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- Environmental Studies Major
This information is part of the Colgate University catalog, 2021-22.
Advisers Baptiste, Burnett, Cardelús, Frey, Fuller, Globus-Harris, Helfant, Henke, Kawall, E. Kraly, Levy, Loranty, McCay, Parks, Pattison, Tseng, Turner
The environmental studies major combines breadth in analytical perspectives, interdisciplinary courses in which students learn to combine analytical perspectives, and depth in a focus area of each student's choosing. The courses below are required for the major.
Major Requirements
Environmental Studies Courses (four)
All of the Following
- ENST 202/PHIL 202 - Environmental Ethics
-
ENST 390 - Community-based Study of Environmental Issues
Note: ENST 389/ENST 389L may be taken in place of ENST 390 - ENST 490 - Seminar in Environmental Studies
One of the Following
One Additional Interdisciplinary Course Focused on the Environment
One full-credit course or two half-credit courses from the following list:
- CORE 114S - Ecology, Ethics, and Wilderness
- CORE 119S - Environmental Activism, Science, and the Arts
- CORE 123S - Climate Change and Human History
- CORE 128S - Global Change and You
- CORE 159S - Ecology and the Quality of the Environment
- CORE 178S - Water
- CORE 181S - Cooperation & the Environment
- ENST 233 - Global Environmental Health Issues (0.50 credit)
- ENST 240 - Sustainability: Science and Analysis
- ENST 291 - Independent Study (with permission of the program director)
- ENST 391 - Independent Study (with permission of the program director)
- ENST 491 - Independent Study (with permission of the program director)
- ENST 309 - Australian Environmental Issues (Study Group)
- ENST 313 /ASIA 313 /SOCI 313 Environmental Problems and Environmental Activism in the People's Republic of China
- ENST 316 - Nature, Technology, and the Human Prospect
- ENST 321 - Global Environmental Justice (if it is not used to fulfill the Environmental Studies requirement)
- GEOG 105 - Climate and Society
- GEOG 323/REST 323 - Arctic Transformations
- HIST 302 - Global Toxic History (TR)
Methods Course
One full-credit course or two half-credit courses from the following list, or with permission of the program director another methods course appropriate for the student's chosen field of study:
- BIOL 320 - Biostatistics and BIOL 320L
- ECON 375 - Applied Econometrics
- ENST 250 - Environmental Policy Analysis
- GEOG 245 - Geographic Information Systems
- GEOG 250 - Research Methods
- GEOG 251 - Media Frames and Content Analysis (0.50 credit)
- GEOG 347 - Satellite Image Analysis (0.50 credit)
- GEOL 253 - Environmental Geochemistry and Analysis and GEOL 253L
- GEOL 320 - Techniques of Field Geology
- GEOL 370 - Geoinformatics
- HIST 199 - History Workshop
- PHIL 225 - Logic I
- RELG 352 - Theory and Method in the Study of Religion
- SOCI 251 - Media Frame and Content Analysis (0.50 credit)
Courses Providing Breadth of Analytical Perspectives (three)
Earth Systems and Processes
One of the following courses:
- BIOL 181 - Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity and BIOL 181L
- BIOL 203 - Ecology and BIOL 203L
- BIOL 328 - Field Ecology and BIOL 328L
- BIOL 330 - Conservation Biology
- BIOL 332 - Tropical Ecology and BIOL 332E
- BIOL 335 - Limnology and BIOL 335L
- BIOL 336 - Advanced Ecology
- BIOL 340 - Marine Biology
- BIOL 359 - Ecosystem Ecology and BIOL 359L
- CHEM 100 - The Chemistry of Altered and Natural Environments
- CORE 101S - Energy and Sustainability
- CORE 102S - Molecules, Energy, and Environment
- ENST 345 - Water Pollution: Chemistry and Environmental Engineering
- GEOG 231 - Geography of the Physical Environment
- GEOG 332 - Weather and Climate
- GEOG 336 - Biogeography
- GEOG 338 - Earth System Ecology
- GEOL 101 - Environmental Geology and GEOL 101L
- GEOL 102 - Sustainable Earth
- GEOL 135 - Oceanography and the Environment
- GEOL 335 - Hydrology and Geomorphology and GEOL 335L
