Major, B.A.
The major in Environmental Studies invites students to join the ongoing work of understanding then addressing the restoration of planetary ecosystems and human health.
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. Between 30 and 40 students are accepted into the major each year. Students are informed of their application status prior to the spring registration period.
At a Glance
Reflecting the holistic nature of our approach, student take courses in natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities.
Students take six 3-credit courses within a concentration that focuses either on an environmental challenge or career path.
Our community shares common goals, but students develop as individuals by following their unique interests and developing new skills.
With an array of courses, students can pursue their passions and fulfill requirements within the concentration in a variety of ways.
Program Goals and Requirements
The Environmental Studies Program aims to empower students to be agents of change for a sustainable society. We meet this goal by
- Providing students with an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of the world's environmental challenges from scientific, societal, and cultural points of view
- Preparing students with a diverse skill set for a wide range of environmentally related careers and/or further graduate study.
2024-2025 Program Requirements
- The ENVS major consists of at least 43 credits, equivalent to at least 14 full-semester courses, as detailed below.
- A minimum of 27 credits for the ENVS major cannot be used to fulfill requirements elsewhere.
- If you are planning to elect a second major or minor, please consult with that department as well, as their requirements for the number of shared courses may differ.
1. Environmental Studies Introductory Seminar (1 credit, p/f)
ENVS1100 Environmental Studies Introductory Seminar
All students entering the major take the intro seminar in the fall semester. Meeting core and affiliated faculty in Environmental Studies and encountering their areas of expertise allows each student to plan their course program and target a likely area of concentration.
2. One required Environmental Systems Course (2 credits)
EESC 2201 The Human Footprint
3. Three additional Environmental Systems Courses (6 credits)
- EESC2202 Ecosystems
- EESC2203 Water Resources
- EESC2204 Geochemistry
- EESC2205 Climate Change
- EESC2206 Oceans
- EESC2207 Earthquakes
- EESC2208 Quantitative Methods
Students are encouraged to take the required courses in environmental sciences as early as possible in their program of study. These courses provide a scientific knowledge base for understanding the complexity of environmental systems and anthropogenic influences on earth processes.The laboratory component of the environmental systems courses gives students the opportunity to develop their scientific curiosity, field research skills, and proficiency with data analysis.
4. One Environmental History Foundation Course (3 credits)
- HIST2406 This Land Is Your Land: US Environmental History
- or HIST 1710 Nature & Power: Making the Modern World Core EQ
- or HIST 4703 Environmental Histories of Water
- or HIST 4705 In the Eye of the Hurricane: An Environmental History of Latin America
- or HIST 1710 Nature & Power: Making the Modern World Core EQ
Students are encouraged to fulfill the history requirement by their sophomore year. An historical understanding of how humans have related to the natural environment allows students to grasp both the specificity and the contingency of our contemporary ideas about the environment, a core intellectual resource for our work.
5. One Environmental Sociology Foundation Course (3 credits)
SOCY/ENVS 3562 Environmental Sociology I
Students are encouraged to fulfill the sociology requirement by their junior year. Environmental sociology is a core intellectual resource for thinking through persistent problems in the socially constructed world (like poverty, racism, and migration) and the complex ways these human issues impact and are impacted by the environment and our changing climate.
6. Research Methods (3 credits)
ENVS 3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies
Students take this course as juniors to encounter and understand a variety of ways that interdisciplinary scientists formulate questions, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions within environmental studies research. As a cohort, students develop research skills that they will go on to employ in meeting their senior research requirement.
7. 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.
8. Senior Research Seminar (4 credits) or Senior Thesis (6 credits)
In their senior year, all ENVS students formulate and carry out a research project. This requirement can be met in one of two ways: through enrollment in the senior research seminar or through completion of a senior thesis.
- Senior Research Seminar (4 credits)
- ENVS 4941 Senior Research Seminar [Fall]
- ENVS 4942 Senior Research Seminar II [Spring]
This cohort experience brings seniors together weekly with a faculty instructor to undertake a small group research project over two semesters.
- Senior Thesis (6 credits)
- ENVS 4951 Senior Thesis I [Fall]
- ENVS 4952 Senior Thesis II [Spring]
- ENVS 4961 Senior Honors Thesis I [Fall]
- ENVS 4962 Senior Honors Thesis II [Spring]
Alternatively, students can undertake an independent research project under the supervision of a faculty advisor who signs on to the project in spring of the junior year.
Concentrations (18 credits)
Biodiversity Conservation
Wild species are going extinct at unprecedented rates due to human activities causing degradation and loss of habitat. But these trends are reversible. It is critical to protect Earth’s intact ecosystems, to rewild degraded land and seascapes and to make our mixed use landscapes hospitable and healthy for people and nature. This concentration is for students who want to deepen their knowledge and skills in conservation ecology, ecosystem restoration, natural resource management, and the legal protection of wild species and whole ecosystems.
One Social Science Course:
- ENVS 3365/SOCY3364 Human-Wildlife Conflicts & Coexistence
- ENVS 3324 Conservation Policy and Governance
- ENVS 3328 Global Environmental Justice and Conservation
Two Ecology Courses:
- BIOL 1440 Sustaining the Biosphere Core or BIOL 1520 Biodiversity Connections: Biodiversity, Humans and Environment
- BIOL 2010 Ecology and Evolution Core
One Upper Level Ecology Course:
- BIOL 4030 Deep Sea Biology
- BIOL 4130 Ecology in a Changing Climate
- BIOL 4450 Behavioral Ecology
- ENVS/EESC 3322 Marine Conservation Science
Two Humanities Courses:
- ARTH/ENVS 4316 History of Scientific Illustration
- ENGL 1724 Nature and Power: Reading the American Place Core
- ENGL 2202 Beast Literature
- ENGL 5030 Irish Hybrids: Vampires, Mermaids, and the Eco-Imagination
- PHIL 2445/ENVS 2245 The Vegetative Soul: The Hidden Life of Plants
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
- THEO 2231 Bible and Ecology
Climate Change and Societal Adaptation
What makes climate change so challenging to solve is that fossil fuels are used in just about every aspect of modern human lives—to heat and cool buildings, to move from place to place, to turn on the lights and run appliances, to grow our food, to extract and distribute freshwater, and to make the many products people consume in the marketplace. In this concentration students gain scientific knowledge of earth system processes behind anthropogenic climate change and explore solutions to mitigate and adapt to climatic changes that have already been set in motion. This concentration is a good choice for students who want to work on the forefront of climate action.
One Introductory Environmental Science Course:
- EESC 1720 Climate & Storytelling in the Age of Climate Change Core CP
- EESC 1174 Climate Change and Society Core
- EESC 1501 Global Implications of Climate Change Core CP
One Sociology or History Course:
- SOCY 1031 Society and Environmental Transformations Core
- SOCY 1501 Global Implications of Climate Change Core CP
- HIST 1507 Powering America: Energy, Tech, Environment Core CP
- SOCY/HIST 1509 Planet in Peril Core CP
Two Upper Level Environmental Science Courses:
- BIOL 4130 Ecology in a Changing Climate
- EESC 3311 Earth System Science and Global Sustainability
- EESC 3396 The IPCC Scientific Assessment
- EESC 4400 Geomorphology and Landscape Change
- EESC 4464 Environmental Data Exploration and Analysis
- EESC 4480 Applications of GIS
- EESC 5535 Coastal Geomorphology and Processes
- EESC 5549 Climate Change Debates
Two Upper Level Social Sciences or Humanities Courses:
- ARTS 2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
- COMM 2275/ENVS 2275 Communication, Consumerism, Capitalism
- COMM 4446 Critical News Studies
- CSCI 2267 Technology and Culture
- ECON 3391 Economics of Energy and the Environment
- ENGL 3358 The Great Acceleration: Contemporary Fiction and Climate Change
- ENGL5030 Irish Hybrids: Vampires, Mermaids, and the Eco-Imagination
- ENVS 3340 Alternative Energy
- ENVS 3355 Sustainable Cities
- ENVS 4006 Place Making for a Net Zero Future: Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design
- PHIL 3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
- PHIL 3999 The Ethics of Emerging Technologies
- PHIL 5515 How to Save the World: Ethics of Climate Change
- POLI 2531 Energy Politics in U.S., Comparative and Global Perspective
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
Food and Water Sustainability
People depend on food and water to meet their basic needs for survival and health. These two goods are intricately linked as it takes water to grow food and agricultural practices affect water quality. But food and water are much more than natural resources for human activity. Food is an expression and experience of culture, tastes, smells, ecosystems, and science. Water is critical to all life on the planet. In this concentration students take a deep dive into the ecological, social, and economic aspects of food production, watersheds, and water resources, exploring pathways to provide food and water sustainably to the human population.
Three Courses on Agricultural systems and Watersheds:
- EESC 3310 Agroecology
- ENVS 3315 Sustainable Agriculture
- EESC 1170 Rivers and the Environment Core
One Environmental Science Course:
- EESC 2297 Environmental Hydrology
- EESC 3380 Environmental Oceanography
- EESC 4400 Geomorphology and Landscape Change
One Social Science Course:
- COMM 2229 Food, Media, Culture
- COMM 2275 Communication, Capitalism, Consumerism
- ENVS 3331 Geopolitics of Water
- ENVS 3345 Environment and Public Health
- ENVS 3356 Seminar in Environmental Law
- SOCY 3132/ENVS 3132 Sociology of Natural Resources
One Humanities Course:
- ARTS 2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
- ENVS 3355 Sustainable Cities
- HIST 2044 A Material and Cultural History of Food in China
- HIST 4703 Environmental Histories of Water
- JOUR 2238 Food Writing
- PHIL 5534 Environmental Ethics
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
- SOCY/AADS 3400 Food Justice Across the African Diaspora
- THEO 2231 The Bible and Ecology
Environmental Communication
Craft Courses (at least 6 credits drawn from the courses listed below)
- ARTS 1161 Photography I or ARTS 1163 Introduction to Digital Photography
- COMM 2204 Digital Media Fundamentals or COMM 2221 Digital Media Field Production
- COMM 2213 Fundamentals of Audio I
- ENGL 4201 Science Writing
- FILM 1171 Filmmaking I
- FILM 2230 Video Art
- JOUR 2225 Journalism and New Media
- JOUR 2232 Investigative Journalism
- JOUR 2246 Podcasting: The Art and Craft of Digital Storytelling
- JOUR 2261/ENVS 2261 Environmental Journalism: Science, Society, Solutions
Critical Courses (at least 6 credits drawn from the courses listed below)
- ARTH/ENVS 4316 History of Scientific Illustration
- COMM 2203 Image as Communication
- COMM 2265 Theory, History and Practice of Talk Media
- COMM 2278 Social Media
- COMM 3377 Visual Communication Theory
- COMM 4470 Communication, Consumerism, Capitalism
- ENGL 3358 The Great Acceleration: Contemporary Fiction and Climate Change
- ENGL 4028 Climate Fiction
- ENGL 4280 Beast Literature
- ENGL 6045 Seminar: Animal Worlds in the Middle Ages
Environmental Entrepreneurship
Economics is at the heart of this curriculum, which is complemented with sociology, humanities, and management classes that provide perspectives on sustainable development, business ethics, and social entrepreneurship. This concentration is for students who are interested in business solutions, corporate social responsibility, impact investing, and market innovations to mitigate carbon emissions, protect biodiversity, reduce food waste, and manage freshwater resources. Students choosing this concentration are typically preparing to start their own green enterprise, to help institutions and corporations achieve their sustainability goals, or to participate in climate finance.
One Course on Micro/Macroeconomics:
- ECON 1101 Principles of Economics Core
Two Environmental Economics Courses:
- ECON 2212 Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Decision-Making
- ECON 2278 Environmental Economics OR ECON 2277 Environmental Economics & Policy
- ECON 3348 Economics of Electricity Markets
- ECON 3391 Economics of Energy & the Environment (ECON2201 and ECON 2228 are prerequisites)
One Sociology Course:
- SOCY 3322 Consumption, Health, and the Environment
- SOCY 3661 Urban Sociology
One Humanities Course:
- HIST 2703 Is All Commerce Capitalism?
- HIST 2702 Colonial Pasts/Global Presents
- PHIL 5901 The Ethics of Capitalism
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
One Management Course:
- BSLW 3345 Managing for Social Impact & the Public Good
- MGMT 2137 Managing Diversity
- MGMT 2265 Globalization, Culture, & Ethics
- MGMT 2139 Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Environmental Health
The health of people is intricately connected to the health of the environment. Ecosystems that flourish with healthy populations of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes also support healthy human populations. Many anthropogenic pollutants such as plastic, NOX and SOX gases, carbon monoxide, soot, and pesticides, reduce both environmental and human health. The hazards generated by factories, power plants, and waste facilities have been disproportionately sited in low-income neighborhoods, concentrating their negative health impacts in communities of color. Students in this concentration are interested in addressing the underlying environmental causes of human disease and illness and are typically preparing for careers in public health or sustainable development.
One Environmental Health Course:
- ENVS 3345 Environment and Public Health
One Ethics Course:
- PHIL 3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
- PHIL 5534 Environmental Ethics
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
- THEO 3223 The Ethics of Global Public Health and the Common Good
One Nursing Course:
- PHCG 3210 Contemporary Issues in Public Health
- NURS 5350 Global Health Care: Meeting Challenges and Perspectives
One Biology Course:
- BIOL1480 Pathogens and Plagues
- BIOL 3090 Foundations of Microbiology (requires BIOL2000)
One History Course:
- AADS 4485/HIST 4485 History of Medicine and Public Health
- HIST 4741 Opium Past and Present
One Social Science Course:
- ENVS 2246 Earth Ethics: Morality, Religion, and Social Justice
- ENVS 2501 State of Affordable Housing in the States
- NURS 1210 Public Health in a Global Society
- PHCG 2130 Global Public Health Law
- PHCG 4140 Children’s Health and the Environment
- SOCY 1002 Introduction to Sociology for Healthcare Professions
- SOCY 1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
- SOCY 3322 Consumption, Health, and the Environment
Environmental Justice and Policy
The legal framework protecting our natural environment and the policies that shape our progress toward environmental justice are both critical components of the effort to restore and improve environmental and human flourishing. While laws provide a regulatory framework safeguarding the human population, as well as that of other species and our water, soil, and atmosphere, policies drive action toward environmental goals like adoption of renewable energy and investment in green infrastructure. Students in this concentration are interested in addressing environmental problems and restoring social justice through law and policy, and are typically preparing for careers in government or law.
One Introductory Environmental Law & Policy Course:
- ENVS/UNAS 2256 Environmental Law and Policy
One Political Science Course:
- POLI 2531 Politics of Energy and Climate in US and International Perspectives
- POLI 2446 Natural Resource Politics
- POLI 2441 Comparative Politics of Development
- POLI 2338 Environmental Politics and Policy
One Upper Level Environmental Law & Policy
- ENVS 3324 Conservation Policy and Governance
- ENVS 3356 Seminar in Environmental Law
- ENVS 4408 Democracy and the Environment
One International Studies Course:
- ENVS 3341 Environmental Politics of the Middle East
- INTL 2440 Poverty, Human Rights, & the Environment
- INTL 2260 International Environmental Science and Policy
- INTL 2533 Global Climate Politics
One Sociology Course:
- SOCY 1071 Global Inequalities
- SOCY 1072 Inequality in America
- SOCY 1501 Global Implications of Climate Change Core
- SOCY 1711 Social Inequality in America
One Course on Environmental Justice:
- ENVS 3328 Global Environmental Justice and Conservation
- PHIL 3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
- SOCY/AADS 3400 Food Justice Across the African Diaspora
- SOCY 3346 Environmental Justice
2026 Program 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):
- EESC 2201 The Human Footprint
- EESC 2202 Ecosystems
- EESC 2203 Water Resources
- EESC 2204 Carbon Cycle
- EESC 2205 Climate Change
- EESC 2206 Oceans
- EESC 2207 Earthquakes
- EESC 2208 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: EESC 1167 for EESC 2201, EESC 1170 for EESC 2203, EESC 1505 or EESC 1174 for EESC 2205, and EESC 1157 for EESC 2206.
3. One Environmental History Foundation Course (3 credits)
- HIST 2406/ENVS 2406 This Land Is Your Land: U.S. Environmental History
- or HIST 1710 Nature & Power: Making the Modern World Core EQ
- or HIST 4703 Environmental Histories of Water
- or HIST 4705 In the Eye of the Hurricane: An Environmental History of Latin America
4. One Environmental Sociology Foundation Course (3 credits)
- SOCY 3562/ENVS 3562 Environmental Sociology
5. ENVS3360 Research Methods in Environmental Studies
- ENVS 3360 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)
- ENVS 4941 Senior Research Seminar [Fall]
- ENVS 4942 Senior Research Seminar II [Spring]
- Senior Thesis (6 credits)
- ENVS 4951 Senior Thesis I [Fall]
- ENVS 4952 Senior Thesis II [Spring]
- ENVS 4961 Senior Honors Thesis I [Fall]
- ENVS 4962 Senior Honors Thesis II [Spring]
Concentrations (18 credits)
Biodiversity Conservation
Wild species are going extinct at unprecedented rates due to human activities causing degradation and loss of habitat. But these trends are reversible. It is critical to protect Earth’s intact ecosystems, to rewild degraded land and seascapes and to make our mixed use landscapes hospitable and healthy for people and nature. This concentration is for students who want to deepen their knowledge and skills in conservation ecology, ecosystem restoration, natural resource management, and the legal protection of wild species and whole ecosystems.
Two Social Science Courses:
- ENVS 3365/SOCY3364 Human-Wildlife Conflicts & Coexistence
- ENVS 3324 Conservation Policy and Governance
- ENVS 3328 Global Environmental Justice and Conservation
Two Ecology Courses:
- BIOL 1440 Sustaining the Biosphere Core OR BIOL 1520 Biodiversity Connections: Biodiversity, Humans and Environment
- BIOL 2010 Ecology and Evolution Core
One Upper Level Ecology Course:
- BIOL 4030 Deep Sea Biology
- BIOL 4130 Ecology in a Changing Climate
- BIOL 4450 Behavioral Ecology
- ENVS/EESC 3322 Marine Conservation Science
Two Humanities Courses:
- ARTH/ENVS 4316 History of Scientific Illustration
- ENGL 1724 Nature and Power: Reading the American Place Core
- ENGL 2202 Beast Literature
- ENGL 5030 Irish Hybrids: Vampires, Mermaids, and the Eco-Imagination
- PHIL 2445/ENVS 2245 The Vegetative Soul: The Hidden Life of Plants
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
- THEO 2231 Bible and Ecology
Climate Change and Societal Adaptation
What makes climate change so challenging to solve is that fossil fuels are used in just about every aspect of modern human lives—to heat and cool buildings, to move from place to place, to turn on the lights and run appliances, to grow our food, to extract and distribute freshwater, and to make the many products people consume in the marketplace. In this concentration students gain scientific knowledge of earth system processes behind anthropogenic climate change and explore solutions to mitigate and adapt to climatic changes that have already been set in motion. This concentration is a good choice for students who want to work on the forefront of climate action.
One Introductory Environmental Science Course:
- EESC 1720 Climate & Storytelling in the Age of Climate Change Core CP
- EESC 1174 Climate Change and Society Core
- EESC 1501 Global Implications of Climate Change Core CP
One Sociology or History Course:
- SOCY 1031 Society and Environmental Transformations Core
- SOCY 1501 Global Implications of Climate Change Core CP
- HIST 1507 Powering America: Energy, Tech, Environment Core CP
- SOCY/HIST 1509 Planet in Peril Core CP
Two Upper Level Environmental Science Courses:
- BIOL 4130 Ecology in a Changing Climate
- EESC 3311 Earth System Science and Global Sustainability
- EESC 3396 The IPCC Scientific Assessment
- EESC 4400 Geomorphology and Landscape Change
- EESC 4464 Environmental Data Exploration and Analysis
- EESC 4480 Applications of GIS
- EESC 5535 Coastal Geomorphology and Processes
- EESC 5549 Climate Change Debates
Two Upper Level Social Sciences or Humanities Courses:
- ARTS 2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
- COMM 2275/ENVS 2275 Communication, Consumerism, Capitalism
- COMM 4446 Critical News Studies
- CSCI 2267 Technology and Culture
- ECON 3391 Economics of Energy and the Environment
- ENGL 3358 The Great Acceleration: Contemporary Fiction and Climate Change
- ENGL5030 Irish Hybrids: Vampires, Mermaids, and the Eco-Imagination
- ENVS 3340 Alternative Energy
- ENVS 3355 Sustainable Cities
- ENVS 4006 Place Making for a Net Zero Future: Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design
- PHIL 3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
- PHIL 3999 The Ethics of Emerging Technologies
- PHIL 5515 How to Save the World: Ethics of Climate Change
- POLI 2531 Energy Politics in U.S., Comparative and Global Perspective
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
Food and Water Sustainability
People depend on food and water to meet their basic needs for survival and health. These two goods are intricately linked as it takes water to grow food and agricultural practices affect water quality. But food and water are much more than natural resources for human activity. Food is an expression and experience of culture, tastes, smells, ecosystems, and science. Water is critical to all life on the planet. In this concentration students take a deep dive into the ecological, social, and economic aspects of food production, watersheds, and water resources, exploring pathways to provide food and water sustainably to the human population
Three Courses on Agricultural systems and Watersheds:
- EESC 3310 Agroecology
- ENVS 3315 Sustainable Agriculture
- EESC 1170 Rivers and the Environment Core
One Environmental Science Course:
- EESC 2297 Environmental Hydrology
- EESC 3380 Environmental Oceanography
- EESC 4400 Geomorphology and Landscape Change
One Social Science Course:
- COMM 2229 Food, Media, Culture
- COMM 2275 Communication, Capitalism, Consumerism
- ENVS 3331 Geopolitics of Water
- ENVS 3345 Environment and Public Health
- ENVS 3356 Seminar in Environmental Law
- SOCY 3132/ENVS 3132 Sociology of Natural Resources
One Humanities Course:
- ARTS 2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
- ENVS 3355 Sustainable Cities
- HIST 2044 A Material and Cultural History of Food in China
- HIST 4703 Environmental Histories of Water
- JOUR 2238 Food Writing
- PHIL 5534 Environmental Ethics
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
- SOCY/AADS 3400 Food Justice Across the African Diaspora
- THEO 2231 The Bible and Ecology
Environmental Communication
CRAFT COURSES (at least 6 credits drawn from the courses listed below)
- ARTS 1161 Photography I or ARTS 1163 Introduction to Digital Photography
- COMM 2204 Digital Media Fundamentals or COMM 2221 Digital Media Field Production
- COMM 2213 Fundamentals of Audio I
- ENGL 4201 Science Writing
- FILM 1171 Filmmaking I
- FILM 2230 Video Art
- JOUR 2225 Journalism and New Media
- JOUR 2232 Investigative Journalism
- JOUR 2246 Podcasting: The Art and Craft of Digital Storytelling
- JOUR 2261/ENVS 2261 Environmental Journalism: Science, Society, Solutions
CRITICAL COURSES (at least 6 credits drawn from the courses listed below)
- ARTH/ENVS 4316 History of Scientific Illustration
- COMM 2203 Image as Communication
- COMM 2265 Theory, History and Practice of Talk Media
- COMM 2278 Social Media
- COMM 3377 Visual Communication Theory
- COMM 4470 Communication, Consumerism, Capitalism
- ENGL 3358 The Great Acceleration: Contemporary Fiction and Climate Change
- ENGL 4028 Climate Fiction
- ENGL 4280 Beast Literature
- ENGL 6045 Seminar: Animal Worlds in the Middle Ages
Environmental Entrepreneurship
Economics is at the heart of this curriculum, which is complemented with sociology, humanities, and management classes that provide perspectives on sustainable development, business ethics, and social entrepreneurship. This concentration is for students who are interested in business solutions, corporate social responsibility, impact investing, and market innovations to mitigate carbon emissions, protect biodiversity, reduce food waste, and manage freshwater resources. Students choosing this concentration are typically preparing to start their own green enterprise, to help institutions and corporations achieve their sustainability goals, or to participate in climate finance.
One Course on Micro/Macroeconomics:
- ECON 1101 Principles of Economics Core
Two Environmental Economics Courses:
- ECON2212 Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Decision-Making
- ECON 2278 Environmental Economics OR ECON 2277 Environmental Economics & Policy
- ECON 3348 Economics of Electricity Markets
- ECON 3391 Economics of Energy & the Environment (ECON2201 and ECON 2228 are prerequisites)
One Sociology Course:
- SOCY 3322 Consumption, Health, and the Environment
- SOCY 3661 Urban Sociology
One Humanities Course:
- HIST 2703 Is All Commerce Capitalism?
