Environmental Studies 1

[Lyric Maro]

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They come instead from leaders, thinkers, and innovators who can draw skills and knowledge from multiple fields of knowledge and work with teams of thinkers from every corner of the campus and the globe.

If you are concerned about environmental issues at home and around the world, and want to gain knowledge and develop skills to address those problems, the Middlebury Environmental Studies Program is a great place to start your exploration.

Located in the heart of campus, the LEED Platinum Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest serves as a hub for ideas and action. Home to the Dean of Environmental Affairs, the Sustainability Integration Office, and our Environmental Studies Program, the center provides support and coordination for campus initiatives throughout the College.

ES majors and minors graduate with in-depth knowledge of the American story of human-environmental interaction, but also recognize that there are other stories, often strikingly different, from other parts of the world. With 900+ graduates, our alums work in environmental fields as entrepreneurs, scientists, policy makers, scholars, consultants, teachers, volunteers, activists, and founders of nonprofits.

Environmental studies (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]

With 26 core faculty and more than 100 participating faculty from 30 campus departments and programs, Environmental Studies sets the standard in interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. Our teaching and research spans across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, design fields, and education.

Our degree programs are flexible and tailored to meet specific educational and career goals, providing students with the opportunities to work alongside world-class scholars and researchers, develop concrete skills and analytical abilities, and gain experiential learning experience relevant to careers in government agencies, non-government organizations, private industry, and academic fields.

A degree in Environmental Studies or Environmental Science opens the door to hundreds of possible career paths, include public planning, environmental consulting, education, ecological restoration and conservation, resource management, green business, and recycling and waste prevention.

Our alumni have excelled in careers such as campaign representative, bike transportation planner, community organizer, utility forester, science teacher, communications manager, sustainability analyst, field energy specialist, or park ranger.

"Environmental Studies at the UO was far more than an academic experience; it was a jolt into a new way of understanding my place in the world. The diverse community of talented, value-aligned people challenged and inspired me to stretch my horizons. I will always be grateful for the Environmental Studies program for supporting me in entering the next chapter of my career and life."

In the Environmental Studies program, you can learn how to make positive changes for the environment and society, prepare yourself for meaningful work in a growing job sector, take advantage of experiential learning experiences with issues of global importance, customize your course plan to align with your academic and career goals, and gain a deeper and more holistic understanding of the world around you.

We recognize that many social justice issues intersect with environmental issues, and every community must collaborate on environmental solutions. These include working to make land access equitable to all, correcting the legacy of environmental racism, and allying with Indigenous communities in our work against climate change, which disproportionately impacts their lives and livelihoods. Faculty in the Environmental Studies department have organized conferences, symposia and initiatives that emphasize the intersectional nature of social and environmental issues through disciplines like environmental justice, environmental humanities and environmental policy. One example of this work, an intercollegiate and regional partnership called the Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute, has been funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Led by instructors Peg Boulay and Katie Lynch, the Environmental Leadership Program is a collaborative, interdisciplinary service-learning program that matches student teams with non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and businesses to address local environmental needs.

Research in Environmental Studies is highly interdisciplinary and aimed at solving major environmental problems affecting people and ecosystems. Our faculty include leading scholars in the natural sciences, social sciences, environmental humanities, and design who work collaboratively with community partners and researchers all over the world.

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