The minor in Creative Expression and the Environment is a multidisciplinary program in which students gain familiarity with fundamentals of environmental issues and learn to respond to them through creative expression in a variety of disciplines and media in the arts and humanities. Students gain the flexibility to develop their skills as readers, writers, musical performers and composers, visual artists, designers, theater artists, filmmakers, dancers, choreographers, and more, even as they see how those skills can contribute to the communication and creation of knowledge in environmental science and social science. Based on the notion that the arts and humanities have the capacity to engage, promote reflection and empathy, demonstrate care, and inspire action, the minor in Creative Expression and the Environment will empower students to imagine and help to build a future that is rooted in environmental knowledge and the quest for environmental sustainability and justice.
Learning Outcomes
- Upon completion of the minor, students will articulate fundamental principles and methodologies of environmental issues. They will demonstrate the ability to apply appropriate terminology and express awareness of the environmental challenges that our world faces and how those challenges are being addressed.
- Students will value and engage the humanities in the pursuit of environmental sustainability and justice. They will demonstrate and apply appreciation for diverse traditions of cultural environmental knowledges and stewardship.
- Students will employ the practices of environmental arts and articulate the ways in which the arts can be pressed into service to reflect upon, communicate, and galvanize action around environmental issues.
- Students will understand and apply the practices of collaboration and cross-disciplinary work.
Requirements
Students must complete a total of 18 credits of Minor-approved courses:
- three required courses¿one from the categories of Environmental Science, one from Environmental Humanities, and one from Environmental Arts
- three elective courses¿one from each of the categories Environmental Science, Environmental Humanities, and Environmental Arts
Required Courses (3 Courses Total)
Environmental Science and Social Science
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Environmental Humanities
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Environmental Arts
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11:375:101 Introduction to Environmental Science (3 credits)
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01:195:220 Our World: Social Justice and the Environment (3 credits)
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07:557:121 Introduction to Environmental Arts (3 credits)
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Electives (3 Courses Total)
Pick ONE from category: Environmental Science and Social Science
Environmental Sciences
11:375:103 Introduction to Environmental Health (not applicable to environmental science majors)
11:375:197 Environmental Science Literacy (not applicable to environmental science majors)
11:375:201 Biological Principles of Environmental Science
11:375:202 Chemical Principles of Environmental Science
Human Ecology
11:374:175 Energy and Society
11:374:210 Nature Journaling: Discovering Biodiversity and Nature in Everyday Life
11:374:220 Environmental Solutions
11:374:250 Environmental Justice
11:374:279 Politics of Environmental Issues
11:374:313 US Environmental Policy
11:374:435 Environmental Writing: Rhetorical Strategies for Complex Ecological Issues
11:374:460 Environmental Law and Policy
Agriculture and Natural Resources
11:035:268 Environmental Pollution
Anthropology
01:070:213 Environment and Human Evolution
Environmental and Business Economics
11:373:101 Economics, People and the Environment
Geography
01:450:213 The Global Climate System
01:450:306 Global Ecosystems and Biodiversity
01:450:360 Cultural and Political Ecology
01:450:311 Natural Hazards and Disasters
Earth and Planetary Sciences
01:460:202 Environmental Geology
Environmental Planning and Design
11:573:409 Challenges and Opportunities Environmental Planning
11:573:445 Ecological Design and Stewardship
Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
11:216:431 Fundamentals of Ecological and Environmental Modeling
Supply Chain Management
33:799:440 Supply Chain Environmental Management and Green Purchasing
Meteorology
11:670:102 Introduction to Climate Science
Political Science
01:790:350 Environmental Politics
Pick ONE from category: Environmental Humanities
Art History
01:082:101 Building the Future: An Introduction to Architecture
01:082:205 Intro. to Asian Art
01:082:328 Modern and Contemporary Visual Culture in the Islamic World
01:082:391 Nineteenth-Century Architecture and Society in the United States
Asian Studies
01:098:479 Environmental Crisis and Cultural Change in Southeast Asia
Chinese
01:165:463 Nature in Chinese literature
Comparative Literature
01:195:271 Resisting Petrocapitalism: Oceanians against Climate Collapse
American Studies
01:050:203 The American West
01:050:272 American Food, Past, and Present.
01:050:302:80 Topics: Beaches, Lakes, and Rivers of NJ
01:050:310:02 Approaches: Messing with Nature
English
01:351:209 Multimedia Composition (*only sections of this course on multimedia/creative writing for the environment).
01:358:262 Introduction to Literature and Environment
01:358:205 The Coming Apocalypse (4 credits)
01:358:207 Writing after the End of the World (4 credits)
01:359:209 Introduction to Health, Medicine, and Literature
French
01:420:252 Power and Place (taught in English)
German
01:470:364 Literature of Chaos and Order
History
01:506:249 Climate Politics, a Deep History.
01:512:329 Technology and Nature in American History
Philosophy
01:730:250 Environmental Ethics
01:730:252 Eating Right: The Ethics of Food Choices and Food Policy (4 credits)
01:730:253 Human Nature and Human Diversity (4 credits)
01:730:249 Bioethics
Religion
01:840:105 Religions Now: 21st-Century Controversies (4 credits)
Spanish
01:940:462 Environment and Literature in Hispanic Culture (taught in Spanish)
Women, Gender Studies and Sexuality Studies
01:988:409:90 Gender, Environmental Justice, and Health
01:988:250 Feminism in a Time of Environmental Crisis
Pick ONE from category: Environmental Arts
Dance
07:203:250 Performing Climate Change
07:965:302 Theater for Social Development
Art and Design
07:080:215 Graphic Design for Everybody (may not be used for elective credit for the minor by Mason Gross students)
07:080:331 Digital Photo Image (may not be used for elective credit for the minor by Mason Gross students)
Digital Filmmaking
07:211:240 The Art of Documentary Filmmaking (may not be used for elective credit for the minor by Mason Gross students)
Theater Arts
07:966:255 Upcycling: An Artistic Approach to Fast Fashion
07:965:330 Improving Communication Through Improvisation
School of Environmental and Biological Sciences 
