Environmental Studies BA, (including pre-law, pre-DPT, and Environmental Science specializations)

College of Arts and Sciences

Program Director: Linda Auker, PhD

Affiliated Faculty

Linda A. Auker, Assistant Professor of Biology, BS, Long Island University; MS University of Rhode Island; PhD University of New Hampshire

Allan W. Austin, Professor of History and Government, BA, MA Bowling Green State University; PhD University of Cincinnati

Brian F. Carso, Jr., Associate Professor of History and Government, BA, MA University of Rochester; JD State University of NY at Buffalo, School of Law; PhD Boston University

Joseph Curran, Professor of Religious Studies, BA University of Scranton; PhD Boston College

Michael P. Orleski, Associate Professor of Physics, BS, MS East Stroudsburg University; MS, PhD Lehigh University

Melanie Shepherd, Professor of Philosophy, BA Hanover College, PhD The Pennsylvania State University

Cosima B. Wiese, Professor of Biology, BA Bucknell University; MSc, PhD The Pennsylvania State University

Mateusz Wosik, Assistant Professor of Biology, BSc Elmhurst College; PhD University of Toronto

 

The Environmental Studies program prepares students to analyze and respond to environmental situations through an interdisciplinary program of study in the arts and sciences. Students will develop the skills of policy-analysis, communication, and imagination by studying environmental issues through a variety of disciplines in the humanities, and they will develop the scientific knowledge and skills in data-analysis necessary for a technical understanding of environmental issues by studying those issues from the perspectives of the sciences. The knowledge and skills developed through engagement with these interdisciplinary perspectives will allow students to think, speak, and act effectively to promote environmental conditions in which all life can flourish.

Program and Student Learning Outcomes:

PLO 1) Develop students’ comprehension of the philosophical and ethical dimensions of environmentalism, and of the various meanings of the idea of nature.

SLO1.1) Students will formulate multiple theories of the meaning of nature.

SLO1.2) Students will communicate philosophical and ethical theories underlying environmentalism.

PLO 2) Cultivate an understanding of the natural environment that is shaped by evolutionary history, human history and pre-history, and the history of environmental advocacy.

SLO2.1) Students will evaluate a variety of historical perspectives on the environment.

PLO 3) Develop the mathematical, scientific, geographical, and socio-economic literacy necessary to analyze an environmental situation.

SLO 3.1) Students will demonstrate proficiency in statistics.

SLO 3.2) Students will demonstrate the scientific knowledge necessary to understand environmental issues.

SLO 3.3) Students will demonstrate the socio-economic literacy necessary to understand environmental issues.

PLO 4) Allow students to construct and apply a framework to analyze environmental challenges from a multi- and inter-disciplinary perspective.

SLO 4.1) Students will apply knowledge in humanistic and scientific disciplines in order to analyze environmental problems.

SLO 4.2) Students will construct and apply a multi- and interdisciplinary framework to an environmental challenge.

Curriculum:

Required Courses

All students must take the following required classes:

BIO 106 Introduction to Environmental Science  

CHM 101 Chemistry in Context I   (standard or pre-Law track); or CHM 133 Chemical Principles I  (Environmental Science track); or CHM 104 General Chemistry  (pre-DPT track)

ENV 100 Environment and Society  

ENV 200 Issues in Sustainability  

ENV 300 Environmental Research Design  

ENV 400 Senior Capstone  

HIS 235 Introduction to U.S. Environmental History  

MTH 115 Basic Statistics  

PHL 202 Environmental Philosophy  

PHY 142 Earth Science  

Those in the Environmental Science track must also complete:

BIO 113 Genetics, Evolution and Ecology  

BIO 310 Environmental Biology  

BIO 425 Ecology  

CHM 134 Chemical Principles II  

Elective Courses

Students in all tracks except Environmental Science must also complete a total of six (6) electives in the following areas (list reflects current approved offerings; additions to these groups will be indicated in subsequent catalogs and on the student’s advising worksheet/degree audit):

• ENV-offered Humanities (Group A):
  • ENV 312 Environmental Aesthetics  
  • ENV 316 Perspectives on the Anthropocene  
  • ENV 484 Special Topics Humanities  
• ENV-offered Sciences (Group B):
  • ENV 311 Climate Change  
  • ENV 313 Water  
  • ENV 485 Special Topics Sciences  
• Humanities Electives in other departments (Group C):

  • ENG 339 Technical Writing  

  • ENG 348 Science Writing  

  • FA 362 Music, Ecology & the Environment  

  • GEO 202 Cultural World Geography  

  • HIS 309 The American West  

  • HIS 360 Global Environmental History  

  • MHH 314 Environmental Health  

  • PHL 270 Social and Political Philosophy  

  • RLS 119 Mercy and Justice  

• Science Electives in other departments (Group D):

  • BIO 310 Environmental Biology  (non-Environmental Science tracks only)

  • BIO 370 Biostatistics  

  • BIO 425 Ecology   (non-Environmental Science tracks only)

  • BIO 313 Marine Biology  

  • BIO 315 Invasive Species  

  • BIO 343 Microbiology  

  • BIO 431 Field Biology  

  • CHM 243 Organic Chemistry I  

  • CHM 244 Organic Chemistry II  

  • CHM 343 Introduction to Physical Chemistry  

  • PHY 121 Energy in Our World  

  • ENV 410 Independent Research  (at least 3 credits, but can be taken more than once)

For students in all tracks other than Environmental Science, the combination must include:

• 1 from A
• 1 from B
• 1 from A or C
• 1 from B or D
• 2 from any group

Students in the Environmental Science must complete four (4) electives in the following distribution:

• 1 from A
• 1 from A or C
• 2 from any group

Please refer to the sample plans of study  for all tracks for further information.