ENGR 2050

For those first years that do not know what an STS class is DO NOT TAKE THIS if you do not have to. This class is way too much work for being an introduction class. It is a really interesting class and you learn a ton about a really important matter, however you sacrifice hours of your week to watching and reading too many sustainable energy related videos/podcasts/articles that you are quizzed on every Tuesday of the semester. There are 5 questions pulled from the long question list for that week on the articles and videos given as homework. Working with some other people will make your life infinitely easier if you do take this class. The final is quite difficult and the final review sheet is over 10 pages of all the terms you learned over the grueling semester's workload. There is also a 10 page final paper. Lectures are optional and are posted online though it helps to go to build a basic understanding. Professor Grove truly cares about climate change and this class and educating you about all things sustainability, but does not understand that this is just one of many classes his students take.

Professor Groves is really nice and really wants you to do well. Go to office hours!! He will talk to you about any assignment coming up and he really clarifies everything- especially for the final paper. The final is hard because there is just so much material covered in the course, but if you study it is very straightforward.

James Groves is very sweet. He's a really well-informed and passionate guy and all he wants is for you to share that passion for sustainable energy systems. This class is legitimately very interesting--it's a good mix of science, history, economics, and public policy, and while some topics are more compelling than others, overall I thought most of it was fascinating. With that said, this class is a LOT of work. Groves assigns ~15 readings/videos per week, which can be anything from short news articles and Youtube videos to entire scientific journals and two-hour podcasts. And you have to do them (and take notes!) because there are quizzes every week. My suggestion is to team up with a classmate or two and divide and conquer, otherwise you'll be spending a huge amount of time on them. Luckily he gives you a guide for what to take notes on though. There's one midterm and a final, which were hard but manageable as long as you study, and there were also two projects which were both really cool! Overall I loved this class and would definitely recommend it (plus it counts for the global sustainability minor).