SDG Detail

ENVE 420 Rethinking Urban Sanitation: The United States and Peru

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Project description

This interdisciplinary course examines the challenges posed by the growing volumes of human excreta that are generated daily in cities around the world. Topics to be covered include: environmental, engineering, and public-health aspects of sanitation; the history of sanitation; innovation in sanitation; sewage reuse; cultural and social considerations; and case studies of different centralized and decentralized solutions. The course is organized around two alternative final projects: 1) a spring-break trip to Lima, Peru, where students observe first-hand some of the components of this complex sanitation system, and meet with stakeholders ranging from government officials to slum-dwellers to non-profits pursuing innovative sanitation solutions; and 2) a U.S.-based analysis of a comparable sanitation system. Enrollment in the class is limited to 10 students each from the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the School of Public Health, and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. Participation in the Peru field trip/project is limited to five students from each school. Applications for enrollment and participation in the Peru field trip are due in December 2019.