Program Overview

Environmental Studies, BA

The major and minor offer interdisciplinary studies on issues related to the environment. Students take core and elective courses that address the environment from a wide range of fields, including anthropology, biology and ecology, chemistry and physics, economics, history, political science, sociology, theology and ethics. The major is ideal for students who intend to pursue a career that focuses on the environment (e.g., environmental management, restoration, mitigation, consulting, policy, economics), or who intend to pursue graduate or professional school in environmental science, law, business, policy, economics, philosophy, theology or ethics.

Degree Requirements

The College of Arts and Sciences curricular requirements are organized around these essential components:

• The development of fundamental skills of critical inquiry, analysis and expression.
• The development of appreciation for the spiritual and creative dimensions of human life and culture.
• The development of a responsible commitment to the broader social and political communities in which we live.

Course Requirements

The major consists of eighteen courses (54-56 cr. hrs.), including fifteen required courses (45-46 cr. hrs.) and three elective courses (9-10 cr. hrs.) on subjects in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and/or engineering.

Required Courses

• BIOL 1001: General Biology 1
• BIOL 1002: General Biology 2
• BIOL 3400: Ecology
• PHYS 1009: Earth and Environmental Physics
• Experimental Biology Course (choose one)
  • BIOL 4402: Experimental Ecology and Field Biology
  • BIOL 4403: Tropical Ecology in Panama
  • BIOL 4802: Experimental Microbiology
• Ethics Course (choose one)
  • PHIL 3350: Philosophy of the Environment
  • THEO 4440: Foundations of Ecological Ethics
• Statistics Course (choose one)
  • MATH 1700: Modern Elementary Statistics
  • MATH 4720: Statistical Methods
  • MATH 4740: Biostatistical Methods and Models
• Economics Courses
  • ECON 1103: Principles of Microeconomics
  • ECON 1104: Principles of Macroeconomics
  • ECON 4016: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
• Political Science Courses
  • POSC 2601: International Politics
  • POSC 4351: Environmental Politics and Policy
• Environment and Society Courses
  • ANTH 2203: Human Geography
  • SOCI 3720: Environment and Society
• Capstone Course
  • INES 4997: Capstone in Environmental Studies

Elective Courses

Choose three of the following:

• Economics
  • ECON 3003: Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis
  • ECON 4012: Urban and Regional Economics
  • ECON 4047: Development Economics
• Engineering
  • CEEN 3510: Environmental Engineering
  • CEEN 4515: Environmental Chemistry
  • CEEN 4550: Water Resources Planning and Management
  • CEEN 4715: Sustainable Engineering
• Environment and Society
  • ENGL 3765: Material Cultures
  • ENGL 3775: Literature and Place
  • HIST 3800: Environmental History: Ecology and Society in the Modern World
  • SOCI 3720: Environment and Society
  • SOWJ 4700: Global Aid and Humanitarianism
• Environmental Science and Anthropology
  • ANTH 1201: Introduction to Biological Anthropology
  • ANTH 2201: Human Evolutionary Processes
  • ANTH 3153: Demography
  • ANTH 4144: The Rise of Agriculture
  • ANTH 4245: The Rise of States
  • ANTH 4316: Culture Change and Development
  • BIOL 3404: Evolutionary Biology
  • BIOL 4401: Advanced Ecology
  • BIOL 4406: Plant Biology
  • BIOL 4410: Conservation Biology
  • BIOL 4801: Microbiology
  • CHEM 1080: Chemistry in the World
  • PHYS 1007: Survey of Meteorology
• Environmental Studies Internship
  • INES 4987: Environmental Studies: Applying the Internship Experience
• Political Science
  • POSC 4216: Public Policy Analysis
  • POSC 4221: Interest Group Politics
  • POSC 4661: The Political Economy of Development

University Policies

• Academic Advising
• Academic Censure - Undergraduate
• Academic Integrity
• Academic Misconduct
• Academic Program Definitions
• Academic Standing
• Accelerated Degree Programs
• Advanced Standing Credit - Undergraduate
• Attendance - Undergraduate
• Audit - Undergraduate
• Awarding Diplomas and Certificates
• Background Checks, Drug Testing
• Class Rank
• Classification - Undergraduate
• Commencement
• Conferral of Degrees and Certificates
• Course Levels
• Credit Hour
• Credit Load - Undergraduate
• Examinations (Midterm and Final) - Undergraduate
• Faculty Grading
• Family Education Rights and Privacy Act-FERPA
• Grade Appeals
• Grading System - Undergraduate and Health Science Professional
• Graduation - Undergraduate
• Immunization and Tuberculosis Screening Requirements
• Last Date of Attendance/Activity
• Major and Minor Declaration - Undergraduate
• Medical Withdrawal
• Military Call to Active Duty or Training
• Non-Degree Undergraduate Students
• Readmission - Undergraduate
• Registration - Undergraduate
• Repeated Courses - Undergraduate
• Second Language Course Placement - Undergraduate
• Second/Additional Bachelor Degree
• Student Consumer Complaints
• Student Data Use and Privacy
• Study at Other Institutions - Undergraduate
• Transcripts-Official
• Transfer (Internal) to Another Undergraduate College within the University
• Transfer Course Credit - Undergraduate
• Withdrawal - Undergraduate

College of Arts and Sciences Policies

• Absences from Final Examinations
• Academic Dismissal/Probation/Academic Alert (CAA)
• Academic Integrity
• Advisers
• Attendance
• Credit Overload
• Degrees Offered
• Elective Courses
• Grade Minimums
• Independent Study Courses
• Interdisciplinary Programs
• Majors and Minors
• Transfer Credit Policy