Environmental Studies Track

Program Requirements  

Environmental Studies is a broad application of several disciplines including anthropology, communications, history, applied philosophy, political science, psychology, religion and sociology to environmental issues that confront society today. Dealing with the relationship of humans to the environment, how humans damage/preserve local environmental ecosystems, how the harm humans do to the local environment create toxic living conditions for humans, and seeks to offer reasonable solutions to those problems. Environmental Studies is an examination of many questions that concern society today, such as:

  • How are the changing ecosystems in the world effecting human society?
  • How are human societies effecting world wide ecosystems?
  • How is environmental policy and law made at the national and international levels?
  • How are health and the environment related?
  • What relationship does the environment have with communities, both urban and rural?
  • How do government agencies, corporations, non-profit interest groups, and individuals talk about environmental issues, factors, scientific findings, and implications?
  • How is Global Information Systems (GIS) used to visualize the relationship between humans and the environment to bring about social change? 
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Some Areas of Study...

Communication
 
Ansel AdamsThe "environment we experience and affect is largely due to a product of how we come to talk about the world" (Cantrell & Orevac, 1996). The study of environmental communication explores the various ways we talk about the environment, our relationship to the environment, and our impact on the environment. Artistic works, such as the photography of Ansel Adams, speak loudly about this relationship. News stories and works of literature influence our view of the environment. "Friends, popular films, media, and books play a powerful role in influencing not only how we perceive the environment but also what actions we take" (Cox, 2006). Students in environmental communication studies learn how to analyze these messages about the environment
 
National Communication Association
web page for Environmental Communication
Politics & Law
"The study of history from the building of the pyramids to the present day is not encouraging for any humane person" (Russell, 1954). The role of policy, politics, and law has forever been an attempt to provide order out of chaos. Environmental policy and politics is really a late comers to the game and thus at times has the disadvantages accompanying youthful thinking. The purpose of policy is to provide direction. The study of policy arrives at how we determine the direction and how that direction is both implemented and enforced. Sometimes that does not coincide from nation to nation. "The range of environmental policies currently in force is vast, covering,..., protection of endangered plants and animals, protection against transboundary pollution of air, water and oil; protection of the atmosphere acidification, ozone depletion ... [the list is almost endless]. Policies may take the form of binding treaties or secondary legislation ...... policy declarations or voluntary programs to achieve certain results..." (Vig, 2005).
Ethics
"It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to the land can exist without love, respect, and admiration for the land, and a high regard for its value" (Leopold, 1949). The relationship of humans to the ecosystems in which they live is intrinsically tied to their responsibility to preserve, nurture, and provide good stewardship over those ecosystems. The role of environmental ethics is to examine not just what we do, but what we ought to do, as we attempt to fulfill that responsibility. Though there are many possible avenues to accomplish these goals, whether utilitarian, deontological, or natural law, or virtue based; one this clear, we must stop what we are doing and find a new path. "Ecological ethics begins in what may seem (and has for decades...) a peripheral concern -- an ethics for chipmunks and daisies, for canoe freaks and tree huggers. Not so, however" (Rolston, 2000).
History and Health
The study of humans and the environment and how each impacts the other over time is the essence of environmental history. Learning history through the lens of the environment is a relatively new approach in the historical field. However, if one stops to reflect, nearly every historical narrative or event creates a connection to the larger, environmental world. Learning history from an environmental perspective adds a new understanding about humans and the changing environment in which they inhabit. In short, nature and the environment have shaped human history in countless ways throughout the centuries. Exploring this unique and interesting relationship is at the core of environmental history coursework. It is important, not only for what environmental history can teach us about the past, but also, environmental history teaches us how to live in harmony with the environment in the present and future.
Health examines the relationships between human populations, habitat, and behavior as they affect adaptation to a changing landscape. Health is more than knowing diseases, though we certainly look at causes and progressions of various disease states, both acute and chronic. Health is also those elements, such as nutrition, water quality, vaccinations, lifestyle choices, care resources, and so on, which serve to enhance or restore the quality of life. Students in health will analyze, synthesize, and explore a wide range of factors relating to the environment of health and healthcare.