robert Foster and Maurice Kenny, paintings and prints by Rockwell Kent and Harold Weston, the cedar canoes built by Canton resident J. Henry Rushton, and the folk songs collected by Marjorie Lansing Porter. To experience these materials firsthand, we’ll view the visual collections in the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery and spend time examining archival materials in the Owen D. Young Library’s Special Collections. Students will eventually identify a topic that excites them, research its history and artistry, and present their findings to the class. Along the way, they will gain a richer understanding of the cultural geography of the North Country and deepen their sense of place as they continue their studies in the shadow of the Adirondack Mountains. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and ARTS general education requirement.

Childhood Across Cultures (w/CBL)

Adam Harr
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

Do humans have an instinct to adore and care for children? Do children everywhere go through the same developmental stages? When does childhood begin and end? How should caregivers speak to a child? When and how is it appropriate for children to behave as sexual beings? Different cultures and historical periods exhibit a range of ways of imagining and enacting the early stages of human life. We will treat this diversity as a vast experimental laboratory for understanding the malleability of the human condition. By examining case studies of childhood across a variety of contexts and gaining first-hand experience working with children in the North Country, we will explore the question of what is natural and what is cultural about our ideas of childhood. This course counts as ANTH 244 and fulfills the SS and DIV13 general education requirements. This course also counts as an elective for the Education minor.

This course includes an experiential learning component known as Community-Based Learning (CBL). Students in CBL courses actively engage in their learning by spending two hours a week outside of class time, across the semester, in a placement with one of our community partners. Students then connect their community placement experiences with course content. Click on the link to learn more about Community-Based Learning.

Monsters and Myths

Kathleen Self
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

Monsters are everywhere! In the sea, at the edges of the known world, under your bed! Myths are everywhere these days too, from Marvel's Thor to Rick Riordan's young adult novels. Myths and monsters often go together, often working together to describe the good, the bad, the evil, and the dead. What makes a monster, though? And what makes a story a myth? This class asks both those questions. Asking this helps us see how the claims to truth in a myth and the claims about monsters create and recreate culture and the boundaries of culture. We will look at Greek mythology, Old Norse mythology, medieval monsters (griffins! dragons!), and the modern cousins of all these. We'll use religious studies and monster theory (it's a real thing) to talk about and to write about these topics and to investigate the real-world consequences of using myths and of naming monsters. This course counts as a 200-level REL course and fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement.

Latinx in the USA

Martha Chew Sanchez
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

This introductory course on Latino Cultural expressions will help students understand the complexities involved in the dynamics of Latinos in the US history, economy, politics and cultural expression. Some questions that we will ask in this course are: While Latinas/os have been integral to U.S. history and culture, why have they frequently and consistently been depicted as either outsiders or foreign and how is Latina/o identity negotiated? How do we explain the presence of different Latino groups in the US and what are the cultural expressions that are taking place in the US due to these migration waves? What are some of the dynamics that are taking place between Latino/a cultural production in relationship both to larger U.S. culture and to other U.S. racial and ethnic groups? We will also question the development and /or existence of Latinidad - the relationship between and common culture among Latino/as in U.S. culture and how it manifests itself through cultural expressions such as literature, music, films and social media. Our readings focus on musical genres, writers and popular culture from various Latino/a groups. Our topics will include migration, language, the body, gender roles, sexual orientation and identity politics in the works of authors and artists. This course counts as CLAS 105 and fulfills the FYS requirement, HU and DIV13 general education requirements.

Gaza: War, Crimes, and History

Howard Eissenstat
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

For over a year, the world has watched with horror at the evolving crisis in Gaza and, while we often talk about a century-long “conflict in Israel/Palestine,” the level of violence that we are now witnessing is absolutely unprecedented in that history.  Using a variety of sources, including films, podcasts, literature, and peer-reviewed scholarship, we will explore the conflict over Gaza from multiple perspectives. How have scholars of genocide understood these events?  What is the role of international law in addressing apparent war crimes and crimes against humanity?  What is the capacity of History to help us understand not only what is happening, but how we came to this moment, how it is understood by different parties to the conflict, and what the potential pathways out of this violence might be?  Why hasn’t the United States, the United Nations, indeed, anybody, been able to bring this conflict to an end?  Come ready to discuss, explore, and think through these issues together.  This course counts as a one hundred level history course, carries HU general education credit, and fulfills the FYS requirement.

