Environmental Health Sciences Breadth Course
Public Health  (PB HLTH) 200k [2 units]
Course Format: Two hours of lecture per week.
Description: This course will give an introduction to the major human and natural activities that lead to release of hazardous materials into the environment as well as the causal links between chemical, physical, and biological hazards in the environment and their impact on human health, including those related to climate change. The basic principles of toxicology, exposure assessment, risk assessment, risk perception, and environmental health policy will be presented. The overall role of environmental risks in the pattern of human disease, both nationally and internationally, will be covered.  
(Sp) KR Smith

Global Air Quality and Health
Public Health  (PB HLTH) 290(3) [2 units]
Course Format: Two hours of lecture per week.
Prerequisites: We recommend at least one semester of epidemiology as a prerequisite; those without this requirement should request permission of the instructor prior to enrolling.
Description: Globally, between 5.5 and 7 million deaths per year are attributed to air pollution, making it one of the most prominent contributors to the global burden of disease. This survey course will provide an overview of global ambient and household air pollution and its impact on human health. Topics include: atmospheric processes relevant to air pollution; air pollution and public health, with a focus on recent clinical, toxicological, and epidemiological evidence; emergent issues in air pollution epidemiology, measurement, and policies; policy implications of exposure to household & ambient pollution; and tobacco and marijuana. (Sp) J Balmes, A Pillarisetti, KR Smith

Environmental Disasters in Post-apocalyptic Fiction
(PB HLTH) 84, Section 1 (1 unit, P/NP)
Format: This seminar will meet every other week for two hours
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Environmental disasters, human caused and otherwise, have been featured in many novels and other media since the dawn of the industrial era and even before. In this seminar, we focus on post-apocalyptic literature with three core readings and one elective. First, we read the non-fictional assessment The World Without Us (Alan Weisman, 2007), which lays a scientific foundation for how the natural world would change without pressure from humanity. Then we read the short novel, Scarlet Plague, by Jack London (1912), which takes place in the Bay Area and describes the world after plague kills most of the human race in 2013, and finally selected chapters of Earth Abides (1949) by George Stewart, former UCB Professor, which is a novel about Berkeley in a post-apocalyptic world.  Each student will also read a book of his or her choosing or from a list provided of historical and contemporary novels dealing with post-apocalyptic worlds.  [A rule on these books is no VAZ - vampires, aliens, or zombies].  Each student will be evaluated on an oral report on his or her book and participation in discussions on the core books.          
(SP) KR Smith