Environmental Studies

Applying for the Environmental Studies Major

Students are accepted into the Environmental Studies major by application only. Applications are evaluated for academic achievement, related coursework, and a personal statement that demonstrates a genuine interest and track record in environmental work. Admission is determined by the Steering Committee of the Environmental Studies Program, which includes faculty drawn from many departments.

The deadline for submitting applications is February 6 during the students’ first year. The application form may be found on Apply for the Major page.

Major Requirements

The ENVS major consists of a minimum of 43 credits, equivalent to at least 14 full-semester courses, as detailed below. ENVS students may choose more than one major, but at least 27 credits for the ENVS major must not be used to fulfill requirements for another major or minor (i.e., 16 credits can be shared). Note that all Boston College majors require at least 27 unique credits, so the number of credits that can be shared will be fewer for majors that require fewer courses, such as most departmental majors (i.e., if a major requires 30 credits, only 3 can be shared).

1. ENVS 2240 Ideas and Practices in Environmental Studies (3 credits)

This course is offered in the fall semester for the new cohort of ENVS majors (sophomores). Ideas and Practices in Environmental Studies provides an introduction to the history, ideas, and practices of the field of environmental studies for new ENVS majors. This interactive course will draw on cross-and inter-disciplinary perspectives from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to explore different ways of thinking about complex environmental topics. 

2. Environmental Systems courses (6 credits):

• EESC2201 Environmental Systems: The Human Footprint (2 credits)
• EESC2202 Environmental Systems: Ecosystems (2 credits)
• EESC2203 Environmental Systems: Water Resources (2 credits)
• EESC2204 Environmental Systems: Geochemistry (2 credits)
• EESC2205 Environmental Systems: Climate Change (2 credits)
• EESC2206 Environmental Systems: Oceans (2 credits)
• EESC2207 Environmental Systems: Earthquakes (2 credits)
• EESC2208 Environmental Systems: Quantitative Methods (2 credits)

These are a series of 2-credit half-semester courses that introduce students to the basic concepts of environmental science from a variety of perspectives and professors, with the specific goal of providing students with a foundation for further interdisciplinary study of environmental issues. Students can take one or more of these courses in any given semester. Approved substitutions include EESC1167 for EESC2201, EESC1170 for EESC2203, EESC1174 or EESC1505 for EESC2205, and EESC1157 for EESC2206.

3. One Environmental History Foundation Course (3 credits)

• HIST2406/ENVS2406 This Land Is Your Land: U.S. Environmental History 
• HIST1710 Nature & Power: Making the Modern World

4. One Environmental Sociology Foundation Course (3 credits)

• SOCY3562/ENVS3562 Environmental Sociology

5. ENVS3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies

• ENVS3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies

6. One elective (3 credits)

The elective can be used to deepen understanding of the student’s concentration, or to encounter a novel perspective in the environmental field.

7. Senior Research Seminar (4 credits) or Senior Thesis (6 credits)

• Senior Research Seminar (4 credits)
  • ENVS4941 Senior Research Seminar [Fall]
  • ENVS4942 Senior Research Seminar II [Spring]
• Senior Thesis (6 credits)
  • ENVS4951 Senior Thesis I [Fall]
  • ENVS4952 Senior Thesis II [Spring]
  • ENVS4961 Senior Honors Thesis I [Fall]
  • ENVS4962 Senior Honors Thesis II [Spring]
    

8. Concentration (18 credits):

Biodiversity Conservation

Two Social Science Courses:

• ENVS3354 Wildlife and Society
• ENVS3324 Conservation Policy and Governance
• SOCY3360 Animals and Society

Two Ecology Courses:

• BIOL1440 Sustaining the Biosphere Core or BIOL 1520 Biodiversity Connections: Biodiversity, Humans and Environment
• BIOL2010 Ecology and Evolution Core

One Upper-Level Ecology Course:

• BIOL4030 Deep Sea Biology
• BIOL4130 Ecology in a Changing Climate
• BIOL5050 Evolution and Development
• BIOL4450 Behavioral Ecology

One Humanities Course:

