Contacts | Program of Study | Summary of Requirements for the BA in Climate and Sustainable Growth | The Specializations | Summary of of Requirements for the Minor | Courses
Department Website: https://climate.uchicago.edu/chicago-curriculum-on-climate-and-sustainable-growth/
Program of Study
Climate change is one of the central challenges facing humanity. Increasing temperatures due to CO2 emissions, by changing ecosystems, weather patterns, sea levels, among other harms, threatens humans and other living things. Meeting this challenge entails transforming the global energy system to eliminate carbon emissions from fossil fuels. At the same time, energy poverty is still common in many parts of the world. Allowing people in those parts of the world to flourish and develop, as is their right, requires increasing energy access while the energy system is transformed, creating a double challenge.
Energy system decarbonization may be complemented by carbon removal, solar geoengineering, and adaptation. Understanding these choices demands knowledge of the science of climate change, the economics and the history of energy systems, environmental management, and the social and political challenges of managing human societies within planetary constraints. Moreover, because carbon dioxide mixes in the atmosphere, climate change presents a global free-rider problem. Each nation benefits if others bear a greater share of the costs of emissions reductions. The free-rider problem is exacerbated by inequalities in past emissions and in current access to energy. Crafting solutions to this problem requires an understanding of politics, law, economics, and theories of justice.
The Climate and Sustainable Growth major offers a multidisciplinary approach to these problems. It covers the core physical and biological science aspects of the problem, as well as the social, economic, political, and humanistic perspectives needed to understand how climate change will affect people and other living things, and to understand and craft solutions. It offers a 360-degree view of the challenges of climate change and sustainable development.
The program of study consists of:
- Eight foundational courses that introduce students to core aspects of the problem from a wide variety of perspectives.
- Four courses within the student’s choice of specialization. The specialization options are (i) Climate Science and Technology; (ii) Politics, Economics, and Society; and (iii) Finance.
- The Capstone Seminar and Project (two courses).
Summary of Requirements for the BA in Climate and Sustainable Growth
General Education
Students must have a reasonable base of mathematics and science to complete the major or minor, and must take the following as part of their general education requirements:
Two quarters of calculus | 200 | |
Elementary Functions and Calculus I-II (or higher) | ||
Two quarters of chemistry | 200 | |
Introductory General Chemistry I and Introductory General Chemistry II (or higher) | ||
Both of the following: | 200 | |
Ecology in the Anthropocene | ||
Fundamentals of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | ||
Total Units | 600 |
Major Courses
The total number of courses is 14, made up as follows:
Foundational Courses (8) # | 800 | |
The Climate and Growth Challenge | ||
The Science of Climate Change | ||
The Economics of Climate Change and Energy | ||
Energy: Science, Technology, and Human Usage | ||
Climate Change: Law and Ethics | ||
Politics and Law of Climate Change and Energy | ||
Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation | ||
Climate, Energy, and Development: Global Perspectives in Practice * | ||
Four Courses in One Specialization (see below) | 400 | |
The Capstone Seminar and Project | 200 | |
Capstone Seminar | ||
Capstone Project | ||
Total Units | 1400 |
#Note: Students who have taken a similar course in another department to one of the foundational courses will count that course toward the CCSG major and may not take the foundational course. For example, a student who has taken GEOS 13300 The Atmosphere satisfies the requirement for CCSG 20100 The Science of Climate Change). Please consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies for relevant substitutions.
*Note on the September Travel Abroad course (CCSG 25000): students majoring in Climate and Sustainable Growth may only take the September Travel Abroad course during their fourth year at the College and only after they have completed at least five of the foundational courses.
The Specializations
Students must declare one of the following specializations by the beginning of their fourth year.
Climate Science and Technology
Students in the Climate Science and Technology specialization must choose four courses from the following:
What Makes a Planet Habitable? | ||
The Cryosphere: Glaciers and Ice Sheets | ||
Chemical Oceanography | ||
Environmental Chemistry | ||
Paleoclimatology | ||
Climate Systems Engineering | ||
Field Course in Modern and Ancient Environments | ||
Principles of Engineering Analysis I # | ||
Energy Storage and Conversion Devices # | ||
Electrochemical Principles and Methods # |
# Students should be aware that MENG courses have substantial prerequisites. If you are counting on taking those courses to complete the major, make sure you check that you have taken the appropriate prerequisites.
