Course description
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
The environmental studies major will provide students with an educational specialty grounded in the subjects and issues related to the natural environment and the relationship of the human being to the natural environment. The major offers the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary inquiry, integrating knowledge across the natural sciences, behavioral sciences, and humanities. The major develops analytical tools and skills for understanding the environment, while emphasizing the role of beliefs, values, ethics and aesthetics in shaping human behavior.
Students will be exposed to coursework which develops skills in the following areas: laboratory research and environmental science; policy analysis, social, historical and global awareness; philosophical and ethical inquiry; writing and composition; oral presentation; educational techniques and strategies; legal research; and group enterprise. This will prepare students for careers in such diverse fields as environmental and urban planning, natural resource management, scientific journalism, environmental law and policy making, parks and recreation, landscape and architecture, public health, education, the arts, and many more. The Environmental Studies major or minor satisfies the Environmental perspective requirement.
The major includes five required courses, four environmental field courses, two tools courses, and the completion of a minor related to environmental studies chosen from a pre- approved list. Students graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Required courses (Must take all 5)
ES 172 Introduction to Environmental Studies
ES 270 Introduction to Environmental Biology
ES 211 Introduction to Earth Science
ES 498 Environmental Comprehensive Exam/Internship
One upper-level synthesis course that requires at least one of the introductory courses. Currently offered options: Conservation Biology, Global Environmental Change, Estuaries, Restoration Ecology, Advanced Policy of Protected Areas, Advanced Ecotourism Policy & Practice, Marine Mammalogy.
Environmental Field Courses (Must take a class from 4 of the 7 fields):
Ethics
ES 345H Environmental Ethics & Justice
PL 243E Environmental Ethics
Religion
RE 318E Ecotheology
RE 382H Asian Religions and Ecology
Literature and Criticism
AM 319E Environmental Film Colloquium
ES 314E Environment in American Thought
ES 351E Influential Environmental Writers
History
HI 353E Environmental History
HI 354E European Environmental History
Policy/Law
ES 216 Introduction to Coastal Management
PO 325 Environmental Politics & Policy
PO 313 International Environmental Law
ES 315 Wildlife Policy
Economics
EC 373 Natural Resource Economics
EC 374 Environmental Economics
EC 383 Marine Resource Policy
EC 388 Economic Development
Human Ecology
ES 280 Environmental Education
AN 335E Cultural Ecology
Tools Courses (Must take a class from 2 of the 4 categories):
Writing course
CO 200E Writing the Environment
CO 326 Environmental Rhetoric
Methods course
EC 201S Introductory Economics of the Environment
EC 281S Principles of Microeconomics
Statistics
PO 260M Political Science Research Methods
BE 260M Statistical Methods for the Sciences
MN 260M Statistical Methods for Management & Economics
PS 200 and 201M Statistics and Research Design I & II
MA 133M Statistics: An Introduction
Computer course
CS 143M Introduction to Computer Science
ES 341N GIS for Environmental Studies
Completion of a minor related to Environmental Studies:
* Anthropology
* Biology
* Chemistry
* Computer Science
* Economics
* Geology
* History
* Human Development
* Literature
* Philosophy
* Political Science
* Psychology
* Religious Studies
* Sociology
* Visual Arts
The minor in Environmental Studies requires six courses, three required courses (ES 172 Introduction to Environmental Studies, ES 270 Introduction to Environmental Biology, and ES 211 Introduction to Earth Science) and three environmental field courses. The environmental field courses are listed above. Students should choose one class from three of the seven fields.