• ENGL1724 Nature and Power: Reading the American Place Core
• ENGL2202 Beast Literature
• ENVS2445 The Vegetative Soul: The Hidden Life of Plants
• HIST4222 How Animals Saved the World
• HEO2231 Bible and Ecology
• THEO3000 Theological Bioethics: From the Basics to the Future

Climate Change and Societal Adaptation

One Introductory Environmental Science Course:

• EESC1720 Climate & Storytelling in the Age of Climate Change 
• EESC1174 Climate Change and Society 
• EESC1501 Global Implications of Climate Change

One Sociology or History Course:

• SOCY1031 Society and Environmental Transformations
• SOCY1501 Global Implications of Climate Change
• SOCY1509 Planet in Peril 
• HIST1505 Planet in Peril
• HIST1507 Powering America: Energy, Tech, Environment
• HIST1842 Atlantic World and Environmental Change

Two Upper-Level Environmental Science Courses:

• EESC3310 Earth System Science and Sustainability
• EESC3396 The IPCC Scientific Assessment
• EESC4464 Environmental Data Exploration and Analysis
• EESC5535 Coastal Processes
• EESC5599 Climate Change Debates
• ENVS3340 Alternative Energy

Two Upper-Level Social Sciences or Humanities Courses:

• ARTS2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
• ECON3391 Economics of Energy and the Environment
• ENVS3355 Sustainable Cities
• INTL2260 International Environmental Science and Policy
• PHIL3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
• PHIL5515 How to Save the World: Ethics of Climate Change
• POLI2531 Energy Politics in U.S., Comparative and Global Perspective

Environmental Entrepreneurship

One Course on Micro/Macroeconomics:

• ECON1101 Principles of Economics Core

Two Environmental Economics Courses:

• ECON2212 Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Decision-Making
• ECON2278 Environmental Economics OR ECON2277 Environmental Economics & Policy
• ECON3391 Economics of Energy & the Environment (ECON2201 and ECON2228 are prerequisites)

One Sociology Course:

• SOCY1040 Global Sociology
• SOCY3322 Consumption, Health, and the Environment
• SOCY3661 Urban Sociology
• SOCY5557 Sociology of Development
• SOCY5559 Economic Sociology

One Humanities Course:

• HIST2703 Is All Commerce Capitalism?
• HIST2702 Colonial Pasts/Global Presents
• HIST5403 US Energy History
• PHIL5901 The Ethics of Capitalism

One Management Course:

• ISYS3345 Managing for Social Impact & the Public Good
• MGMT2137 Managing Diversity
• MGMT2265 Globalization, Culture, & Ethics
• MGMT2139 Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship
• MGMT2145 Environmental Management
• MGMT2265 Globalization, Culture, & Ethics

Environmental Health

One Environmental Health Course:

• ENVS3345 Environment and Public Health

One Ethics Course:

• PHIL3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
• PHIL5534 Environmental Ethics
• THEO3223 The Ethics of Global Public Health and the Common Good

One Nursing Course:

• NURS3210 Contemporary Issues in Public Health
• NURS5345 Global Health Perspectives
• NURS5350 Global Health Care: Meeting Challenges and Perspectives

One Biology Course:

• BIOL2320 Case Studies in Epidemiology
• BIOL2240 Race, Disease, and Disparities
• BIOL5130 Environmental Disruptors of Development

One History Course:

• AADS4485 History of Medicine and Public Health
• HIST2431 Leeches to Lasers: Medicine & Health in the US
• HIST4741 Opium Past and Present

One Social Science Course:

• ENVS2501 State of Affordable Housing in the States
• SOCY1002 Introduction to Sociology for Healthcare Professions
• SOCY1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
• SOCY3314 Mental Illness and Society
• SOCY3322 Consumption, Health, and the Environment
• SOCY3371 Gender, Environmental Health, and New Technologies
• SOCY3397 Social Determinants of Health Across the Life Course
• SOCY5545 Medical Sociology

