Environmental Studies

Applying for the Environmental Studies Major

Students are admitted into the Environmental Studies major by application at the end of the freshman year. Acceptance is determined by the Steering Committee of the Environmental Studies Program, which includes faculty drawn from many departments and an associate dean from the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. Criteria for admission include academic achievement and a personal statement.

The deadline for submitting applications is the last day of classes, at the end of students’ first year. The application form may be found at 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).

A. Environmental Studies introductory seminar ENVS1100 (1 credit)

This seminar is offered in the fall semester for the new cohort of ENVS majors (sophomores). It involves readings of classic texts in environmental studies, and it is similar in structure to Cornerstone courses.

B. Eight credits of Environmental Systems courses: EESC2201 Environmental Systems: The Human Footprint plus three of any of the following courses (and labs EESC2211–2218):

• 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

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.

C. 9 credits of foundation courses in environmental studies: ENVS3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies plus another environmental course in the social sciences or humanities

• ENVS3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies
• HIST2406 U.S. Environmental History, HIST4701 Ecological History of the Atlantic World, or HIST1710 Nature and Power: Modern World
• SOCY3562 Environmental Sociology

D. 18 credits in a concentration:

Food and Water Sustainability

• Two of:
  • EESC3310 Agroecology
  • ENVS3315 Sustainable Agriculture
• One of:
  • EESC1170 Rivers and the Environment
• One of:
  • EESC2297 Environmental Hydrology
  • EESC4400 Geomorphology and Landscape Change
  • EESC4457 Watershed Science
  • EESC5535 Coastal Processes
• One of:
  • HIST2044 A Material and Cultural History of Food in China
  • HIST4254 Century of Famine
  • HIST4702 Feast or Famine? Food and the Environment
  • HIST4703 Environmental Histories of Water
• One of:
  • ARTS2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
  • ENVS3345 Environment and Public Health
  • ENVS3355 Sustainable Cities
  • PHIL5534 Environmental Ethics
  • THEO2231 The Bible and Ecology
  • THEO5429 Theology and Ecology

Climate Change and Societal Adaptation

• One of:
  • EESC1174 Climate Change and Society
  • EESC1501 Global Implications of Climate Change (for freshmen only)
• One of:
  • HIST1505 Planet in Peril (for freshmen only)
  • HIST1507 Powering America: Energy, Tech, Environment (for freshmen only)
  • HIST1842 Atlantic World and Environmental Change
  • SOCY1031 Society and Environmental Transformations
  • SOCY1501 Global Implications of Climate Change (for freshmen only)
  • SOCY1509 Planet in Peril (for freshmen only)
• Two of:
  • EESC4400 Geomorphology and Landscape Change
  • EESC4440 Global Biogeochemical Cycles
  • EESC4457 Watershed Science
  • EESC4462 Paleoclimate Dynamics
  • EESC4463 Paleoclimate Proxies
  • EESC5535 Coastal Processes
  • EESC5599 Climate Change Debates
• Two of:
  • ARTS2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
  • ECON3391 Economics of Energy and the Environment
  • ENVS3340 Alternative Energy
  • ENVS3355 Sustainable Cities
  • INTL2260 International Environmental Science and Policy
  • PHIL5515 How to Save the World: Ethics of Climate Change
  • POLI2531 Energy Politics in U.S., Comparative and Global Perspective

Environmental Health

• One of: 
  • ENVS3345 Environment and Public Health
• One of:
  • PHIL5534 Environmental Ethics
  • THEO3223 The Ethics of Global Public Health and the Common Good
• One of:
  • NURS3210 Contemporary Issues in Public Health
  • NURS5345 Global Health Perspectives
  • NURS5350 Global Health Care: Meeting Challenges and Perspectives
• One of:
  • BIOL2240 Race, Disease, and Disparities
  • BIOL2320 Case Studies in Epidemiology  
  • BIOL5130 Environmental Disruptors of Development 
  • PHCG2120 Introduction to Epidemiology
• One of:
  • AADS4485 History of Medicine and Public Health
  • HIST2431 Leeches to Lasers: Medicine and Health in the U.S.  
  • HIST4741 Opium Past and Present
• One of: 
  • 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 
  • 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

