Courses

Environmental Literacy Freshman Preference Seminar
Offered by: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Taught by: Stephen H. Schneider
Number of Units: 3
G-E-Rs fulfilled: 2a
Course Description: Good citizenship requires literacy about the elements of the scientific and decision-making processes that accompany most environmental issues. Citizens need to know: (1) what can happen; (2) what the odds are; (3) how the credibility of various sources of expertise for items 1 and 2 can be assessed; and (4) which components of a debate deal with factual and theoretical issues and which are political value judgments. Just as a recreational gambler doesn't need a Ph.D. in mathematical statistics to participate in most casino activities-only an appreciation of various consequences and their probabilities-a concerned citizen does not need to understand all the technical details of an environmental-policy debate. However, an environmentally literate citizen does need an appreciation of what is at stake and what the odds are as offered by credible assessments.

Spring: HumBio 147/247: Controlling Climate Change in the 21st Century (together with Professor Armin Rosencranz).

(Graduate students register for 247; same as Human Biology 147.) The science, economics, and environmental diplomacy of global climate change. Topics: the science of climate change, climate change and global environmental law; global economic approaches to carbon abatement, taxes, and tradable permits; joint implementation, consensus, and division in the European Union; gaining the support of China, other developing countries, and U.S. corporations; alternative energy and energy efficiencies for less carbon-intensive electric power and transport. Enrollment limited to 12 seniors. 3 units, Win (Schneider, Rosencranz)

Course syllabus

Coursework at Stanford

Stanford Bulletin (Course on P. 8)