Environmental Justice and Policy

• One of:
  • SOCY1071 Global Inequalities
  • SOCY1501 Global Implications of Climate Change
  • SOCY1711 Social Inequality in America
• One of:
  • SOCY3346 Environmental Justice
  • SOCY3370 Gender, Health, and Inequality
• One of:
  • ENVS/UNAS2256 Environmental Law and Policy
• Two of:
  • POLI2531 Politics of Energy and Climate in U.S. and International Perspectives
  • POLI2446 Natural Resource Politics
  • POLI2441 Comparative Politics of Development
• One of:
  • INTL2440 Poverty, Human Rights, and the Environment
  • INTL2260 International Environmental Science and Policy
  • INTL2533 Global Climate Politics

Food and Water Sustainability

Three Courses on Agricultural systems and Watersheds:

• EESC3310 Agroecology
• ENVS3315 Sustainable Agriculture
• EESC1170 Rivers and the Environment 

One Environmental Science Course:

• EESC2297 Environmental Hydrology
• EESC3380 Environmental Oceanography
• EESC4400 Geomorphology and Landscape Change

One Social Science Course:

• COMM4470 Communication, Capitalism, Consumerism
• ENVS3345 Environment and Public Health
• ENVS3356 Seminar in Environmental Law
• ENVS3331 Geopolitics of Water

One Humanities Course:

• ARTS2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
• HIST2044 A Material and Cultural History of Food in China
• HIST4254 Century of FamineHIST4702 Feast or Famine
• HIST4703 Environmental Histories of Water
• PHIL5534 Environmental Ethics
• THEO2231 The Bible and Ecology
• THEO5429 Theology and Ecology

Minor Requirements

The ENVS minor consists of 20 credits, with at least 15 credits being used solely for the ENVS requirements.

A. EESC2201 Environmental Systems: The Human Footprint (plus lab; 2 credits)

B. One of the following courses (plus lab; 2 credits):

• EESC2202 Environmental Systems: Ecosystems
• EESC2203 Environmental Systems: Water Resources
• EESC2204 Environmental Systems: The Critical Zone
• EESC2205 Environmental Systems: Climate Change
• EESC2206 Environmental Systems: Oceans
• EESC2207 Environmental Systems: Earthquakes
• EESC2208 Environmental Systems: Quantitative Methods

C. Two foundation courses (6 credits)

One in research methods:

• ENVS3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies

One in the social sciences or humanities:

• ECON2277 Environmental Economics and Policy
• ECON2278 Environmental Economics
• ENVS/UNAS2256 Environmental Law and Policy
• HIST2406/ENVS2406 The Land Is Your Land: U.S. Environmental History
• INTL2260 International Environmental Science and Policy
• MGMT2145 Environmental Management
• SOCY1031 Society and Environmental Transformations
• SOCY1501 Global Implications of Climate Chang
• SOCY1509 Planet in Peril: History and Future of Human Impact
• SOCY2200 Statistics (or a different statistics course)
• SOCY3562 Environmental Sociology
• PHIL3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
• PHIL5515 How to Save the World: Ethics of Climate Change

D. At least 6 credits (two courses) of electives.

At least 3 credits must be from courses numbered 3000 and above.

E. ENVS4943 Environmental Seminar, a 3-credit senior seminar offered every spring semester

 To register for the minor, contact the Environmental Studies Program at envstudies@bc.edu, or stop by the program office in Devlin 213. For more information see the program website at bc.edu/envstudies.

Information for First Year Students

First-year students who are considering applying to become Environmental Studies majors should consider taking the following courses:

• Environmental Systems: The Human Footprint (EESC2201 with lab), as well as one or more of the other Environmental Systems courses (EESC2202–EESC2208 with lab).
• University Core courses with an environmental focus
  

Information for Study Abroad

ENVS majors are encouraged to take advantage of study abroad opportunities. Studying outside of the U.S. provides a global perspective on environmental and sustainability issues and educational opportunities not available at BC. ENVS students are allowed 3–6 credits (two courses) per semester abroad to count toward the major or minor requirements. If a student is doing a program specifically designed for Environmental Studies, more than 6 credits (two courses) may be approved. Students must meet with their academic adviser and the ENVS Director or Associate Director prior to leaving for their study abroad experience.

For further information see the program website at bc.edu/envstudies, contact the Environmental Studies Program at envstudies@bc.edu, or stop by the program office in Devlin 213.