Politics, Economics, and Society
The specialization is divided into three clusters, (i) economics, (ii) politics and law; and (iii) social impacts. Students are free to mix courses among the clusters. If a student is double-majoring, they may wish to take all of their specialization courses from entirely one cluster, such as economics, if that is their other major.
Students must take four courses from the list below.
ECONOMICS CLUSTER | ||
Big Data | ||
Climate Crossroads: Policy, Diplomacy, and the Global Future | ||
Environmental Economics: Theory and Applications | ||
How Do We Evaluate Policies?: An Empirical Approach | ||
Utilities and Electricity Markets: Regulation in the United States | ||
Energy Policy and Human Behavior | ||
POLITICS & LAW CLUSTER | ||
Environmental Law | ||
Environmental Politics | ||
U.S. Environmental Policy | ||
International Environmental Policy | ||
International Political Economy | ||
International Environmental Politics | ||
SOCIAL IMPACTS CLUSTER | ||
Environmental Justice in Principle and Practice I | ||
Environmental Justice in Principle and Practice II | ||
The Industrial Revolution | ||
Climate Change and Society: Human Impacts, Adaptation, and Policy Solutions | ||
Philosophical Foundations of Public Policy | ||
Environmental Justice in Chicago | ||
Philosophies of Environmentalism and Sustainability | ||
Introduction to Environmental Ethics | ||
Climate Change and Human Mobility |
Finance
Students must take a total of four courses as outlined below.
One of: | 100 | |
Financial Accounting | ||
or BUSN 30000 | Financial Accounting | |
Accounting and Financial Analysis | ||
or BUSN 30116 | Accounting and Financial Analysis | |
One of: | 100 | |
Investments | ||
or BUSN 35000 | Investments | |
Corporation Finance | ||
or BUSN 35200 | Corporation Finance | |
Introductory Finance | ||
Two of: | 200 | |
Building the New Venture | ||
Big Data | ||
or BUSN 41201 | Big Data | |
Navigating the ESG Landscape: Sustainability Information and Analysis | ||
Impact Investing | ||
Portfolio Management | ||
Business Statistics | ||
The Political Economy of Climate Change | ||
Total Units | 400 |
Capstone
Students must complete a capstone requirement, which they will typically take in their senior year. The capstone requirement consists of the Capstone Seminar and a capstone project. The Capstone Seminar guides students engaged in research design, data collection and analysis, and thesis writing and will be offered in the Autumn Quarter. To create cross-fertilization of ideas, as well as student community, the seminar will include students from all the specializations. The project continues through the Spring Quarter.
Grading
Students who are majoring in Climate and Sustainable Growth must receive quality grades in courses taken to meet the requirements of the program.
Honors
Eligibility for honors requires a GPA of 3.5 or higher overall and in each of the courses taken to meet the requirements of the program, and a BA Thesis or Practice Capstone Project that is judged to merit honors.
Advising
Majors should plan their course of studies in consultation with the Student Affairs Administrator, Trista Trone.
Double Majoring
Majoring in Climate and Sustainable Growth and another major is permitted. Students in a given major may be required to substitute courses from that major for the foundational courses in CCSG (e.g., geophysical sciences majors who have taken either GEOS 13300 The Atmosphere or GEOS 24220 Climate Foundations will count that course toward the CCSG major instead of CCSG 20100 The Science of Climate Change). Please consult the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies for the necessary substitutions. Furthermore, students may petition to substitute the BA Thesis Workshop of their other major for the Climate and Sustainable Growth Capstone sequence, provided their thesis involves climate change and energy.
