Welcome

Our Environmental Studies minor is one of the oldest of its type in the country. It began under the leadership of J. Baird Callicott, the environmental philosopher. Today, it retains that focus on the humanities and social sciences.

Environmental Studies lets you explore environmental questions, whatever your major might be. If you’re interested in where your food comes from, what sustainability really means in practice, or why we think about nature the way we do, then you will find interesting and challenging courses in the Environmental Studies Minor.

You truly can be any major and take the Environmental Studies Minor.

Students from the College of Natural Resources can use the minor to complement their studies in conservation. They can, for example, take Philosophy classes that ask questions about why nature matters or Political Science classes that investigate how government agencies develop.

College of Letters and Sciences students who enjoy social science and humanities classes can learn about the environment as it matters in literature, history, and society, among other examples.

Even students from the College of Professional Studies will find the minor a useful one. Whether studying business or education, Environmental Studies adds an important dimension to a twenty-first century resume.

Environmental Studies is also great to find a major. Since the courses draw from so many departments, the minor introduces you to ways of thinking you might like to pursue as a major.