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Environmental Studies programs strive to increase awareness and appreciation of human connections with the rest of nature and to stimulate advocacy for sustainable behaviors. The curriculum stresses sound interdisciplinary understanding of natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities disciplines in order to explore past, present, and potential ways of living on the earth. We are concerned with environmental issues at local, regional, national, and global levels, and we especially desire to help individuals and communities practice sustainable living by means of our research, teaching, and service. Faculty and students collaborate in active and critical learning through community discourse, personal inquiry, and experiential learning. We intend that our students develop a personal aesthetic awareness of the earth and that they engage in inquiry, discovery, critical thinking, and debate that characterize the study of environmental issues.

The program offers majors in Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, and Sustainability and Business (offered jointly with the Department of Business). All three majors build upon a sound foundation in basic science, and both provide broad explorations of human interaction with the environment.

During the first two years of the Environmental Science and Environmental Studies majors, course requirements are nearly identical. The difference between the two majors emerges during the final two years in course selection: Environmental Science emphasizes scientific aspects of environmental questions, while Environmental Studies emphasizes humanistic, social, and political aspects.

During the first year, both majors take courses in Environmental Issues, Biology, Literature, Nature and the Environment (or appropriate substitute), and Economics in Context (or appropriate substitute). This two-semester program, called the Green Learning Community (GLC), provides an interdisciplinary framework to explore fundamental themes of environmental studies. Moreover, it develops academic, social, and affective skills necessary for successful college learning and collaborative professional work.

During the second year, students look more deeply into the nature of environmental issues by taking courses in Environment and Society, Conservation and Preservation, and Environmental Policy. In addition, the Conservation Field Lab teaches conservation field skills as well as data analysis and environmental communication arts. In the Environmental Sustainability Lab students apply classroom learning as they propose, research and bring about a sustainability project on the campus or in the larger community. These interdisciplinary core environmental courses ensure a broad understanding while preparing students for more advanced study.

In their third year, students in both majors take BIO 350 – Ecology. In their third and fourth years, aided by a faculty advisor, students choose advanced courses according to their interests and career plans. Environmental Science majors choose science electives in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Marine Science, or Psychology. Environmental Studies majors in the third and fourth years choose advanced courses from the following distribution groups: Conservation, Preservation and Restoration; Environmental Policy and Management; Arts, Humanities, and Values; Global Ecology and Social Justice.

In both majors, the advanced courses not only stress deeper understanding but also involve problem-solving. Some courses examine the ways that human attitudes affect our environment, while other courses deal with hands-on tasks such as designing a conservation area, restoring a natural ecosystem, or considering technologies to reduce pollution. In order to ensure an intense direct experience of th