Summary of of Requirements for the Minor
The minor in Climate and Sustainable Growth consists of six courses: two mandatory courses and a choice of four other courses drawn from the foundational courses from the major. The two mandatory courses are (i) CCSG 19000 The Climate and Growth Challenge and (ii) CCSG 20500 Energy: Science, Technology, and Human Usage. Students are strongly encouraged to take CCSG 20100 The Science of Climate Change and CCSG 20300 The Economics of Climate Change and Energy as supporting courses but need not if they have covered equivalent content in their major.
Note that all general education prerequisites from the major will apply as prerequisites for the minor.
Because courses for the minor may overlap with courses a student is taking for their major, they must have approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the set of courses used for the minor. Students may not take courses for the minor that are in the same area of study as their major (e.g., they may not take CCSG 20300 The Economics of Climate Change and Energy if they are an economics major). In addition, students in the minor may not take CCSG 25000 Climate, Energy, and Development: Global Perspectives in Practice unless they are in their fourth year at the College and have taken at least four of the required courses for their minor.
Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades and may not be double-counted with the student’s major(s), other minors, or general education requirements.
Students who wish to declare a minor in Climate and Sustainable Growth must reach out to the program contact listed below to indicate their intention to complete the minor and have their Consent to Complete a Minor Program form signed. Students will need to submit the signed form to their College adviser before the end of the Spring Quarter of their third year.
Email List
The Climate and Sustainable Growth major is supported by the Institute on Climate and Sustainable Growth. The Institute offers internships, fellowships, and lectures and speaker series related to the problems of climate change, energy, and sustainable growth. Students majoring in Climate and Sustainable Growth or who are interested in the major should subscribe to our email list to get information about these activities. You can subscribe automatically here.
Climate and Sustainable Growth Courses
CCSG 19000. The Climate and Growth Challenge. 100 Units.
The global energy and climate challenge is perhaps the most important problem society faces. It requires identifying approaches to ensure people have access to the inexpensive and reliable energy critical for human development, without causing disruptive climate change or unduly compromising health and the environment. The course pairs technical and economic analysis to develop an understanding of policy challenges in this area. Lecture topics will include the past, present, and future of energy supply and demand, global climate change, air pollution and its health consequences, selected energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics, nuclear power, unconventional oil and gas, and an analysis of theoretical and practical policy solutions in developed and emerging economies.
Instructor(s): Michael Greenstone Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): BPRO 22510: third or fourth-year status. CEGU 22510, CCSG 19000, ECON 16550, PBPL 22510: First-year student by permission of instructor only.
Note(s): This course sets out the basic parameters of the problem and gives students an understanding of how the other required courses of the major fit together. All newly declared climate and energy majors must take this class together.
Equivalent Course(s): ECON 16550, BPRO 22510, PBPL 22510, CEGU 22510
CCSG 20100. The Science of Climate Change. 100 Units.
This is a foundational climate science course intended for the students taking the nonscience specialization within the Climate and Sustainable Development major. Topics covered includes methods of climate science, Earth's energy balance and greenhouse effects, natural and anthropogenic perturbation to climate, extreme weather and climate change, role of oceans and carbon cycles, and geoengineering.
Instructor(s): Noboru Nakamura, BB Cael Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): If students take this course, they cannot take Global Warming (PHSC 13400/13410) for their general education requirement.
CCSG 20300. The Economics of Climate Change and Energy. 100 Units.
This course covers relevant portions of introductory microeconomics and economic issues associated with climate change and energy using the problems of climate change and energy to illustrate basic economic concepts. It also introduces students to tools for mitigating emissions, such as taxes, subsidies, regulation, and quantity controls. As with the climate science course, this course requirement could be satisfied with one or more advanced economics courses.
Instructor(s): Conor Carney Terms Offered: Winter
CCSG 20500. Energy: Science, Technology, and Human Usage. 100 Units.
This course covers the technologies by which humans appropriate energy for industrial and societal use, from steam turbines to internal combustion engines to photovoltaics. We also discuss the physics and economics of the resulting human energy system: fuel sources and relationship to energy flows in the Earth system; and modeling and simulation of energy production and use. Our goal is to provide a technical foundation for students interested in careers in the energy industry or in energy policy. Field trips required to major energy converters (e.g., coal-fired and nuclear power plants, oil refinery, biogas digester) and users (e.g., steel, fertilizer production). This course is part of the College Course Cluster program: Climate Change, Culture and Society.