International Politics

Karl Schonberg
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

This course analyzes international relations as an area of study within the field of political science, examining global political processes with particular emphasis on patterns of conflict and cooperation. Major areas of study include theories concerning the nature of the international system, nationalism, balance of power, collective security, alliance systems, international law and organization, political economy, war, deterrence, arms control and disarmament, the emerging international order, human rights and the environment.

This course counts as GOVT 108 toward the GOVT/POSC major or minor and fulfills the FYS requirement, and SS general education requirement.  Students who are enrolled in or have previously completed GOVT 108 may not enroll in this FYS course.

World of Plants

Aswini Pai
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am
Lab on Thursday 1:00pm-4:00pm

American environmentalist Thoreau once said, “Show me a seed and I will show you hope”. But plants signify so much more than mere hope. Plants have catalyzed human civilizations through agriculture, induced the great opium wars, healed with their medicines, intoxicated with alcohols, given visions with hallucinogens, and even triggered colonization of the tropics by seducing Europe with spices. Armadas in search of green gold sailed the oceans on ships made of trees. All of these examples illustrate how dependent humans are on plants, connected to them in myriad ways. Plant species and communities also form the warp and weft of nature, weaving together various aspects of biodiversity in an ecosystem, connecting insects, birds, animals, and fungi by providing nectar, foliage, fruit, detritus, and habitat. However, we rarely think about plants unless we dabble in gardening or grow crops. Through this course, we will examine the amazing diversity of plants and their cultural and economic importance as sources of foods, fibers, dyes, medicines, poisons and intoxicants. We will look at the role of plants in nature and human society while examining how anthropological activity has impacted plants species. We will read from books and literature about how plants have historically influenced human societies and how botanical explorers have sought out plants at grave risk to life and limb. Students can choose to research an individual plant species or group of plants through biological, historical, socio-cultural, economic, and folklore literature. This FYS is a part of the “New Horizons: Global & Historical Conversations" Learning Community” and this course fulfills the FYS requirement, and EL and NS-L general education requirements.

Algonquin-Adirondacks Connections: Nature and People in a Transnational Region

Neil Forkey
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

Imagine an international zone so fluid that natural species migrate more easily than humans. It exists and sits about 50 miles from our campus.  The Frontenac Arch-Thousand Islands terrestrial passage along the St. Lawrence River is where small and large animals, reptiles, and fish annually migrate. The Algonquin-to-Adirondacks (A2A) Collaborative is an undertaking by Canadian and American educators, scientists, and people to enhance biodiversity in this region. They have plotted an ecological corridor stretching from Algonquin National Park in Ontario to New York’s Adirondack State Park. 

What are the deeper natural and human connections that foreground the A2A concept?  That will be a central question of this seminar.  A particular focus of the material will be the enduring indigenous (Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee) presence and interaction with these ecozones.  Using a chronological approach to the material, we will explore how the region changed as Canada and the United States emerged as individual nation-states between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries?  We will read short academic and news articles, access documentary films and podcasts, appreciate various forms of artistic expression, and likely hear from guest speakers. This course fulfills the FYS requirement, and HU, EL general education requirements. This course will count for Canadian Studies (CNS), and Native American Studies (NAS) credit, too.

