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Environmental Studies

Nature and Society Concentration

The Nature and Society concentration is a course of study that provides flexibility for students to pursue a range of interests and develop a broad base of knowledge in the environmental field. This concentration allows students the greatest freedom among the three concentrations to select the courses they want to construct their major. It is particularly well suited for those who love learning about nature and the environment but are as yet unsure of the precise career path they wish to take, or for those who seek an environmental career in writing or the arts. The concentration in Nature and Society prepares students for work in environmental advocacy, communication, consulting, education, government and journalism, as well as for the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and many masters degree programs.

Requirements

(click here for downloadable checklist)

Students must take a minimum of 11 courses, at least four of which are at the 300-level or above including the following (*check prerequisites).

 

Required Core Courses (6 total)

  1. ENST 100 - Environment and Society
  2. ENST/BIOL 120 - Ecology and Environmental Problems
  3. ENST 230 (formerly 110) - Earth Systems Science
  4. Research methods requirement - one of the following:
    • ENST 200 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
    • BIOL 323 (formerly 209)* - Biostatistics and Experimental Design
    • PSYCH 227 - Statistics
    • ECON 227 - Statistics for Business and Economics
    • SOC 225 - Methods of Social Research
    • PSCI 392 - Empirical Political Research
  5. Ethics requirement: either PHIL 301 (formerly 302) - Ethics and the Environment or ENST/PSCI 365 - Ethical Dilemmas in Environmental Politics
  6. ENST 480* - Senior Seminar: Creating a Sustainable Society (prerequisites: see course description)

    Elective Courses (5 total) 

  7. Two elective Natural Science courses from the approved list (see below).
  8. Two elective Humanities and Social Science courses from the approved list (see below).
  9. One Explorative Elective from any of the approved lists (see below)

No more than one internship (ENST 397) and one directed reading (ENST 250) may count toward the major.

Natural Science (approved elective courses - 2 required)

  • ENST 115/PHYS 120 - Energy and Society
  • ENST/CHEM 130 - Chemistry of the Environment
  • ENST/CHEM 135 - Water Quality
  • ENST/CHEM 138 - Better Living Through Green Chemistry 
  • ENST 231 - Environmental Science in Action
  • ENST/CHEM 234 - Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology 
  • ENST 240 - Health and the Environment
  • ENST 241 - War on Cancer: Does Environment Matter?
  • ENST 242 - Toxic Threats to Reproduction and Child Development
  • ENST 300 - Applied Geographic Information Systems
  • ENST/BIOL 318 (formerly 218)* - Field Ornithology  
  • BIOL/ENST 321* - Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology
  • BIOL 322* - Herpetology
  • BIOL 324 (formerly 217)* - Principles of Ecology  
  • BIOL/ENST 350* - Tropical Ecology

Humanities and Social Science (approved elective courses - 2 required)

  • ENST/HIST 248 - American Environmental History
  • ENST/PSCI 260 - American Environmental Politics
  • ENST/PSCI 262 - Global Sustainability and Asian Development
  • ENST/ANTH 274 - Peoples and Cultures of East Africa
  • ENST/ANTH 276 - Native Americans and the Environment
  • ENST/ANTH 288 - Consuming Passions: The Anthropology of Food
  • ENGL 320 - Fiction and Field Study 
  • ENST/PSYC 355* - Psychology and the Environment
  • HIST 360 - Modern Brazil
  • ENST/PSCI 360 - Comparative Environmental Politics
  • ENST/PSCI 361 - Globalization and the Environment
  • ENST/PSCI 362 - Global Sustainability and Asian Development
  • ENST/PSCI 363 - Global Responses to Climate Change
  • ENST/SOC 367 - Environmental Sociology
  • ENST/ECON 370 - Environmental and Natural Resources Economics 

Common Substitutions

  • ENST 250 - Directed Readings in Environmental Studies, with approval of ES supervising faculty member and ES advisor
  • ENST 270 - Special Topics, when approved as a humanities and social science course
  • ENST 275 - Experimental Course in Environmental Studies
  • ENST 370 - Special Topics, when approved as a humanities and social science course
  • ENST 375 - Experimental Course in Environmental Studies
  • ENST 397* - Internship, with approval of ES advisor
  • ENST 450* - Independent Study, with approval of supervising faculty member and ES advisor
  • ENST 451* - Independent Research and Writing, with approval of supervising faculty member and ES advisor

Abigail Jahiel - Professor of Environmental and International Studies

Department - Environmental Studies