Instructor(s): E. Moyer Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of physics or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): ENSC 21100, GEOS 24705, GEOS 34705, CEGU 24705
CCSG 20700. Climate Change: Law and Ethics. 100 Units.
Climate change raises central issues of justice and morality. Some countries or places have emitted far more carbon dioxide than other countries or places. The most vulnerable places are often poor and have had relatively low emissions. In addition, because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for centuries, decisions today affect people who will be alive in the distant future. This course will address issues of justice and climate change, exploring what obligations of people living in one country or time have to people living in other countries or times. We will ask what the resolution of those issues means for policies to address climate change. Students should be prepared to take all sides of these issues, including positions that they are deeply uncomfortable with.
Instructor(s): David Weisbach Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 20701, SSAD 20700
CCSG 20825. Pixels, Planet, Power: Visualizing Urban & Environmental Change. 100 Units.
This hands-on methods course trains students how to turn streams of satellite imagery into persuasive, narrative visualizations of urban, environmental, and planetary change. Using Google Earth Engine and other open-source tools, you will learn how to acquire, preprocess, analyze, and map earth-observation data, from spectral indices and machine-learning classification methods to time-series composites and cartographic design. Short lectures frame the technical labs within larger questions of power, representation, and justice, encouraging you to critique the assumptions that shape geospatial workflows even as you master them. Each year, the class grounds these skills in a fresh, high-stakes theme, ensuring that evolving geospatial methods confront the most pressing environmental and urban challenges. No prior coding or mapping experience is required; curiosity and a willingness to experiment are essential. The course fulfills the CEGU methods requirement and may also be eligible to meet methods requirements in other social sciences, sciences, and humanities majors.
Instructor(s): Grga Basic Terms Offered: Spring
Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 23517, MACS 23517, ARCH 23517, ARTV 20665, MADD 13517
CCSG 20900. Politics and Law of Climate Change and Energy. 100 Units.
This course explores the political, economic, and social dimensions of climate change policy, with a focus on the challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation at both domestic and international levels. Students will engage with key issues such as the role of social equity provisions in green industrial policies, the complexities of passing and implementing climate legislation, and the factors that shape public support for climate action. Through a combination of policy analysis, readings, and original projects students will critically examine how political considerations, organized interests, economic incentives and identity concerns influence climate policy outcomes across different regions and contexts.
Instructor(s): R. Gulotty Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 20217
CCSG 21025. Climate Crossroads: Policy, Diplomacy, and the Global Future. 100 Units.
The world's atmosphere and oceans are rapidly warming-the result of human economic progress fueled by fossil fuels and other greenhouse gas emissions. A 2018 analysis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that stabilizing the atmosphere requires reaching "net zero" emissions, where as much greenhouse gas is removed from the atmosphere as is emitted. Achieving this demands a transformation of the global economy on a scale without historic precedent. This course begins by describing the nature and complexity of the climate policy challenge. It then explores the policy levers available to governments at both national and international levels to address it. The course considers perspectives from wealthy, advanced economies-historically the largest source of emissions-as well as emerging economies with significant development needs and rising emissions. It reviews the international framework for cooperation and negotiation on climate change through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Finally, students will examine the challenges democratic societies face in maintaining public consensus on climate action, focusing on shifting U.S. policy frameworks. The course will be taught by three experienced practitioners: the White House lead on climate policy in the Obama and Biden Administrations, the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, and the U.S.'s longtime lead negotiator at the UNFCCC and other international treaty negotiations.
Instructor(s): John Podesta, former White House Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy; Hina Rabbani Khar, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan; Sue Biniaz, Principal Deputy Special Envoy for Climate at the U.S. State Department; and Conor Carney Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course can count towards the Politics, Economics, and Society specialization in for the Climate and Sustainable Growth major.
