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SED Requirements

Lower Division Requirements

  • ENV DES 1: People and Environmental Design
  • ENV DES 5: Cities and Sites
  • LD ARCH 12: Environmental Science for Sustainable Development (FL)
  • MATH 16A or 1A: Analytic Geometry and Calculus
  • STAT 2, C8 or higher: Introduction to Statistics
  • PHYS 7A or 8A: Introductory Physics
  • ENV ECON C1/ ECON C3: Introduction to Economics or Introduction to Environmental Economics and Policy (ECON 1, 2: permission needed from SED Advisor)

Upper Division Requirements

  • ARCH 140: Energy and Environment (SP)
  • ARCH 142 or 242: Sustainability Colloquium; must take for 2 units (FL)
  • CY PLAN 119: Planning for Sustainability (FL) or CY PLAN 140: Urban Design: City Building & Place-Making (FL)
  • ENV DES 100: The City: Theories and Methods (SP)
  • ENV DES 102: Climate Changes and City Planning: Adaptation and Resilience (FL)
  • ENV DES 104: Design Frameworks (SP)
  • ENV DES 106: Sustainable Environmental Design Workshop (SP)
  • ENV DES 110: Designing Sustainability (FL)
  • LD ARCH 140: Social and Psychological Factors in Open Space Design (FLSP) or LD ARCH 130: Sustainable Cities & Landscapes (SP)
  • LD ARCH /GEOG C188: Geographic Information Systems (FL)

SED students are also required to complete all CED College requirements, which includes the Reading and Composition requirement and the Seven Course Breadth requirement.

Core Course Descriptions

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 110 - Designing Sustainability

ENV DES 110 is taken by all incoming SED first years and transfer students. The course is an opportunity to meet your cohort and explores varying interpretations of sustainability through the fields of design, economics, law, and advocacy. Guest speakers will walk students through various career and life paths in the field of sustainability, and demonstrate how the field is being constructed in real time. The course will also introduce students to various concentrations, dual-degrees and certificate programs available to SED majors.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE 12 - Environmental Science for Sustainable Development

LD ARCH 12 introduces students to the scientific basis of sustainability as explored through the study of energy, water, food, natural resources and the built environment, with a focus on the application of scientific insights to sustainable development strategies. The course emphasizes hands-on learning through field-based exercises such as measurement of atmospheric particulate matter, micro-climates, channel form, aquatic insects and water quality, and direct observations of green infrastructure, green building methods, and urban agriculture.

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 102 - Climate Changes and City Planning: Adaptation and Resilience

A critical approaches course, ENV DES 102 challenges students to think critically about the idea of sustainability, develop critiques of current sustainable urbanism/design practice, and envision the institutional and behavioral changes required for a more sustainable future.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE/ GEOGRAPHY C118 - Geographic Information Systems

GIS has become a basic tool for a wide range of analytic tasks across all environmental design fields. As a methods/technology course, LD ARCH/GEOG C118 addresses both GIS theory and applications, offering a dynamic analytical framework for gathering, integrating, interpreting and manipulating temporal and spatial data.

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 106 - Sustainable Environmental Design Workshop

A capstone workshop course, ENV DES 106 links sustainability science and technology with urban form and social dynamics. This workshop requires independent and collaborative research, with an external ‘client’ organization, to offer innovative strategies for sustainable environmental design.

Recommended SED Area Concentrations

The intent of recommended area courses is to provide students with opportunities to deepen their knowledge about specific issues in sustainability. Each of the area courses focuses on an essential aspect of sustainability with the premise that urban sustainability is a multi-dimensional problem and sustainable environments emerge from the intersection of technology, design, economics, policy, and societal change. The associated courses are available to SED students as electives.

Economics, Business and Policy

  • CY PLAN 113A: Economic Analysis for Planning (3)
  • CY PLAN 113B: Community and Economic Development (3)
  • CP 114: Introduction to Urban and Regional Transportation (3)
  • CY PLAN 115: Urbanization in Developing Countries (4)
  • CP 120: Community Planning and Public Policy for Disability (3)
  • ECON C125: Environmental Economics (4)
  • ENE,RES 190: Seminar in Energy, Environment, Development and Security Issues (3)
  • ENVECON 100: Microeconomic Theory with Application to Natural Resources (4)
  • ENVECON 147: Regulation of Energy and the Environment (4)
  • ENVECON 162: Economics of Water Resources (3)
  • ENVECON C176: Climate Change Economics (4)
  • ESPM 60: Environmental Policy, Administration, and Law (4)
  • ESPM 168: Political Ecology (4)
  • ESPM 169: International Environmental Politics (4)
  • UGBA 107: The Social, Political, and Ethical Environment of Business (3)
  • UGBA 180: Introduction to Real Estate and Urban Land Economics (3)

Society, Culture and Ethics

  • ANTHRO 137: Energy, Culture and Social Organization (4)
  • ARCH 110AC: The Social and Cultural Basis of Design (4)
  • CY PLAN 117AC: Urban & Community Health (3)
  • CY PLAN 118AC: The Urban Community (4)
  • ENE,RES 100: Energy and Society (4)
  • ENE,RES 101: Ecology and Society (3)
  • ESPM 151: Society, Environment, and Culture (4)
  • ESPM 161: Environmental Philosophy and Ethics (3)
  • ESPM 163AC: Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Equity, & the Environment (4)
  • ESPM C167/PUBHEAL C160: Environmental Health and Development (4)
  • ESPM 168: Political Ecology (4)
  • LD ARCH 140: Social and Psychological Factors in Open Space Design (3)
  • LD ARCH 170: History and Theory of Landscape Architecture (3)
  • LD ARCH C171: The American Designed Landscape since 1850 (3)
  • NUTRI SCI 104: Food, Culture and the Environment (2 units)
  • NUTRI SCI W104: Food, Culture and the Environment (3 units) SU only
  • SOC 121: Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Social and Cultural Context (4)
  • SOC 136: Urban Sociology (4)
  • SOC 137AC: Env Justice: Race, Class, Equity and the Environment (4)

Design and Technology

  • ARCH 11A: Introduction to Visual Representation and Drawing. (4)
  • ARCH 11B: Introduction to Design (5)
  • ARCH 124A: 3-D Computer Technology (2)
  • ARCH 130: Introduction to Architectural Design Theory and Criticism (4)
  • ARCH 149/249: Special Topics in Energy and Environment (2-4)
  • ARCH 160: Introduction to Construction (4)
  • ART 100: Collaborative Innovation (4)
  • CP 110: Introduction to City Planning (4)
  • CY PLAN 140: Urban Design: City-Building and Place-Making (3)
  • DES INV 190: Global Product Development (1-4 units)
  • ENV DES 104: Design Frameworks (3)
  • IND ENG 186: Product Management (3)
  • LD ARCH 1: Drawing a Green Future: Fundamentals of Visual Representation and Creativity (4)
  • LD ARCH 111: Plants and Design (3)
  • LD ARCH 140: Social and Psychological Factors in Open Space Design (3)

For more information on the SED Major, please see the student handbook, linked below.

SED Major Handbook
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