Environmental Studies Program

Director: Pinar Batur;

Steering Committee: Mark W. Andrews^b (French and Francophone Studies), Pinar Batur (Sociology), Stuart L. Belli (Chemistry), Mary Ann Cunningham^a (Earth Science and Geography), Julie E. Hughes (History), Paul Kane (English), Jamie Kelly (Philosophy), Kirsten Menking^a(Earth Science and Geography), Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (Hispanic Studies), A. Marshall Pregnall (Biology), Margaret Ronsheim^a (Biology), Paul Ruud^b (Economics), Peter G. Stillman^a (Political Science), Jeffrey R. Walker (Earth Science and Geography);

Participating Faculty: Mark W. Andrews^b (French and Francophone Studies), Tobias Armborst (Art), Pinar Batur (Sociology), Stuart L. Belli (Chemistry), Robert D. Brown (Greek and Roman Studies), Lynn Capozzoli (Education), Lynn Christenson (Biology), Mary Ann Cunningham^a (Earth Science and Geography), Rebecca Edwards (History), Brian J. Godfrey^b (Earth Science and Geography), Kathleen Hart^b (French and Francophone Studies), Benjamin Ho (Economics), Julie E. Hughes (History), Paul Kane (English), Jamie Kelly (Philosophy), Amitava Kumar (English), John H. Long, Jr.^a (Biology), Candice M. Lowe Swift (Anthropology), Brian McAdoo^ab (Earth Science and Geography), Molly S. McGlennen (English), Kirsten Menking^a (Earth Science and Geography), Leonard Nevarez (Sociology), Joseph Nevins (Earth Science and Geography), Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (Hispanic Studies), Julie Park (English), Anne Pike-Tay (Anthropology), A. Marshall Pregnall (Biology), Margaret Ronsheim^a (Biology), Paul Ruud^b(Economics), Mark A. Schlessman^b (Biology), Jill S. Schneiderman (Earth Science and Geography), Jodi Schwarz (Biology), Alison Keimowitz (Chemistry), Peter G. Stillman^a (Political Science), Jeffrey R. Walker (Earth Science and Geography), Patricia Wallace^ab (English);

^a On leave 2014/15, first semester
^b On leave 2014/15, second semester
^ab On leave 2014/15

Environmental Studies is a multidisciplinary program that involves the natural and social sciences as well as the arts and humanities. It explores the relationships between people and the totality of their environments-natural, built, and social. As part of that exploration, environmental studies concerns itself with the description and analysis of natural systems; with interspecies and species-environment relationships and the institutions, policies and laws that affect those relationships; with aesthetic portrayals of nature and how these portrayals affect human perceptions and behavior toward it; and with ethical issues raised by the human presence in the environment. A component of the program is the Environmental Research Institute (ERI), whose mission is to broaden and enrich the Environmental Studies program by emphasizing and supporting fieldwork, research, and engagement in the community.

Students majoring in Environmental Studies are required to take courses offered by the program, a set of courses within a particular department, and other courses from across the curriculum of the college. Therefore, a student interested in the major should consult with the director of the program as early as possible to plan a coherent course of study. The director, in consultation with the steering committee, assigns an advisor to each student. Advisors are selected from the participating faculty of the program. The steering committee approves each major’s program, and is concerned not only with the formal requirements but also with the inclusion of relevant environmental courses in the student’s chosen areas of study, interconnections among groups of courses, and adequate concentration in the methods of a discipline. Students are admitted to the program by the director, subject to the approval of their program of study by the steering committee. For additional information please consult the program website.

Research studies by Environmental Studies majors are supported by the Environmental Research Institute.

Environmental Studies is a major in which students concentrate in two disciplines or areas of focus (one in the natural sciences). Potential majors are encouraged to take additional introductory courses in the disciplines or areas where their focus may be.

Programs

Major

• Environmental Studies Major

Correlate Sequence in Sustainability

• Sustainability Correlate Sequence

Courses

Environmental Studies: I. Introductory

Environmental Studies: II. Intermediate

Environmental Studies: III. Advanced