Equivalent Course(s): PBPL 21025, CEGU 21025, GLST 21025, ECON 26740
CCSG 21100. Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation. 100 Units.
Climate change would not be an important issue but for the impacts. Impacts are not only purely physical or biological, such as changes in weather patterns or sea level rise, but also depend on adaptation. For example, people will adjust their farming practices in response to changes in the climate, partially alleviating the impact. This course would study the impacts of climate change and possible adaptations people will make. The course will be designed around the use and presentation of data on impacts, focusing on the data produced by IPCC Working Group II.
Instructor(s): Conor Carney, David Keith, Trevor Price Terms Offered: Spring
CCSG 22501. Climate Change and Human Health. 100 Units.
Climate change is one of the greatest global health threats facing the world in the 21st century. Through this course, students will gain foundational knowledge in the health effects of climate change. We will begin with several lectures on climate science as it related to the patterns of weather extremes experienced by populations. We will then identify the varying health outcomes linked to different climate-related exposures, emphasizing the specific impacts in vulnerable and high-risk populations. Specific topics include the effects of air pollution, extreme heat and heat waves, droughts, tropical cyclones, changes in vector habitats, and sea-level rise. Finally, we will discuss strategies for public health practitioners to aid communities in preventing or alleviating these adverse effects.
Instructor(s): K. Burrows Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): PBHS 32100 or STAT 22000 or introductory statistics
Equivalent Course(s): PBHS 31720, CEGU 21720, HLTH 21720, CEGU 31720
CCSG 22502. Urban Design with Nature. 100 Units.
This course will use the Chicago region as the setting to evaluate the social, environmental, and economic effects of alternative forms of human settlement. Students will examine the history, theory and practice of designing cities in sustainable ways - i.e., human settlements that are socially just, economically viable, and environmentally sound. Students will explore the literature on sustainable urban design from a variety of perspectives, and then focus on how sustainability theories play out in the Chicago region. How can Chicago's neighborhoods be designed to promote environmental, social, and economic sustainability goals? This course is part of the College Course Cluster program: Urban Design. In Autumn 2025, Urban Design with Nature will focus on sustainable and accessible mobility with a focus on campus and the neighborhoods we transverse and inhabit. Students will consider how mobility is central to urban sustainability and how to reimagine cities, neighborhoods and campuses as social and economic spaces connected by safe, low impact, environmental, equitable and efficient networks of transit. Students enrolled in Autumn 2025 must be willing to spend time outdoors, moving about campus and its surroundings.
Instructor(s): Sabina Shaikh and Emily Talen Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 27155, CHST 27155, GISC 27155, BPRO 27155, ARCH 27155, PBPL 27156
CCSG 22503. Environmental Law. 100 Units.
This course will examine the bases and assumptions that have driven the development of environmental law, as well as the intersection of this body of law and foundational legal principles (including standing, liability, and the Commerce Clause). Each form of lawmaking (statutes, regulations, and court decisions) will be examined, with emphasis on reading and understanding primary sources such as court cases and the laws themselves. The course also analyzes the judicial selection process in order to understand the importance of how the individuals who decide cases that determine the shape of environmental law and regulations are chosen.
Instructor(s): Ray Lodato Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): 3rd or 4th year standing, or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 23100, PBPL 23100
CCSG 22504. Environmental Politics. 100 Units.
Politics determines not only what particular faction holds power, but the parameters upon which contests for power are conducted. Competing political factions may diverge in the details of the policies they favor, but may agree on a central organizing principle upon which their policy differences are contested. This course acknowledges that such principles exist and structure politics, economics, and social arrangements, but also challenges the notion that these are immutable, and argues that other principles could be substituted which would drastically change these arrangements. The course introduces students to alternative theories of economics, politics, and environmental policy that challenge mainstream notions of what is acceptable under the current structural and institutional constraints, including how the retreat to notions of realism and practicality place limits on changes necessary to preserve and protect the natural environment.
Instructor(s): R. Lodato Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 24102, PBPL 24102
CCSG 22505. U.S. Environmental Policy. 100 Units.
