Id: 042268 Credits Min: 3 Credits Max: 3

Description

In this course, students will develop and apply systems thinking skills to explore, understand, and design solutions to one of the defining challenges of our time: charting a transition to a thriving, sustainable society on a finite planet. 'System thinking' is a way of understanding complex problems from a holistic, long-term perspective. It provides a set of tools to visualize the structure of systems - or the interactions between system elements - and how that structure generates dynamic behavior. Systems thinking provides a framework and approaches that transcend disciplines and help identify strategic points of intervention in complex problems. 'System dynamics' extends systems thinking to include formal mathematical modeling of the interactions between system elements. It uses computer-assisted simulation to facilitate understanding and strategic management of complex systems. This course uses systems thinking, simulation, and system dynamics to enable students to make sense of cross-disciplinary sustainability challenges and design strategic solutions.

Prerequisites

This course is open to students who are minors in Climate Change and Sustainability and/or Majors in the B.A. or B.S. in Environmental Science or Meteorology & Atmospheric Science, or permission of instructor.

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