- GEOL 215 - Paleontology of Marine Life and GEOL 215L
- GEOL 310 - Environmental Economic Geology
- GEOL 450 - Paleoclimatology
- GEOL 403 - Geochemistry
- GEOL 416 - Marine Geology and GEOL 416L
Social Science Investigations of Environmental Issues
One of the following courses:
- ALST 309 - Latin America: Critical Landscapes of Development
- ANTH 245 - Nature, Culture, and Politics
- ASIA 313 - Environmental Problems and Environmental Activism in the People's Republic of China
- ECON 228 - Environmental Economics
- ECON 383 - Natural Resource Economics
- ENST 241 - Sustainability and Climate Action Planning
- ENST 313 - Environmental Problems and Environmental Activism in the People's Republic of China
- ENST 319 - Food
- ENST 340 - Environmental Cleanup: Methods and Regulation
- GEOG 211 - Geographies of Nature, Economy, Society
- GEOG 309 - Latin America: Critical Landscapes of Development
- GEOG 315 - Sustainable Livelihoods in Asia
- GEOG 316 - Environmental and Public Health Geographies
- GEOG 319 - Population and Environment
- GEOG 321 - Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change
- GEOG 323 - Arctic Transformations
- GEOG 325 - Water and Society
- GEOG 326 - Environmental Hazards
- GEOG 328 - Sustainability and Natural Resources
- GEOG 329 - Environmental Security
- PCON 329 - Environmental Security
- POSC 335 - U.S. Environmental Politics
- REST 323 - Arctic Transformations
- SOCI 245 - Nature, Culture, and Politics
- SOCI 313 - Environmental Problems and Environmental Activism in the People's Republic of China
- SOCI 319 - Food (CB)
- An additional course that satisfies the Interdisciplinary Courses Focused on the Environment requirement with the permission of the program director
Arts and Humanities Courses Related to the Environment
One of the following courses:
- ARTS 271 - Architectural Design I (SA)
- ARTS 274 - Sustainability in Architectural Design (SA)
- ENGL 204 - Native American Writers
- ENGL 219 - American Literature and the Environment
- ENST 219 - American Literature and the Environment
- ENGL 336 - Native American Literature
- ENGL 420 - Emerson and Thoreau
- ENST 324 - Hunting, Eating, Vegetarianism
- LGBT 340 - Rural Sexualities and Genders
- PHIL 313 - International Ethics (VT) (with permission of the program director)
- PHIL 333 - Topics in Environmental Philosophy
- RELG 236 - Religion, Science, and the Environment
- An additional course that satisfies the Interdisciplinary Courses Focused on the Environment requirement with the permission of the program director
- Additional Arts and Humanities courses related to the environment may be used to satisfy this requirement with permission of the program director
Focus in a Particular Field of Study
Four courses (or a combination of full- and partial-credit courses, not including labs, that add up to four full-course credits) that provide depth in a field of study. No more than one of these courses can be at an introductory level, and at least one must be at an advanced level. These courses are in addition to those used to satisfy the requirements listed above. With permission of the program director any four courses that combine to provide depth in a field of study may be used, but normally all of the four courses used to satisfy this requirement will be from the same department or from the same one of the lists of requirements in:
Earth Systems and Processes
Social Science Investigations of Environmental Issues
Arts and Humanities Courses Related to the Environment
With permission of the program director, this requirement may be waived if a student has a second major or a minor.
Honors and High Honors
Students interested in pursuing honors can find the additional requirements on the Environmental Studies program page.
Environmental Studies Program
For more information about the department, including Faculty, transfer credit, awards, etc., please visit the Environmental Studies program catalogue page.