How environmental issues and challenges in the United States are addressed is subject to abrupt changes and reversals caused by extreme partisanship and the heightened significance of the issues for the health of the planet and all its inhabitants. The relatively brief history of this policy area, and the separate and distinct tracts in which public lands and pollution control issues are adjudicated, makes for a diverse and complex process by which humanity's impact on the natural world is managed and contained. This course focuses on how both types of environmental issues are addressed in each branch of the Federal government, the states and localities, as well as theories of how environmental issues arrived onto the public agenda and why attention to them is cyclical. Students are encouraged to understand the life cycle of public policy from its initial arrival on the public agenda to the passage of legislation to address adverse conditions, as well as how changes in the policy occur after the inevitable decline of intensive attention.
Instructor(s): R. Lodato Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PBPL 24701, CEGU 24701
CCSG 22506. International Environmental Policy. 100 Units.
Environmental issues have become a prominent part of the work of international organizations and their member nations. However, the resolution to issues and concerns shared in common by the nations of the world often faces obstacles based on access to wealth and resources, political and military power, and the demands of international economic institutions. While multinational agreements have been achieved and successfully implemented, resolutions to issues such as climate change have been harder to achieve. The course will look at the origins of international cooperation on environmental issues, several case studies of issues upon which the international community has attempted to bring about cooperative solutions (climate change, the ozone hole, climate refugees, etc.), and the work that regional associations of nations have done to jointly address shared environmental challenges. In addition, speakers from various consulates have addressed the class to discuss environmental policymaking in their countries.
Instructor(s): R. Lodato Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 24776, PBPL 24776
CCSG 22507. Environmental Justice in Principle and Practice I. 100 Units.
This course will investigate the foundational texts on environmental justice as well as case studies, both in and out of Chicago. Students will consider issues across a wide spectrum of concerns, including toxics, lead in water, waste management, and access to greenspaces, particularly in urban areas. These topics will be taught in accompaniment with a broader understanding of how social change occurs, what barriers exist to producing just outcomes, and what practices have worked to overcome obstacles in the past. The class will welcome speakers from a variety of backgrounds to address their work on these topics.
Instructor(s): Ray Lodato Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CHST 26259, PBPL 26260, CEGU 26260
CCSG 22508. Environmental Justice in Principle and Practice II. 100 Units.
In this quarter, students will learn and practice methods to conduct a research project with a local environmental organization. Building on knowledge gained in the first half of this course, students will examine what makes a condition an environmental justice issue, how to conduct a literature review, how to develop and administer a questionnaire for key informant interviews, and how to access, understand, and utilize Census data. Students should expect to work in the community as well as the classroom, and in close collaboration with classmates. The class will conduct "deep-dive" research into the community selected, and will learn not only about the area, but techniques for how to do community-based research in a manner that acknowledges and appreciates the lived wisdom of the neighborhood's residents. The result will be a research report delivered to the community organization with students in the class listed as co-authors.
Instructor(s): Ray Lodato Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CHST 26261, CEGU 26261, PBPL 26261
CCSG 25000. Climate, Energy, and Development: Global Perspectives in Practice. 100 Units.
Climate change is a global problem that will affect people around the world. In addition, many people in developing countries lack access to reliable sources of energy. To understand the problem of climate change, students need to be exposed to how people outside the United States are experiencing the problem.
Instructor(s): Conor Carney Terms Offered: Summer. September term study abroad
Note(s): This course will use the short September term to allow students to travel domestically and internationally, such as to UChicago Center in Delhi, Rural India, West Texas, Washington DC, and/or NYC
CCSG 29001. Capstone Seminar. 100 Units.
The Climate and Sustainable Growth Major requires completion of a Capstone Seminar and Capstone Project, to be taken consecutively in the fourth year.
Terms Offered: Autumn. Not offered in 2025-2026
CCSG 29002. Capstone Project. 100 Units.
The Climate and Sustainable Growth Major requires completion of a Capstone Seminar and Capstone Project, to be taken consecutively in the fourth year.
Terms Offered: Spring
Winter. Not offered in 2025-2026.