The Minor in Environmental and Urban Studies will be open to all NTU students.

Environmental and urban issues figure prominently in the world today. In particular, the sustainability of natural and urban ecosystems has been put into question by environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, demographic change, consumption patterns, and depletion of – or lack of access to – resources. The proposed Minor enables students to understand the challenges posed by contemporary environmental and urban issues, taking into account multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. By drawing upon courses offered by divisions in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, students will engage with the social, economic, cultural, and technological aspects of new changes in the global environment and in urban settings. The issues covered include energy, food supply, pollution, cultural diversity, social equity, economic development, and the quality of life. Taken together, the course offerings focus on understanding the multiple causes, consequences, and costs of environmental and urban problems -- with a view towards developing useful perspectives and possible solutions.

Academic Structure
Students will have to read 5 courses of at least 15 AUs in total for this programme. There will be a compulsory course (HU101: Introduction to Environmental and Urban Studies), and one course from each of the Group A, B, C and D. The compulsory course is designed to provide students with fundamental knowledge needed to take courses offered under this Minor Studies. Courses in Group A are offered by the Division of Sociology and courses in Group B are offered by the Division of Economics. A unique feature of this minor programme is the choice given to students to choose a course from Group C. Courses in this group are offered by the Divisions of Chinese, English and Linguistics and Multilingual Studies. These courses deepen students’ understanding of cultural aspects of the environment and urban life, especially urban cultures in Asia and the rapid loss of linguistic diversity in the world today. Courses from Group D are non-SHSS course offerings and currently these courses are offered by the School of CEE.

Students will read the courses below as Unrestricted Electives (UE) and using them to double-count towards 2 Minor programmes will not be allowed.

Compulsory core course
HU9001: Introduction to Environmental and Urban Studies (new course).
(This course will serve as the prerequisite for all the courses listed below, unless otherwise stated – only for students completing this minor.)

Group A (Students to take one course)

HS219/HS2019: Science, Technology and Society
HS222/HS2022: Social Demography
HS221/HS2021: Sociology of Food
HS223/HS2023:  Environmental Sociology
HS304/HS3004: Cities and Urban Life
HS315/HS3015: Development and Social Change

Group B (Students to take one course)

HE304/HE3004: Health Economics
HE305/HE3005: Environmental Economics
HE306/HE3006: Urban and Transport Economics
HE310/HE3010: Energy Economics

Group C (Students to take one course)

HC341/HC3041: City and Culture in Modern China
HG220/HG2020: Language in Society
HG320/HG3020: Language Planning and Policy
HL214/HL2014: Urban Culture Asia

Group D (Students to take one course)

EM101/EM9101: Environmental Quality
EM103/EM9103: Water resources Management
EM104/EM9104: Air Quality Management
EM106/EM9106: Environmental Impact Assessment 

For contacts:
For Academic Matters:
Assoc Prof Tan Khye Chong
Tel: 6790 4781
E-mail: AKCTAN@ntu.edu.sg

For Administrative Matters:
Mr Troy Tan
Tel: 6790 6757
E-mail: CHTan@ntu.edu.sg