Environmental Studies Major
Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary program that combines natural science, social science, humanities, and arts. It examines local, regional, national, and international environmental problems in a holistic manner. The major consists of a minimum of twelve courses: nine common course requirements distributed between offerings in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and three elective courses. Only one of the three electives can be selected from Area 1. Note the restriction in Area 2 on courses counting for the major. At least two of the twelve courses must be at the 300-level or higher. A single course can only be utilized to satisfy one requirement in the Environmental Studies major.
Except for transfer students and students accepted in the Semester in Environmental Science program, no more than two courses taken off campus can be applied toward the major. No more than one of these courses taken off campus can be applied toward the Area 1 through Area 8 in the major with the second course only counting towards the elective requirement. Courses taken off campus need pre-approval by the director. The Environmental Studies program does not accept Advanced Placement credits to fulfill any requirements in the major. The College is also a member of a consortium of small liberal arts colleges that participates in a semester of study in environmental science, known as the Semester in Environmental Science, at The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA.
Requirements
1. Introductory course:
| ES 100 | INTRO TO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1009 | ENERGY FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1038 | COMMUNICATING CLIMATE CHANGE | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1040 | THE MEANING OF DINOSAURS | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1046 | THRIVING IN THE ANTHROPOCENE | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1060 | THE TAMING OF AMERICAN RIVERS | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1064 | ANIMALS, EARTHLINGS, & PLANET | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1077 | HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD | 4 |
| or | |
| FYS 1083 | GREENING THE CAMPUS | 4 |
2. Two introductory natural science courses (one course from two of the four categories):
Students must take one course from two different categories below.
| Life Sciences (only one of these courses may count for the ES major): | |
| BIO 120 | INTRO TO BIOLOGICAL INQUIRY | 4 |
| BOT 105 | ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY | 4 |
| BOT 115 | CC: HOW PLANTS FEED THE WORLD | 4 |
| Chemistry (only one of these courses may count for the ES major): | |
| CHM 100 | CC: CHEMISTRY IN CONTEXT | 4 |
| CHM 103 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY | 4 |
| CHM 107 | ADV GENERAL CHEMISTRY | 4 |
| Geoscience: | |
| ES 120/GEO 120 | CC:LIVING ON A CHANGING PLANET | 4 |
| ES 201/GEO 201 | PLATE TECTONICS | 4 |
| ES 202/GEO 202 | EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES | 4 |
| Physics: | |
| ES 113/PHY 113 | CC: ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT | 4 |
3. One of the following natural science field lab courses:
4. One of the following upper-level natural science courses:
Any additional courses from Area 3 above
5. One of the following policy or economics-based courses:
6. One of the following anthropology, sociology or other social science courses:
7. One of the following humanities, arts or languages electives:
8. One senior-level seminar chosen from the following:
| ES 493 | ADVANCED STUDY SEMINAR | 4 |
| ECO 404 | SEM: ENVIR/NAT RESOURCE ECON | 4 |
9. Electives: three additional courses selected from the following list, or from the courses listed above:
Only one of the three electives can be selected from Area 1. Please note the restriction in Area 2 on courses counting for the major.
Bernhard, Chomiak, Flagg, Graesch, Lizarralde, Jones, McMahon, Neely, Rosa, Siver, Thompson, Turner, Uddin, Vukicevich, Zimmer