Global Political Economy

Jayantha Jayman
T/Th 1:50pm - 4:00pm

Understanding crises and finding solutions to them is central to the study of global political economy. It means knowing the causes of war, famine, global warming, pandemics… and so on, including the reemergence of nationalism in its worst forms around the world. From a transdisciplinary sense this course explores the emergence of a global political economy from promising renaissance ideas to the brutal colonial era that underpinned it to then finally get to contemporary times with unsustainable economic disparity and ecological catastrophe. We focus on the period after World War II under US dominance given the impact on institutions today, while considering the rise of China and India. While understanding how global problems came about, solutions are important. This course makes us consider emerging pockets of sustainable development, social movements for peace, and the crucial importance of a reformed international order that has space for the Global South, including ideas of social democracy and eco-feminism that offer hope. Through course readings, focused discussion, organized debates, and intensive research and writing assignments, this course will develop analytical and critical capabilities of students, while providing a solid foundation for social science thinking. This course fulfills the FYS requirement, the SS general education requirement, and counts as GS 101 course.

Courses in "Visionary Ventures: New Advances & Entrepreneurship" explore ways to reimagine the “old”, develop the “new”, and think about ways to move from “it’s always been done this way” to “how could this be different."

Selling Out: Exploring Music and Capitalism

Fritz Schenker
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

When Taylor Swift first moved away from her country roots towards a pop sound, some fans called her a “sell out.” They thought she was chasing money instead of her artistic vision. This insult, though, does not always sting. Many musicians reject the idea that “selling out” is necessarily bad, especially as the rise of streaming has transformed how they can make a living. This course explores changing ideas about “selling out” and the tension between creativity and commercialism through a close examination of a variety of sources and topics ranging from ideas about the musical “genius,” the punk rock ethos, and questions of racial authenticity, among others. Formal music training is not required. This course fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement.

Sensory Bubbles and Perceptual Biases

Elyssa Twedt
T/Th 8:50am-11:00am

Sensory Bubbles & Perceptual Biases - Consider the environment you are in at this moment. What do you see, hear, smell, taste and feel? These experiences are filtered through your sensory and perceptual systems, shaped through your unique combination of biological, cognitive, and social factors. Thus, two people can be in the same environment, yet have different experiences. But humans are not alone in this world. From the spider on the window, to the bird in the tree, to the dog in the yard, each animal experiences their environment through their own sensory and perceptual lens. In this course, we will explore these differences using psychological, biological, social, and environmental perspectives. Ultimately, we will deepen our understanding and appreciation for the diversity of sensory and perceptual experiences, both within humans and between animals. This course fulfills the FYS requirement.

Sex Lives of Scientists

Rachel Bara Sturges
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

Marie Curie often slept with a small jar of radium near her pillow. The continuous, yet very toxic, glow soothed her.  Alan Turing began codebreaking as a teenager at boarding school. While many scientists claim that their work stands alone and bears no connection to their private lives, we cannot help but wonder about their personal journeys. What made them so great? What made their ideas so influential? And, what did they do when they were not “doing science”? In this seminar, we will read several recent graphic biographies of scientists and view films based on these books. We will examine the ways biographers, artists, and filmmakers work to craft stories about real people, and take a look at archival materials, historical footage, and the narratives that get told again and again about scientists. Students will write a research paper that explores and examines one of these retellings. Taking a cue from the scientists we study, who might also have been athletes, games players, musicians, spiritualists, lovers, and adventurers of all kinds—in addition to being great minds—students will have an opportunity to explore the way their own passions might inform their work as thinkers, writers, and speakers. The course fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement.

Urban Green

Sara Ashpole
T/Th 1:50pm-4:00pm

Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities. As the urban population grows, so does the demand on urban resources and the impact from energy, water, waste, air, and food. The ecology of urban systems considers the interactions of living and nonliving components and environmental planning seeks a restorative footprint. Students will develop a research project examining both the built and social system of sustainable urban environments. For example: climate resilient cities, smart cities, biophilic design or alternative urban food systems. The course prepares students for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Associate Certification (sustainable design, construction, and operations standards). Urban Green will explore sustainable urban design by integrating planning research and fundamentals with an online gaming design platform City Skylines. This course is Speaking Intensive (SPK) and counts as an ESP towards the Environmental Studies major and fulfills the FYS requirement, and HU general education requirement.