The University of Michigan has a long-standing commitment to the academic study of Environmental Justice. It is the site of the first environmental justice curriculum of any major university in the nation. 

Environmental Justice refers to cultural norms and values, rules, regulations, behaviors, and policies that determine whether people will have confidence that their environment is safe, nurturing and productive. Environmental Justice is most successful when there are no environmental barriers to oneí¢â‚¬â„¢s personal or collective potential; it is supported by decent paying and safe jobs, quality schools and recreation, decent housing and adequate health-care, democratic decision-making, personal empowerment, and communities free of the violence that often emerges from poverty. Environmental Justice communities are characterized by respect for cultural and biological diversity and a commitment to distributive justice.

The certificate coordinator is Associate Professor Rebecca Hardin.

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Environmental Justice Certificate Plan are to provide fundamental skills and knowledge; methods and applications of Environmental Justice to enhance the education of students from a wide-range of relevant disciplines at the University of Michigan. The objectives are as follows:

1. Examine the historical, scientific, social, legal, cultural, and political complexities of the relationship between people and the built and natural environment. Examine past research on the environment and design new research to study and enhance our knowledge of how race, class and gender affect our environmental experiences, attitudes and perceptions, and influence how we construct environmental discourses.

2. Master research methods and approaches to rigorously study perspectives about and impediments to safe, sustainable communities for all people.

3. Communicate effectively in written, oral and visual forms to a wide variety of audiences, both academic and popular or policy-oriented. This goal entails two more concrete objectives:

3a. Participate in efforts to educate policymakers, educators, lawmakers, health professionals, industry leaders, and the public about environmental inequalities.
3b. Participate in educational and strategic planning efforts to help communities take effective action to ameliorate harmful environmental conditions.

CURRICULUM 

The Certificate Plan will consist of five courses totaling 15 credit hours. Five three credit courses will be required, with two selected from the list of four core courses, and the rest selected according to student interests and competing requirements. In the selection of the third, fourth, and fifth courses the studentí¢â‚¬â„¢s advisor will work with the Environmental Justice Plan Coordinating Committee and the student to consult his or her academic record and ascertain the most appropriate courses to be taken.

REQUIRED COURSES
The four core courses, from which students should select two:
1. NRE 593 Environmental Justice: Research and Policy Developments (3 Cr)
2. NRE 582 Conceptions, Practical Issues, and Environmental Justice (3 Cr) (Cross-listed with Social Work and Urban Planning)
3. NRE 501 Environmental Justice: Theoretical Approaches (3 Cr)
4. NRE 501 Conservation Justice (formerly conservation anthropology) (3 Cr) (Cross-listed with Cultural Anthropology and permanent course number pending)

The remaining nine credits may be selected from a long list of courses. Although not exclusive, a list of courses that would be considered appropriate for certificate students to take would include the following. Courses not on this list would need approval by the Environmental Justice Plan Coordinator.

COMPREHENDING THE COMPLEXITY OF ENV. JUSTICE ISSUES
1. LAW 889 Race, Poverty and the American City (2 Cr)
2. SW 846 Seminar: Poverty, the Underclass and Public Policy (3 Cr)
3. POLSCI 730 Women and Employment Policy (3 Cr)
4. NRE/UP 576 Ecological Approaches to Brownfield Redevelopment (3 Cr)
5. Sociology 622 Social Stratification (3 Cr)
6. EHS 591 Equity Issues in Environmental Health (3 Cr)
7. LAW 805/803 Environmental Justice (3 Cr)
8. EHS 500 Principles of Environmental Health Sciences (3 Cr)
9. STRATEGY 411 The Corporation in Society (3 Cr)
10. EHS 502 Environmental Health in Developing Areas (3 Cr)

MASTERING EJ RESEARCH METHODS AND APPROACHES
11. EPID 705 Epidemiology in Public Health Policy (1 Cr)
12. NRE 540 GIS and Natural Resource Applications (3 Cr)
13. PUBPOL 573 Benefit-Cost Analysis (3 Cr)
14. LAW 679 Environmental Law (3 Cr)
15. EHS 572/NRE 514 Environmental Impact Assessment (2 Cr)
16. HBEHED733 Community-Based Participatory Research (3 Cr)
17. NRE 501.117  Institutions and Resources: Theory and Methods IFRI Seminar (3 Cr)
18. EHS 688 Topics in Environmental Health Sciences (1 Cr)
19. NRE 562  Environmental Policy & Politics (3 Cr)
20. NRE 576/UP 576 Landscape ecology implications of Brownfield redevelopment (3 Cr)

COMMUNICATION AND EFFECTIVE PLANNING/INTERVENTION
21. NRE 532 Natural Resource Conflict Management Theory (3 Cr)
22. NRE 533 Negotiation Skills in Environmental Dispute Resolution (3 Cr)
23. NRE 687 Landscape Analysis and Planning (4 Cr)
24. HBEHED 640 Community Organization for Health Education (3 Cr)
25. HBEHED 690 Environmental Health Education (3 Cr)
26. EHS 574 Environmental Chemistry (3 Cr)
27. LAW 791 Environmental Crimes (3 Cr)
28. LAW 771 How to Save the Planet (3 Cr)
29. EHS 680 Environmental Management of Hazardous Substances (3 Cr)