Environmental Entrepreneurship

• One of:
  • HIST2703 Is All Commerce Capitalism?
  • HIST2702 Colonial Pasts/Global Presents 
  • HIST5403 U.S. Energy History 
  • PHIL5901 The Ethics of Capitalism
• One of:
  • SOCY1040 Global Sociology 
  • SOCY5557 Sociology of Development
  • SOCY5559 Economic Sociology
• One of:
  • ECON1131 Principles of Macroeconomics I/Microeconomics
• Two of:
  • ECON2278 Environmental Economics or ECON2277 Environmental Economics and Policy 
  • ECON3391 Economics of Energy and the Environment
• One of:
  • ISYS3345 Managing for Social Impact and the Public Good
  • MGMT2137 Managing Diversity
  • MGMT2265 Globalization, Culture, and Ethics
  • MGMT2139 Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  • MGMT2145 Environmental Management
  • MGMT2265 Globalization, Culture, and Ethics

Biodiversity Conservation

• One of:
  • ENVS3365/SOCY3364 Human-Wildlife Conflicts and Coexistence 
  • SOCY3360 Animals and Society
• Two of:
  • BIOL1520 Biodiversity Connections: Biodiversity, Humans and Environment
  • BIOL1440 Sustaining the Biosphere
  • BIOL2010 Ecology and Evolution 
• One of:
  • BIOL4030 Deep Sea Biology
  • BIOL5050 Evolution and Development
  • BIOL4450 Behavioral Ecology
• Two of:
  • ENGL1721 Finding the Animal 
  • ENGL2202 Beast Literature
  • HIST4222 How Animals Saved the World
  • PSYC1092 Humans and Other Animals: Mental Life 
  • THEO2231 Bible and Ecology
  • THEO3223 The Ethics of Global Public Health and Common Good
  • UNAS1703 Humans and Other Animals: Changing Perceptions

E. At least 3 credits of environmental studies electives

Please see our current elective offerings, which include all Earth and Environmental Sciences courses, as well as more than 30 other options.

F. Senior Research Seminar (ENVS4941–ENVS4942; 4 credits; 2 credits per semester for both semesters)

The senior seminar involves a combination of discussions of key readings in ENVS, guest speakers, team research projects focused on solving real environmental problems, and engagement with communities beyond the BC campus. Alternatively, students can request to fulfill this requirement via a two-semester (6 credits) senior thesis (ENVS4951 and ENVS4952) or senior honors thesis (ENVS4961 and ENVS4962).

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 EESC2211; two credits)

B. One of the following courses (plus lab EESC 2212-2218; two 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, or
• EESC2208 Environmental Systems: Quantitative Methods

C. Two foundation courses (six credits)

One in research methods:

• ENVS3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies

One in the social sciences or humanities:

• ECON2277 Environmental Economics and Policy or ECON2278 Environmental Economics
• ENVS/UNAS2256 Environmental Law and Policy
• HIST2406 U.S. Environmental History
• HIST4703 Environmental Histories of Water
• INTL2260 International Environmental Science and Policy
• MGMT2145 Environmental Management
• SOCY1031 Society and Environmental Transformations
• SOCY2200 Statistics (or a different statistics course)
• SOCY3562 Environmental Sociology
• PHIL5534 Environmental Ethics
• Core Courses Open Only to First Year Students:
  • SOCY1501 Global Implications of Climate Change
  • SOCY1509 Planet in Peril: History and Future of Human Impacts

D. At least 7 credits (two or more courses) of electives.

Only 3 credits can be from courses numbered 2000 and below. 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 envstudies@bc.edu.

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 and lab EESC2211), as well as one or more of other the Environmental Systems courses (EESC2202–EESC2208 and labs EESC2212–EESC2218).
• 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 3–6 credits may be approved.

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.