Environmental challenges are inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on principles from ecology, earth sciences, biochemistry, economics, political science and ethics. This spring, a Bass Connections in Energy & Environment course will engage students in team-based learning around the interaction between natural and social systems as they relate to the environment.

Taught by Charlotte Clark and Patrick Halpin, ENV 201: Integrating Environmental Science and Policy employs in-depth case studies in collaborative research modules. Focus areas include:

• Ecological and earth system cycles, processes and fundamental relationships

• The environmental impact of human-induced change at the local, regional and global levels

• The role of technology and the policy process in determining how environmental problems evolve and are addressed

• The use of ethical analysis to evaluate environmental tradeoffs.

Last year, Halpin and Lori Bennear received a grant to redesign this course to incorporate elements of the Bass Connections model. Dividing into 17 teams, 70 undergraduate and graduate students explored carbon sequestration, the changing Arctic and wind energy during the Spring 2017 semester.

It’s exciting to bring Bass Connections principles to more traditional courses. It gives more students the opportunity to experience project-based and team-based learning. —Lori Bennear, Juli Plant Grainger Associate Professor of Energy Economics and Policy

Other Bass Connections Courses in Spring 2018

Numerous one-semester courses highlight interdisciplinary thinking, collaborative assignments and interaction with community partners. The following courses for Spring 2018, organized by theme, offer students a structure to gain expertise in addressing complex societal problems from a variety of academic and professional perspectives. Explore below or view the handout.

Brain & Society

• Neuroethics

Information, Society & Culture

• Performance and Technology
• Digital Durham
• Research Capstone

Global Health

• Women’s Health and Technologies
• Global Health Policy: Transforming Evidence into Action
• Global Health Research and Ethics
• Introduction to mHealth
• Intercontinental Engineering Design
• Global Nutrition: Over and Undernutrition in Developing Countries
• Global Health Policy (755): Transforming Evidence into Action (graduate students only)

Education & Human Development

• Social Science Research Lab

Bass Connections Open

• Stories for Social Change: Confronting Sexual and Domestic Violence at Duke and in Durham
• Managing Networks
• Introductory Machine Learning for Data Science

Learn More

• Undergraduates, make an appointment with a Director of Academic Engagement to develop your own pathway.
• Ph.D. students in the humanities, get in touch with the Director of Graduate Student Advising and Engagement for the Humanities.
• Save the date for the Bass Connections Fair on January 24 to talk with faculty and program leaders about the 2018-19 project teams.