Environmental Studies, B.A.

Objectives

The interdisciplinary Environmental Studies curriculum enables students to gain a broad foundation in the environment and human ecological relationships. Students examine these relationships and the natural environment from the perspectives of the humanities, social sciences, and environmental sciences, and apply these perspectives in an innovative capstone seminar. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully compete the Environmental Studies major should:

• Know-Understand
  1. The basic science that frames and makes comprehensible current debates about environmental issues.
  2. Various ways to assess and grasp the moral and ethical significance of environmental crises and the various possible responses to those crises.
  3. The practical challenges (e.g., political, economic, etc.) associated with various possible responses to environmental crises.
  4. The primary environmental issues confronting humans in the 21st Century (e.g., anthropogenic climate change, loss of biodiversity, resource consumption, etc.).
• Do-Be Able to
  1. Apply diverse perspectives and ways of addressing environmental questions (e.g., philosophical, economic, scientific, political, theological, etc.), transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries in favor of a more holistic perspective.
  2. Apply the knowledge they have learned in the course of their studies to real-world issues, bridging the supposed gap between theory and practice.
  3. Write, speak, and think clearly about the issues studied in the major and minor.
• Value
  1. The diverse perspectives and values (cultural, religious, economic, political, etc.) amongst the various stakeholders in environmental challenges.
  2. The importance of good science in framing environmental questions.
  3. The role of both (a) personal transformation (e.g., lifestyle choices, consumptive dispositions, etc.) and social transformation (e.g., community involvement, political action, addressing environmental justice and environmental racism, etc.) in any response to environmental challenges.

Major Requirements

The major consists of eleven (11) courses; most EVST majors will complete the required curriculum with 42 or 43 semester hours.

¹

• No more than four (4) lower division courses may count for the major (including the three required lower division major courses)
• An appropriate lower or upper division course not listed for one of the Distributions may be counted for the major with approval of the Department Chair

²

Some biology and environmental science courses have prerequisites beyond ENVS 101 Introduction to Environmental Science.

³

PHIL 3110 Environmental Ethics and PHIL 3998 Special Studies and WGST 3200 Gender, Race, and Environmental Justice may only be counted for one of the distribution requirements.

⁴

• No more than four (4) lower division courses may count for the major (including the three required lower division major courses)
• 1- and 2-semester-hour courses do not count toward the 11-course major requirement

Environmental Studies Major Four-Year Plan: