Major Requirements

The major in environmental studies (ENVS) is available only as a second major to students within the School of Arts and Sciences. It consists of 36 credits of coursework reflecting the program's four-field approach (natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and methods/techniques).

At least 18 of these credits must be earned through coursework at the 300 level or higher. No more than 9 of these credits can be double-counted for either the student's primary major or any other degree. No more than one D grade will be accepted for credit toward the major.

Dual Major Requirement

The major in environmental studies is designed as a second major and it is meant to complement a student's primary major in another field. All requirements for both majors must be met before the major in environmental studies can be conferred. A student's primary major may be drawn from any major recognized by the School of Arts and Sciences. 

Approved Courses

Courses not included in the lists below must be approved by the ENVS undergraduate program director before being applied toward meeting ENVS degree requirements. Courses marked with an asterisk [*] have prerequisites in their home departments.

Introduction to Environmental Studies (3 credits)

01:381:101  Introduction to Environmental Studies

Natural Science (NS) Requirement (6 credits)

No more than 3 credits from the following list:

01:070:111  Extinction

01:119:160  Biology, Society, and Ecological Issues

01:450:101  Earth Systems (or 01:460:101 Introductory Geology)

01:460:100  Planet Earth

01:460:101  Introductory Geology (or 01:450:101 Earth Systems)

01:460:110  Sea Change

01:556:143  Energy and Climate Change

11:216:110  Evolution, Disease, and Medicine

11:375:103  Introduction to Environmental Health

11:670:102  Introduction to Climate Science (or 01:450:213 Global Climate System)

At least 3 credits from the following list:

01:070:213  Environment and Human Evolution

01:070:336  Primatology, Wildlife Ecology, and Conservation in Kenya (note: summer field school in Kenya)

01:070:337  Field Methods and Analysis in Primatology in Kenya (note: summer field school in Kenya)

01:070:345  Study Abroad - Applied Conservation in Ecosystem Management

01:070:402  Primate Conservation Biology*

01:160:439  Physical Chemistry of the Environment

01:450:212  Water Resources (or 01:460:204 The Water Planet)

01:450:213  Global Climate System (or 11:670:102 Introduction to Climate Science)

01:450:214  Conservation

01:450:306  Global Ecosystems and Biodiversity

01:450:313  Climate Change

01:450:413  Climate System and Global Climate Change

01:450:414  Geographical  Hydrology

01:450:417  Coastal Geomorphology

01:460:202  Environmental Geology

01:460:203  Building and Maintaining a Habitable Planet

01:460:204  The Water Planet (or 01:450:212  Water Resources

01:460:207  Oil and Gold: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

11:216:320  Controversies in Sustainability

11:573:444  Watershed Planning and Management: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Environmental Humanities (EH) Requirement (6 credits)

01:090:297:02  Literature and Maps: The Cartographic Impulse

01:195:220  Our World: Social Justice and the Environment

01:358:205  The Coming Apocalypse

01:359:209  Introduction to Health, Medicine, and Literature

01:358:262  Introduction to Literature and the Environment

01:450:409  Geohumanities

01:470:364  Big Bang: The Literature of Chaos and Order

01:506:251  History of Science and Society

01:512:111  Race, Place, and Space in American History

01:512:320  American Frontier History

01:512:324  History of the North American Environment

01:512:329  Technology and Nature in American History

01:730:249  Bioethics

01:730:250  Environmental Ethics

01:730:252  Eating Right: The Ethics of Food Choices and Food Policy

11:550:250  History of Landscape Architecture

Environmental Social Science (ESS) Requirement (6 credits )

No more than 3 credits from the following list:

01:070:111  Extinction

01:090:281  Disasters, Culture, and Society

01:090:292:03  Energy and Culture

01:450:211  Environment and Society

01:450:214  Conservation

01:595:281:01  Caribbean Urbanism and Policy (1.5-credit minicourse)

01:920:227  Population and Society

01:920:232  Sociology of Food and Eating

01:988:240  Gender and Science

11:374:115  Water and Society

11:374:141  Health and Society

11:374:175  Energy and Society

11:374:220  Environmental Solutions

11:374:269  Population, Resources, and Environment

11:374:279  Politics of Environmental Issues

11:550:230  Environmental Design Analysis

11:572:202  Environmental Issues in the United States

11:573:231  Fundamentals of Environmental Planning

At least 3 credits from the following list:

01:070:302  Culture and the Environment*

01:070:486  Gender, Development, Environment: Policies, Politics, Perspectives

01:082:441  Cultural Heritage and Disaster: Preparedness, Response, and Resilience

01:220:432  Environmental Economics*

01:220:334  Energy Economics*

01:450:311  Natural Hazards and Disasters

01:450:317  Geography of Energy Resources

01:450:360  Cultural and Political Ecology

01:450:370  Climate Change and Society

01:595:312  Topics in Latino and Caribbean Studies: Barrio and Ghetto Life

01:790:350  Environmental Politics - U.S. and International

01:830:409  Reasoning, Problem Solving, and Decision-Making

01:920:359  Environmental Sociology*

01:988:409  Gender, Environmental Justice, and Health

11:374:462  International Environmental Law

11:550:271  Agriculture and the Landscape

Environmental Methods/Techniques/Modes of Inquiry (EMTM) Requirement (3 credits)

01:450:320  Spatial Data Analysis

01:450:321  Geographic Information Systems (or 11:573:232 Fundamentals of Environmental Geomatics)

01:450:322  Remote Sensing

01:450:355  Principles of Cartography

01:450:356  Advanced Cartography*

01:450:421  Advanced Geographic Information Systems*

11:216:315  Conservation Techniques

11:375:197  Environmental Science Literacy

11:550:237  Visualization 1: Drawing and Drafting

11:550:301  Social and Cultural Aspects of Design

11:573:232  Fundamentals of Environmental Geomatics (must also enroll for 1-credit lab)

11:573:233 (or 01:450:321)  Geographic Information Systems

Environmental Studies Capstone (ESC) Requirement (3 credits)

The environmental studies capstone requirement is typically met through participation in the upper-level environmental studies seminar listed below. The ENVS seminar is an integrative, problem-based, project-oriented course for students in their junior or senior years who have declared the ENVS major and completed the bulk of their ENVS coursework. This faculty-led seminar is structured to facilitate interdisciplinary student work. Seminar participants work collaboratively over the course of a semester on a selected environmental issue, demonstrating through specific assignments how perspectives representing each of the ENVS fields can be brought to bear on a given environmental problem. The ESC requirement may also be met through an internship, service-learning experience, study abroad, or honors project with approval of the undergraduate adviser. Students fulfilling the ESC requirement through one of these alternative means may also enroll in the ENVS seminar as an elective.

01:381:400  Environmental Studies Seminar (3 credits)

Electives (9 credits)

Electives may be drawn from among any of the approved courses listed above. Special topics courses taught in ENVS or other departments may also be counted toward particular degree requirements with permission of the undergraduate director. Similarly, the following special courses may be applied to meet any of the ENVS distribution requirements with the approval of the undergraduate director, depending on their contents. No course may be used to satisfy more than one degree requirement, however.

01:381:371,372  Environmental Studies Topics

01:381:485,486  Environmental Studies Internship

01:381:491,492  Environmental Studies Independent Study

01:381:495,496  Honors in Environmental Studies

Study abroad courses not listed above.

The distinction of Honors in Environmental Studies is awarded to graduating seniors who achieve: (1) a GPA of 3.50 or higher within the major at the end of their penultimate semester prior to graduation; or (2) a GPA of at least 3.35 within the major at the end of the penultimate semester, followed by the successful submission and defense of an approved honors thesis. The distinction of Highest Honors in Environmental Studies is awarded to students who achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher within the major at the end of the penultimate semester, and successfully submit and defend an approved honors thesis.

The honors thesis is produced under the supervision of a faculty committee. This committee consists of two faculty members: a principal thesis supervisor, who works closely with the student on the honors project over the course of a full academic year; and a second reader of the thesis, who reviews the final product and participates in the thesis defense. Faculty members who teach approved ENVS courses typically serve as thesis advisers. Students should recruit their advising team at the end of the junior year. Thesis research and writing fulfills the requirements of Honors in Environmental Studies 381:495 and 381:496 (3 credits per semester scheduled during senior year). After completing relevant research and producing a finished draft of the thesis, the student gives an oral presentation of their work and defends the thesis by responding to questions posed by the primary supervisor and second reader. Final revisions to the thesis must be completed to meet degree completion deadlines--typically mid-April for a spring degree--if the student plans to graduate with honors on the basis of the thesis option.