Environmental Studies Minor

TENURED AND TENURE-TRACK FACULTY:
Greg Wiles, Interim Chair
Matthew Mariola, Chair (on leave 2020-2021)
Erum Haider
Carlo Moreno

Issues related to the natural environment require an interdisciplinary focus. To fully come to grips with these challenges, we need to understand the way in which technological advances and human behavior affect fundamental ecological processes, what political and psychological tactics may be harnessed to address the problem, and how nature is discussed, described, and experienced. The field of environmental studies provides the opportunity to integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives in order to think about and understand environmental issues. The program at Wooster encourages students to engage hands-on with environmental issues both inside and outside the classroom, and at both local and global levels.

Environmental Studies minors will become knowledgeable about core scientific concepts that are relevant to the environment; able to understand different ways of assessing the value of the natural environment; comfortable with different means of examining and communicating about the environment; and familiar with the ways in which social institutions contribute to environmental problems and potential solutions to those problems. They should also understand their own roles within the human-environment relationship.

The Environmental Studies minor will complement a major in a traditional department so that students combine a detailed understanding of the knowledge and methods within a discipline with a focus on a particular topic. Students with an Environmental Studies minor will complete their I.S. project within their major department. However, they are encouraged to include an environmental component to their I.S. when possible, and the Environmental Studies faculty will endeavor to help them to do so.

Minor in Environmental Studies

Consists of six courses:

ENVS 30000-30009
One cross-listed course in Natural Sciences accepted for ENVS credit
One cross-listed course in History/Social Science accepted for ENVS credit
One cross-listed course in Arts and Humanities accepted for ENVS credit
Two electives from Environmental Studies or cross-listed courses accepted for ENVS credit

Special Notes

No more than one course within a student’s major discipline may be counted toward the Environmental Studies minor.
In departments with multiple versions of a particular course, only the sections specified in parentheses after the course listing will count toward the Environmental Studies minor.
Only grades of C- or better are accepted for the minor.

Cross-listed Courses Accepted for Environmental Studies Credit

Natural Science

Biology

BIOL 11100. Foundations of Biology [MNS]

BIOL 20200. Gateway to Eco, Evo & Organ Biology [MNS, Q]

BIOL 35000. Population & Community Ecology

BIOL 35200. Animal Behavior

BIOL 35600. Conservation Biology

Chemistry

CHEM 21600. Environmental Chemistry

Earth Sciences

ESCI 10500. Geology of Natural Hazards [MNS, SJ]

ESCI 11000. Environmental Geology [MNS]

ESCI 11500. Oceanography [MNS]

ESCI 21500. Paleoecology [MNS]

ESCI 25000. Intro to Geographic Info Systems (GIS) [MNS, SJ]

ESCI 27000. Paleoclimate [MNS, Q]

ESCI 27500. Modern Climate Change [MNS, SJ]

ESCI 28000. Hydrology [MNS, Q, QL]

Social Science

Communications

COMM 26000. Environmental Communication

Economics

ECON 24000. Environmental and Natural ResourceEconomics [HSS]

ECON 29905. Environmental Urban Economics

Psychology

PSYC 22500. Environmental Psychology [HSS, C, GE]

Sociology and Anthropology

SOCI 20300. Environmental Sociology [HSS, D, GE, SJ]

Humanities

English

ENGL 12015. Animals in Literature [AH]

ENGL 12019. The Watery Part of the World [AH]

ENGL 16003. Nature & Environmental Writing [AH, W]

ENGL 21026. Lit, Cul & Environment Crisis [AH]

ENGL 24035. Green Shade: Poems in Place [AH]

ENGL 30017. Writing a Warming World [AH]

Philosophy

PHIL 21600. Environmental Ethics [AH, SJ]

Religious Studies

RELS 26911. Religion and the Environment [R]

Russian Studies

RUSS 24000. Imagining Russia’s Landscapes [AH, C]