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James Murren

MurrenOffice: NH 123 | Email: [email protected]

Housed in SDSU’s Political Science Department since 2013, James Murren teaches courses in various degree tracks for Political Science, Sustainability, Geography, ISCOR, and Environmental Sciences.  He also teaches two courses with The Weber Honors College, and he offers a 1-credit short course (What is International Development?) through the SDSU Global Campus. Recently, he developed a new U.S. Water Policy course with the Sustainability Department. 

He’s the recipient of several teaching awards:

  • The Weber Honors College Faculty of the Year (2024)
  • Faculty in Excellence Teaching Award, College of Arts & Letters (2024)
  • Most Influential Faculty, Sustainability Program (2023)
  • Associated Students College of Arts and Letters PRIDE Award (2022)

In 2024 he was awarded and will travel in January 2026 to Bangladesh through the CAORC-AIBS Faculty Development Seminar program. “Navigating the Bangladesh Paradox: The Dichotomy of Development” will provide opportunities for new curricula.

He is one of the core team members for the Food Studies minor and assists with the Peace Corps Prep certificate program, mentoring students interested in international service, government, and/or career tracks related to, among others: volunteerism, Foreign Service, aid delivery, and global food security. 

He teaches or has taught the following courses at SDSU: Politics of the Environment (POLS/SUST 334); Food Justice (POLS/GEOG 440); Our Global Future: Environment and Climate Change (ISCOR 310); Intro to Sustainability/Environmental Sciences (SUST/ENVS 100); Global Food Security (Weber Honors College); Global Environmental Issues (Weber Honors College); U.S. Water Policy (SUST 496); Living/Learning Community Seminar (GEN S 100); and a 1-credit short course titled What is International Development? (SDSU Global Campus).

Murren has a Master’s of Environmental Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Science, Technology, and Society from Penn State University. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Honduras, 1997-99), he brings 15+ years of practitioner experience to the classroom, primarily in the fields of international environmental and agricultural development, including: watershed management in Honduras; household energy procurement in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Brazil; post-harvest storage in West Africa; agricultural assessments in Paraguay and the Republic of Georgia; climate change/agricultural education in Guinea; and capacity building/business planning with farmer’s associations in Central America.