FSI researchers examine the role of energy sources from regulatory, economic and societal angles. The Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD) investigates how the production and consumption of energy affect human welfare and environmental quality. Professors assess natural gas and coal markets, as well as the smart energy grid and how to create effective climate policy in an imperfect world. This includes how state-owned enterprises – like oil companies – affect energy markets around the world. Regulatory barriers are examined for understanding obstacles to lowering carbon in energy services. Realistic cap and trade policies in California are studied, as is the creation of a giant coal market in China.
Geography and the Human Experience
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Visions of History: The Aztecs and the Spanish
Small-group activities encourage students to become historians as they evaluate letters from Hernando Cortés, poetry from the Aztecs, and pictures of the Danza de la Conquista. They come away from this unit with a richer knowledge of the Aztec/Spanish encounters; an understanding of concepts such as bias, perspective, interpretation, and balance; and an appreciation for the complexity of writing history.