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Catalog Description

This description will appear in the 2009-10 undergraduate catalog.  For the old Environmental Studies description, please click here.

Environmental Studies Minor

Dr. Pete Bsumek, Coordinator
Phone: 540-568-3386
email: bsumekpk

The Environmental Studies Minor provides an interdisciplinary education engaging socio-cultural, scientific, and technical, issues raised by the oft-conflicting needs and desires of globally interacting societies.  Designed to complement any major, the goals of the Environmental Studies Minor include:

  • to help undergraduates develop an awareness of the scientific, cultural, and political aspects of the world's environmental problems
  • to better prepare students for further study at the graduate or professional school level and careers in the expanding field of environmental professions


The minimum requirement for a minor in Environmental Studies is 24 credit hours taken from the four categories outlined below.  No more than 3 courses from a single subject (e.g., GEOG, GEOL, ANTH, ENG, etc.) may count toward completion of the environmental studies minor.  Students wishing to complete more than one of the Environment Minors (Environmental Management, Environmental Science, and Environmental Studies) may receive dual credit for the capstone course (ENVT 400), but may not receive dual credit for any other courses that might be shared by the minors.

1) INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY
(minimum of 3-4 credit hours; can be double-counted with GENED credits)

COURSE CREDIT HOURS PREREQUISITES
GANTH 196: Biological Anthropology 3 None
GBIO 103: Contemporary Biology 3 None
GGEOL 102: Environment: Earth  3 None
GGEOL 115: Earth Systems and Climate Change 3 None
GHUM 200: Literature, Nature, Environment (this GHUM section only) 3 None
GISAT 112: Environmental Issues in Science and Tech. 4 None
GEOG 210: Physical Geography 4 None

2) Socio-Cultural Approaches to Environmental Studies:
(minimum of 15 credit hours; only two courses with the same course subject may be taken from the courses listed below)

COURSE CREDIT HOURS PREREQUISITES
ANTH 373: Anthropological Perspectives on Environment and Development 3 Yes
ECON 305: Environmental Economics 3 Yes
ECON 340: Economics of Natural Resources 3 Yes
ENG 371: Literature & the Environment (approved for 09) 3 None
ENG 471: Eco-Criticism & Environmental Ethics (approved for 09) 3 None
GEOG 290: Human Interactions with the Physical Environment 3 Yes
GEOG 300: Population Geography 3 None
GEOG 310: Environmental Issues 4-Jan None
GEOG 311: Endangered Environments 3 None
GEOG 320: Human Dimensions of Global Change  3 Yes
GEOG 322: Agricultural Systems (formerly GEOG 250) 3 Yes
GEOG 325: Environmental Ethics (formerly GEOG 240: Natural Resource Conservation) 3 None
GEOG 341: Wilderness Techniques 3 Yes
GEOG 342: Management and Protection of Natural Resources 3 None
GEOG 343: Wildlife Management 3 None
GEOG 345: Geography of Poverty 3 None
GEOG/ISAT 429: Sustainability: An Ecological Process 3 Yes
GEOG 430: Geography of Crop Plants 3 None
HIST 427: U.S. Environmental History 3 Yes
ISAT 421: Environmental Policy and Regulation 3 Yes
SCOM 354: Communication, Environment and Environmentalism 3 None
SOCI 311: Sociology of the Environment 3 None
Approved special topics courses 3 TBD
Approved internship programs 1-6 TBD
Approved study abroad courses 1-6 TBD

3) Environmental Science Literacy:
(minimum of 3 credit hours from this list)

COURSE CREDIT HOURS PREREQUISITES
BIO 451: Ecological Systems 4 Yes
BIO 452: Population Ecology 4 Yes
BIO 456: Landscape Ecology 4 Yes
BIO 457: Environmental Toxicology 4 Yes
BIO 459: Freshwater Ecology 4 Yes
GEOG 327: Climatology 3 Yes
GEOG 340: Biogeography 3 Yes
GEOL 211: Introduction to Oceanography 3 None
GEOL 310: Management of Marine Resources 3 None
GEOL 340: Soils and Land Use 3 Yes
ISAT 320: Fundamentals in Environmental Science 3 Yes

4 ) SENIOR SEMINAR CAPSTONE COURSE

COURSE CREDIT HOURS PREREQUISITES
ENVT 400: Capstone Seminar: Environmental Problem Solving 3 Yes