Breadth course requirements!?!?! Yes, the Graduate Division at Berkeley (the entity that admitted you and that will ultimately grant your degree) requires that each student take at least one upper division or graduate level course outside of their discipline. What does that mean? No one really knows. The only thing that is set in stone is that 1) you must take a breadth before you advance to candidacy and 2) your head graduate advisor (i.e. Ian Wang) approves your breadth, just email them the course syllabus. 

Outside of your discipline is ambiguous. Talk to someone in your lab about what they took. Most ES and O&E people take Political Ecology. Some people take a journalism class. You could take a class in economics.  

If you strongly feel that your chosen course represents breadth but the head graduate advisor does not approve it, you can argue your case! Sometimes that works. It's okay to push back. 

Below, we list some suggestions by the division you are in:

ES

I took an ESPM 290 course that was a lecture series on the political and business needs/implications of renewable energy. It happened to be the ?annual? lecture series for a particular forestry endowment, and several times in the term the lecture was followed by dinner at the faculty club and more discussion with the speaker. Food! Wine! Charming surroundings! Really difficult questions, from a non-ES perspective! I recommend it highly. 

anonymous person 1

I took a science communication course offered outside of UC but can be counted as credit. Later I took a Environmental Journalism course (narrative writing) offered by J-school, which could also be used as breadth and it is pretty fun if you are into writing. 

Wenjing Xu

I took Science and Technology Studies (HIST C250 / HIST C250 / ESPM C250), which is "a way to study how our knowledge and technology shape and are shaped by social, political, historical, economic, and other factors." Because the class has a strong social/cultural component, it counts as a breadth course for ES and O&E students. It's typically listed under multiple departments due to its interdisciplinary nature. Disclaimer: I took the class with a visiting lecturer and can't speak to the regular faculty member who teaches it.

Kristin Barker

Many ES and O&E students take Isha Ray's Intro to Social Science, especially if they're considering a social component to their research. I found Isha such an engaging lecturer that I still attended a few classes after I had to drop it due to a scheduling conflict. It can be a fair amount of work (many readings + long final essay, I believe) but seems to be rewarding for those who have the time. 

anonymous person 2

I took Earth Journalism and Science Journalism and both were great. I had to argue that they counted as breadth to the head grad advisor, but ultimately I was successful and it counted!

Jessie Moravek

OE

I'm in O&E and took Lynn Huntsinger's 280 class on the history of land management.  I don't know how often they offer it, but it was a lot of fun and not too hard for a non-social scientist (i.e. not deeply theoretical).

anonymous person 2

S&E

GIS course: If you have some experience, you can take a course with Maggi Kelly. I took a City Planning (204C) which is small, mainly master's students, hands-on and pretty easy. I recommend it.

anonymous person 3