- HIST 2702 Colonial Pasts/Global Presents
- PHIL 5901 The Ethics of Capitalism
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
One Management Course:
- BSLW 3345 Managing for Social Impact & the Public Good
- MGMT 2137 Managing Diversity
- MGMT 2265 Globalization, Culture, & Ethics
- MGMT 2139 Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Environmental Health
The health of people is intricately connected to the health of the environment. Ecosystems that flourish with healthy populations of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes also support healthy human populations. Many anthropogenic pollutants such as plastic, NOX and SOX gases, carbon monoxide, soot, and pesticides, reduce both environmental and human health. The hazards generated by factories, power plants, and waste facilities have been disproportionately sited in low-income neighborhoods, concentrating their negative health impacts in communities of color. Students in this concentration are interested in addressing the underlying environmental causes of human disease and illness and are typically preparing for careers in public health or sustainable development.
One Environmental Health Course:
- ENVS 3345 Environment and Public Health
One Ethics Course:
- PHIL 3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
- PHIL 5534 Environmental Ethics
- SCHI 3200 The Ethics of Sustainability and the Future of the Common Good
- THEO 3223 The Ethics of Global Public Health and the Common Good
One Nursing Course:
- PHCG 3210 Contemporary Issues in Public Health
- NURS 5350 Global Health Care: Meeting Challenges and Perspectives
One Biology Course:
- BIOL1480 Pathogens and Plagues
- BIOL 3090 Foundations of Microbiology (requires BIOL2000)
One History Course:
- AADS 4485/HIST 4485 History of Medicine and Public Health
- HIST 4741 Opium Past and Present
One Social Science Course:
- ENVS 2246 Earth Ethics: Morality, Religion, and Social Justice
- ENVS 2501 State of Affordable Housing in the States
- NURS 1210 Public Health in a Global Society
- PHCG 2130 Global Public Health Law
- PHCG 4140 Children’s Health and the Environment
- SOCY 1002 Introduction to Sociology for Healthcare Professions
- SOCY 1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
- SOCY 3322 Consumption, Health, and the Environment
Environmental Justice and Policy
The legal framework protecting our natural environment and the policies that shape our progress toward environmental justice are both critical components of the effort to restore and improve environmental and human flourishing. While laws provide a regulatory framework safeguarding the human population, as well as that of other species and our water, soil, and atmosphere, policies drive action toward environmental goals like adoption of renewable energy and investment in green infrastructure. Students in this concentration are interested in addressing environmental problems and restoring social justice through law and policy, and are typically preparing for careers in government or law.
One Introductory Environmental Law & Policy Course:
- ENVS/UNAS 2256 Environmental Law and Policy
One Political Science Course:
- POLI 2531 Politics of Energy and Climate in US and International Perspectives
- POLI 2446 Natural Resource Politics
- POLI 2441 Comparative Politics of Development
- POLI 2338 Environmental Politics and Policy
One Upper Level Environmental Law & Policy
- ENVS 3324 Conservation Policy and Governance
- ENVS 3356 Seminar in Environmental Law
- ENVS 4408 Democracy and the Environment
One International Studies Course:
- ENVS 3341 Environmental Politics of the Middle East
- INTL 2440 Poverty, Human Rights, & the Environment
- INTL 2260 International Environmental Science and Policy
- INTL 2533 Global Climate Politics
One Sociology Course:
- SOCY 1071 Global Inequalities
- SOCY 1072 Inequality in America
- SOCY 1501 Global Implications of Climate Change Core
- SOCY 1711 Social Inequality in America
One Course on Environmental Justice:
- ENVS 3328 Global Environmental Justice and Conservation
- PHIL 3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
- SOCY/AADS 3400 Food Justice Across the African Diaspora
- SOCY 3346 Environmental Justice
Program Goals
The Environmental Studies Program aims to empower students to be agents of change for a sustainable society. We meet this goal by:
- Providing students with an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of the world's environmental challenges from scientific, societal, and cultural points of view
- Preparing students with a diverse skill set for a wide range of environmentally related careers and/or further graduate study
Learning Outcomes
Key Knowledge Areas:
- Anthropogenic drivers of environmental problems in our existing social, political, and economic frameworks and institutions
- Science of Earth’s systems and the physical processes, chemical reactions, and feedback loops behind modern environmental crises
- History of societies’ complex relationship with built and natural environments
- Social systems at the root of environmental inequality
- Sustainable futures forged through new scientific knowledges, public policies, and collective efforts to enact change
Acquired Skills:
- Applying systems-thinking to solve complex socio-environmental problems
- Communicating knowledge and ideas through critical writing, academic presentation, and constructive dialogue
- Conducting scientific research, making use of mixed analytical methods
- Working collaboratively as members of effective teams