Introduction

Please click here to see Climate Change Studies program information.

The Climate Change Studies program offers BS and BA degrees, and three tracks (e.g., natural science, society and policy) that include a range of courses across multiple departments, colleges, and schools at CU Denver.

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program.

Declaring This Major

• Click here to go to information about declaring a major.

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.

• CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
• CU Denver Core Curriculum
• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum of 46 credit hours of those 33 upper division credit hours from the approved courses. 

2. A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed in courses taught by faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at CU Denver.

3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. Only three credits of Travel Study may be counted toward graduation requirements.
2. Undergraduate students may count up to 6 credit hours of independent study or internship (any combination of relevant independent study, internship, or directed research coursework) towards elective credit in the major as approved by the program director. Students may not receive more than three credit hours per independent study section. No more than three credit hours of independent study may be taken with the same instructor or in the same term. 
3. CCST 3939 Internship: Community/Professional Experience optional, but highly recommended.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete the following program requirements:		4-5
CCST 1001	Climate Change Seminar
CCST 4001	Climate Change Capstone
Complete the following climate literacy courses:		6-7
ENVS 1044 & ENVS 1045	Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Introduction to Environmental Sciences Laboratory
or GEOG 1202	Introduction to Physical Geography
GEOG/ENVS 3232	Weather and Climate
Complete the list of the following foundations of climate society courses:		18
COMM 2082	Introduction to Environmental Communication
HIST 3616	Global History of Energy
GEOG 4720	Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions
PBHL 3020	Introduction to Environmental Health
PHIL 3430	How to think green: Environmental Ethics
or PBHL 3500	Climate Justice
PSCI 2365	Politics of Climate Change
Complete one quantitative methods, statistics or modeling course from the following list:		3-4
ANTH 4050	Quantitative Methods in Anthropology
BIOL 3762	Biostatistics
MATH 3376	Data Wrangling & Visualization
MATH 4830	Applied Statistics
GEOG 4090	Environmental Modeling with Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 5050	Applied Spatial Statistics
PSCI 3011	Research Methods
Complete one qualitative methods or assessment course from the following list:		3
COMM 4022	Critical Analysis of Communication
COMM 4221	Research Methods: Qualitative
GEOG 4230	Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment
HIST 3031	Theory and Practice of History: An Introduction to the Major
HIST 4234	History at Work: Public and Community History
PBHL 4021	Community Health Assessment
PBHL 4031	Ethnographic Research In Public Health
PUAD 3400	What Communities Tell Us: Stakeholders, Public Opinion, and Community Feedback
Complete one elective course from the following natural sciences list:		3
BIOL 3411	Principles of Ecology
BIOL 4154	Conservation Biology
BIOL 4415	Applied Microbial Ecology
BIOL 4425	Biogeography
GEOG 3240	Colorado Climates
GEOG 4010	Landscape Biogeochemistry
GEOG 4020	Earth Environments and Human Impacts
GEOG 4240	Applied Geomorphology
GEOG 4270	Glacial Geomorphology
GEOG 4731	Mountain Biogeography
GEOG 4750	Beeography: Geography of Bees
GEOG 4757	Urban Climate and Air Quality
Complete one elective course from the following policy list:		3
COMM 4282	Environmental Communication
GEOG 4420	The Politics of Nature
GEOG 4440	Science, Policy and the Environment
PUAD 2002	Policy and Advocacy
PUAD 3500	Managing and Leading in Environmental Organizations
PUAD 4011	Community Resilience, Climate, and Emergency Response
PUAD 4740	Sustainable Energy Policy
URPL 4550	Transportation, Planning and Policy
or URPL 4555	Transportation, Land Use and the Environment
PSCI 4144	Indigenous Political Systems
PSCI 4146	Indigenous Politics
PBHL 3500	Climate Justice
Complete two elective courses from the following society list:		6
ANTH 4888	Editing Earth: Ancient Human Impacts
COMM 4282	Environmental Communication
ECON 4530	Economics of Natural Resources
ECON 4540	Environmental Economics
GEOG 4335	Climate Change & Society
GEOG 4680	Urban Sustainability and Resiliency: Perspectives and Practice
HIST 3366	Nature and Power in American History
HIST 3606	Science, Technology, and Society in the Modern World
PBHL 2052	Global Demography and Health
PBHL 3002	Ethnicity, Health and Social Justice
PBHL 3081	Health in the City: Urban Health
PSCI 4365	Global Ecological Crises
Total Hours		46-49

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website. 

To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.