Environmental Studies

The nuclear disaster in Fukushima in 2011 marked a crucial point in Germany’s energy policy and caused the so called energy turnaround (Energiewende) which led to an even stronger concentration on renewable energies. Since Germany has become one of the leading countries in the environmental field, the Year of Study in Munich offers a new focus on Environmental Studies.

We give students the opportunity to take courses, attend lectures, do internships, go on excursions and participate in various other activities at the University of Munich and the renowned Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.

Students can take courses in the following areas:

Environmental Science

Courses in Environmental Science deal with biophysical forces that shape environmental conditions and include areas like soil science, hydrology, geomorphology, marine biology, climate science, and remote sensing.

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• Advanced Topics in Earth Environments and Hazards
• Applied Physical Geography: Regional Aspects of Global Change
• Challenge Climate Change
• Climate Change and the Earth System
• Ecology
• Geological Evaluation of Satellite Images
• Geology and Environment
• Geomorphology
• Growth and Natural Resources
• Introduction to Geosciences 1 - Materials
• Introduction to GIS and Thematic Cartography
• Introduction to Marine Biology
• Introduction to Remote Sensing
• Laboratory Methods in Physical Geography
• Microwave Remote Sensing
• Natural Disasters
• Oceanography
• Plants in natural environment: radiation, water, climate (change)
• Regional Geography 1 – Europe
• Regional Geography 2 – Polar Regions
• Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing
• Remote Sensing and GIS
• Seminar: Marine Biology / Systematics of marine Flora and Fauna
• Soil Science
• Specific physical Geography 1 – Ecological Zones
• Specific physical Geography 2 – Natural Resources and Natural Hazards
• Terrain Internship
• Tidal Flats

Environmental Politics & Economics

Courses in Environmental Politics & Economics deal with environmental debates and their current state in national and international politics and economics. Themes include population growth in relation to natural resources, industrialization, and perspectives on sustainability.

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• Specific Human Geography 1 – Tourist Industry
• Sustainability everywhere?
• Sustainable Assessment
• Sustainable Management of Resources
• Transitions towards sustainability
• Urban Development

Environmental History, Ethics and Culture

Courses in Environmental History, Ethics & Culture contextualize the development of environmental debates and technological progress, explore ethical dimensions of environmental problems, and highlight environmental themes in literature and art.

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• Earth-Life-Interactions 1
• Environmental History and Working World
• Evolution of Life
• Historical Environment Research
• Introduction to Bioethics: The Ethics of Killing
• Modernizing and Environment History of Stalinism
• Philosophy and Climate Change
• Specific Human Geography 2 - Man-Environment-Relations
• The Ethics of Climate Change
• Weather texts. On the relation between meteorology and literature in the 19th century
• World Population: Regional and Global Development Tendencies