Enviro-Course Reviews

As class registration drew to an end this past week, next semester is on everyone's mind. Whether you got the classes you wanted or are waitlisted for a few, there is still time to change up your schedule! Across the UEU members and board members, we have a couple environmentally-focused classes we have reviewed for you. Please feel free to reach out to the people listed below and ask more questions!

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Course Reviewers

1. Yujin Kim

   1. Freshman, intended Environmental Sciences (BS) major

   2. Member of the Undergraduate Environmental Union (UEU)

   3. Member of Environmental Alliance (EA)

2. Anya Dias-Hawkins

   1. Freshman, intended Civil/Environmental Engineering major

   2. Member of the Undergraduate Environmental Union (UEU)

3. Leah Roffman

   1. Junior, Public Policy major

   2. Co-president of Environmental Alliance (EA)

ENVIRON 102 - Introduction to Environmental Science and Policy

Student: Yujin Kim (class of 2025)

Session: Fall 2021

Instructor: Dr. Rebecca Vidra

A prerequisite for both the Environmental Sciences BS and BA major, this class is a broad survey course of some basic principles in environmental sciences, and an introduction to some environmental movements in the United States. The policy component of this course is specific to the US. This segues into a brief introduction on climate justice and environmental justice. I really appreciated learning about environmental justice issues related to North Carolina’s hog farms. It was a meaningful opportunity to apply the environmental justice framework in real life and learn more about issues close to Duke. Note: the course covers a lot of ground and you won’t be spending too long on a given topic. If you’ve taken AP environmental sciences, IB ESS, or a similar course, you’ll find a lot of familiar topics but some will definitely be new.

Exams for this class were based largely on lectures and readings, and they should be pretty manageable if you take the time to go through those sources and pay attention to lectures. The final project of the course involved developing a potential solution to an environmental issue of choice as a group. There’s no implementation component involved in this, which can have pros and cons. You might lament the opportunity to get more hands-on action using the concepts you learned in class, or you might enjoy the greater freedom it gives you to fully explore creative and outrageous solutions.

Please feel free to contact Yujin Kim at yk231@duke.edu if you have any further questions about my experience with the course.

ENVIRON 231 - Energy and the Environment

HOUSECS 59-04 - Climate Justice & Global Intersectionality