Concentration in Environmental Studies

Students Admitted Prior to Autumn 2008
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Students Admitted Autumn 2008 and Beyond
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Overview

Concentration Coordinator: Jim Gawel

The Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences with a concentration in Environmental Studies offers students a strong background in environmental science, complemented by a range of non-science courses.

Starting with a core of courses in the earth and life sciences, it branches out to examine legal, economic, literary, historical and philosophical perspectives on the environment. The focus is inherently interdisciplinary and addresses both global and local issues. Collectively, environmental studies courses explore how scientific information gets translated by political and cultural arenas into social, ethical, legal and technological responses to environmental problems.

Career Options

Students with the B.A. degree can go on to pursue careers in education, policy and other fields that mesh natural and social sciences and humanities.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students in this concentration will:

• Learn core content in the scientific disciplines underlying environmental problems, including biology, chemistry, and geology.
• Develop a basic understanding of important related topics, including environmental economics, policy, environmental history and literature, history and philosophy of science, environmental psychology, and conflict resolution studies.
• Be familiar with both environmental ethics and environmental law/policy.
• Be outstanding communicators in both oral and written forms and be able to work collaboratively.
• Experience environmental science via laboratory and field experiences.
• Be able to analyze complex environmental problems or cases from both scientific and non-scientific standpoints.

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