Environmental Studies Major

The environmental studies major develops a common core of knowledge through extensive interdepartmental coursework, complemented by a concentration in a specific area in either the environmental humanities, sciences, or social sciences. The student may elect one of 10 areas of concentration — anthropology, art, biology, chemistry, economics, geology, humanities, physics, politics, sociology, or an individually planned major (psychology, for example) in the environmental studies major.

The Core Environmental Studies Requirements link below outlines the courses required of all Environmental Studies majors.

The Environmental Studies Combined Major Requirements link leads to each of the individual combined majors listed above.

Courses are based on the 2022-2023 college catalog.

The following course of study is required of all environmental studies majors. Students earn a minimum of 25 credits in Environmental Studies (including foundation courses), and combine these credits with an area concentration. No more than eight transfer credits may be applied to the Environmental Studies requirements. Semester in the West and Whitman in the Wallowas are programs run by Whitman College and count as credit earned on campus. Courses taken P-D-F may not be used to satisfy requirements for the environmental studies major.

Introductory coursework:

Take the following courses:

Environmental Studies 120 Introduction to Environmental Studies
Environmental Studies 207 Methods of Environmental Analysis

Foundation coursework:

Satisfy requirements in the two areas listed below that are outside the area of your declared Environmental Studies major. Course substitutions for foundation area courses must be approved by the Environmental Studies Committee.

Humanities area coursework:

Take a minimum of two of the following:

* Offered only to students admitted to Semester in the West

Natural/physical science area coursework:

Take a minimum of two of the following courses from different departments, including at least one course with a laboratory:

Biology 114 Tree Biology
Biology 115 Regional Natural History
Biology 118 Agroecology
Biology 130 Conservation Biology
Biology 177 Ecology of the American West*
Biology 210 When is science reliable?
Chemistry 100 Introduction to Environmental Chemistry
Geology 125 and 126 Environmental Geology with Lab
Geology 130 Weather and Climate
Geology 229 Geology and Ecology of Soils
Geology 250 Late Cenozoic Geology and Climate Change
Geology 258 Geology in the Field
Physics 105 Energy and the Environment

* Offered only to students admitted to Semester in the West

Social science area coursework:

Take a minimum of two of the following courses from different departments:

Anthropology 313 Communism, Socialism and the Environment
Economics 100 Principles of Microeconomics and the Environment
Environmental Studies 200 ST: Topics in Environmental Economics
History 155 Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral: Natural Resources in Global Environmental History
History 205 East Asian Environmental History
History 206 European Environmental History to 1800
History 231 Oceans Past and Future: Introduction to Marine Environmental History
History 232 Changing Landscapes: Introduction to Terrestrial Environmental History
History 262 People, Nature, Technology: Built and Natural Environments in U.S. History
History 355 Pacific Whaling History
History 379 ST: From Farm to Fork: Food Production and Modernity
Politics 119 Whitman in the Global Food System
Politics 124 Introduction to Politics and the Environment
Politics 228 Political Ecology
Politics 255 Gender, Race, Environment
Politics 287 Natural Resource Policy and Management
Politics 309 Environment and Politics in the American West*
Politics 339 Nature, Culture, Politics
Politics 370 Power, Pipelines, and Dispossession
Sociology 229 Environmental Sociology
Sociology 325 Sociology of Disasters

* Offered only to students admitted to Semester in the West

Interdisciplinary Course Requirement:

* Offered only to students admitted to Semester in the West

Senior coursework:

Take Environmental Studies 479 Environmental Citizenship and Leadership

Additional senior year requirements vary by combined major. For majors where a thesis is required, students must complete an interdisciplinary research project with a grade of C- or better. In addition, all environmental studies majors must pass an oral examination within their area or department of concentration. For majors that do not require a senior thesis, or if a student’s senior thesis is deemed insufficiently interdisciplinary by the Environmental Studies Committee, an oral examination in Environmental Studies also is required.

Environmental studies majors are encouraged to study for a semester or a year in a program with strong environmental relevance. Particularly appropriate are Whitman College’s field program in environmental studies, Semester in the West; and the School for Field Studies. See Special Programs section in this catalog. Also, consider the University of Montana’s Northwest Connections Field Semester.

Art - Environmental Studies

Anthropology - Environmental Studies

Biology - Environmental Studies

Chemistry - Environmental Studies

Economics - Environmental Studies

Environmental Humanities

Geology - Environmental Studies

History - Environmental Studies

Physics - Environmental Studies

Politics - Environmental Studies

Sociology - Environmental Studies