This course examines the plant life in the woods and fields around us, the exotic plants in our greenhouses, and the plants we depend on for food. We will study plants living in surprising circumstances, settling into winter, escaping from gardens, reclaiming farmland, cooperating with fungi and insects, and fighting for their lives. We will find that plants challenge some conventional, animal-based assumptions about what matters to living things. In labs, students will seek to answer questions about how plants grow in nature, by studying plant structure and function, ecology, and evolution.

How are animal bodies built to deal with living on earth? In this course we will study the function of cells, organs, and organ systems that have evolved to help animals make their way through the physical and chemical environment. In lecture and in lab, we will consider the common needs of animals -- needs such as feeding, breathing, and reproducing -- and the diverse solutions they have devised. A range of life, from unicellular organisms to animals with backbones (including mammals), will be considered.

The course will address international problems and issues that are multi-dimensional, including those shaping and shaped by political, cultural, economic, and ecological processes. Each issue or problem will be analyzed from multiple theoretical perspectives, drawing upon a wide range of theories in economics, politics, and sociology.

A study of advanced statistical methods in quantifying economic theory. Emphasis on the practical application of regression analysis to test economic theory, especially where the assumptions underlying ordinary least squares analysis are violated. Examines several different subjects that illustrate empirical economic research.

Understanding and solving environmental problems requires interdisciplinary perspectives. This course links tools from economics with tools from ecology and environmental sciences to design effective policies for protecting the environment. We will examine topics such as the protection of rare and endangered species, rainforest conservation, climate change and others. We will also study important domestic and international policies related to these topics.

This course provides an overview of the ways in which government policies on taxation and spending affect outcomes for individuals (e.g., poverty, health, income) and for society (e.g., inequality, social mobility, economic growth). Topics will include the theory of taxation, public goods, and externalities. Students will apply these theories to current policy debates. Possible applications include healthcare, education, TANF, unemployment insurance, and Social Security.

This course will introduce students to the field of applied economics in which microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and concepts are applied in real-world planning and decision making in a variety of business organizations having particular yet varying priorities and goals (for example, one question to explore is how do decision makers in a socially responsible Benefit Corporation, a worker-owned cooperative, a more traditional company and a startup apply economic analysis in their pursuit of having a successful enterprise?).

A study of statistical methods applied to economic and social data. Measures of central tendency and dispersion, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, simple correlation, and simple and multiple regression analysis.