This is one of the only courses at UVA that truly discusses, in great detail, environmental justice. When I took the course, it brought a diverse group of people together and sparked interesting conversation. This course also provides a great opportunity to get to know Vivian on a personal level. While she is a tough grader, she is much more approachable and let's her guard down in this class.

Loved the discussions sparked in this class. Thomson is tough but she is really passionate about issues of class and race in relation to the environment and it showed in the way she taught this course. Make sure you follow the instructions on the term paper, and be sure to take notes in class (this will help SO much for the timed take-home midterms). The reading was extensive, with some overlap from her other environmental policy courses. Come to class prepared to say something.

Viv can be quite intimidating, but in this upper-level course, she lets her guard down (in a good way). The reading load is quite heavy, but the quality of the information is exceptional, especially regarding class discrimination and pollution. In short, you will never think about environmental policies the same way again.