Environmentalstudies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities,[1] and social sciences[2] to address complex contemporary environmental issues. It is a broad field of study that includes the natural environment, the built environment, and the relationship between them. The field encompasses study in basic principles of ecology and environmental science, as well as associated subjects such as ethics, geography, anthropology, public policy (environmental policy), education, political science (environmental politics), urban planning, law, economics, philosophy, sociology and social justice, planning, pollution control, and natural resource management.[3] There are many Environmental Studies degree programs, including a Master's degree and a Bachelor's degree. Environmental Studies degree programs provide a wide range of skills and analytical tools needed to face the environmental issues of our world head on. Students in Environmental Studies gain the intellectual and methodological tools to understand and address the crucial environmental issues of our time and the impact of individuals, society, and the planet. Environmental education's main goal is to instill in all members of society a pro-environmental thinking and attitude. This will help to create environmental ethics and raise people's awareness of the importance of environmental protection and biodiversity.[4]
The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University established a BS in environmental studies degree in the 1950s, awarding its first degree in 1956.[5] Middlebury College established the major there in 1965.[6]
The Environmental Studies Association of Canada (ESAC) was established in 1993 "to further research and teaching activities in areas related to environmental studies in Canada".[7] ESAC was officially integrated in 1994, and the first convention for ESAC was held at the Learned Societies Conference in Calgary the same year.[8] ESAC's magazine, A\J: Alternatives Journal was first published by Robert A. Paehlke on 4 July 1971.[9][10]
In 2008, The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) was founded as the first professional association in the interdisciplinary field of environmental studies in the United States. The AESS is also the publisher for the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (JESS), which aims to allow researchers in various disciplinarians related to environmental sciences to have base for researchers to use and publish new information related to environmental studies.[11] In 2010, the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) agreed to advise and support the association. In March 2011, The association's scholarly journal, the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (JESS), commenced publication.[12][13]
In the United States, many high school students are able to take environmental science as a college-level course.[14] Over 500 colleges and universities in the United States offer environmental studies as a degree.[15] The University of California, Berkeley has awarded the most degrees in environmental studies for U.S. universities, with 409 degrees awarded in 2019. The universities in the United States that have the highest percentage of degrees awarded is Antioch University-New England, where nearly 35% of degrees awarded in 2019 were in environmental studies.
Worldwide, programs in environmental studies may be offered through colleges of liberal arts, life science, social science, or agriculture. Students of environmental studies use what they learn from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities to better understand environmental problems and potentially offer solutions to them. Students look at how we interact with the natural world and come up with ideas to prevent its destruction.[16]
In the 1960s, the word "environment" became one of the most commonly used in educational discourse in the United Kingdom. Educationists were becoming increasingly worried about the influence of the environment on children as well as the school's usage of the environment. The attempt to define the field of environmental studies has resulted in a discussion over its role in the curriculum. The use of the environment is one of the teaching approaches used in today's schools to carry on the legacy of educational philosophy known as 'Progressive education' or 'New education' in the first part of the twentieth century. The primary goal of environmental studies is to assist children in understanding the processes that influence their surroundings so that they do not stay a passive, and often befuddled, observer of the environment, but rather become knowledgeable active mediators of it. The study of the environment can be considered to offer unique chances for the development and exercise of the general cognitive skills that Piaget's work has made educators aware of. Environmental studies are increasingly being viewed as a long-term preparation for higher environmental studies such as Sociology, Archaeology, or Historical Geography.[17]
Environmental challenges are all around us: climate change, loss of biodiversity, ozone layer depletion, destruction of habitats, depleting ground water supplies, introduction of alien species, environmental pollution, solid waste disposal, and storm water and sewage disposal.
Your professors and advisors should be as committed to your success as you are. While looking at a school, schedule a meeting with a professor from the environmental studies department. They should be willing to share with you more information about the major itself, as well as average class size in the department, their teaching style, course/major expectations and details about advising.
With a field like environmental studies, some might think a large university and its research facilities are the way to go. But many smaller-sized colleges can offer undergraduates even more access to labs and facilities, more hands-on learning opportunities, more professional connections and more individual attention.
Augustana has an 11:1 student-faculty ratio, and professors are able to get to know you, regardless of your major. The ability to form relationships with professors gives you unique opportunities to find close mentors and advisors in your field, and perhaps serve as research assistants or co-authors as undergraduates.
Augustana completed an addition to Hanson Hall of Science in the fall of 2019. Prominent among the spaces featured in this new addition are flexible teaching/learning labs, studios and faculty offices dedicated solely to environmental studies.
The Quad Cities (population 400,000) along the Mississippi River gives you research and field sites, jobs and internships in Fortune 500 companies and non-profits. Get hands-on learning in places urban, rural or right on the river.
In recent years, Augustana UMC students and faculty worked with local cities/counties to: (1) assess the health of urban streams and address current stormwater management challenges, and assess the risk posed by the emerald ash borer to urban forests; (2) improve urban forest management, regional transportation and transit routes; and (3) complete projects related to the presence of lead paint in homes in impoverished neighborhoods.
Not many liberal arts colleges have a field station. Augustana has three. Encompassing a total of nearly 180 acres, the field stations are living libraries and outdoor laboratories for students and faculty interested in the environment.
Environmental studies majors are encouraged to complete at least one internship. Career mentors and advisors at CORE (Careers, Opportunities, Research and Exploration), Augustana's one-of-a-kind career and exploration center, will help you find these internships and job shadows.
If you're a high school student still searching for the right college to study environmental studies, the admissions team can help you decide if Augustana is a good fit for you. Start by exploring our admissions information, including visits and financial aid, or request more information.
Do courses like Environmental Justice or Art & Climate Change sound exciting to you?
Do you want to explore a career in Environmental Education, City Planning, or Parks & Recreation?
Students in the Environmental Studies major are passionate about understanding how humans interact with the natural world. Instead of spending more time on lab science work, students take classes in policy, law, philosophy, cultural studies, and economics.
Using their background in Environmental Studies, graduates in this major communicate about urgent environmental issues facing our communities and help solve complex global problems in career roles such as education, advocacy, and consulting.
Interested in exploring this major, but not ready to commit? Consider taking one of the below courses! Any of these selections will help familiarize you with the academic program and prepare you for advanced coursework in the major.
Please contact the Environmental Studies Faculty Coordinator if you have any questions, concerns or ideas about the Environmental Studies major. To declare the Environmental Studies major, please contact the First Year and Pre-major Program.
IAS students may submit an online Major Petition form to request that alternate coursework satisfy a School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences (IAS) major requirement. Students must be admitted or declared in an IAS major in order for the online petition to be reviewed.
Examine complex interdependencies between human, nonhuman, and nonliving earth systems at local and global levels. Explore diverse academic fields in natural and social sciences, literature, religion, politics and business for solutions to human-caused problems like climate change and species extinction.
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