Environmental Studies
Wabash College’s Environmental Studies minor provides students with an opportunity to apply a liberal arts perspective to environmental issues and questions of sustainability, linking traditional scientific study of the environment to the role the environment plays in human experience and society. Human society relies on a healthy, functioning global ecosystem for its survival, but human activities often damage the environment and undermine its capacity to support us. While such environmental degradation has occurred throughout human history, environmental issues have increasingly moved to the forefront of public discourse, even to the point of being considered the greatest existential threat to humanity. Addressing issues of biodiversity and ecological resiliency in our curriculum is an essential aspect of our stated mission to educate responsible, humane leaders. Students minoring in Environmental Studies are expected to help catalyze more environmental interest and action on campus, supporting a transformation to a renewable, more sustainable, Wabash College.
The minor is open to students of any major. Environmental Studies minors are encouraged to participate in co-curricular activities led by collaborations between students and experienced faculty from a multitude of disciplines. Three core courses focus on natural science, social science, and the humanities, while two additional elective courses provide disciplinary breadth to a student’s approach to the field. A senior capstone course invites interdisciplinary reflection, as students compose an essay that integrates coursework from their minor requirements across multiple disciplines.
The program is administered by the Environmental Studies Committee.
Requirements for the Minor
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Environmental Natural Science Core | 1 | |
One credit from the following: | ||
Plants & Human Affairs | ||
Environmental Science | ||
Ecology | ||
Environmental Humanities or Social Science Core | 1 | |
One credit from the following: | ||
Topics in Art History (Art and the Environment) | ||
Environmental Economics | ||
History & Philosophy of Environmental Ed | ||
Special Topics: Literature (Literature and the Environment) | ||
Environmental Philosophy | ||
One additional credit from either core group | 1 | |
Electives | 2 | |
Two credits from any Division | ||
Division I: | ||
Plants & Human Affairs | ||
Environmental Science | ||
Ecology | ||
Advanced Ecology | ||
Special Topics (Global Health) | ||
Epidemiology | ||
Division II: | ||
Topics in Art History (Art and the Environment) | ||
Special Topics: Literature (Literature and the Environment) | ||
Environmental Philosophy | ||
Topics in Theology (Materiality and Embodiment) | ||
Rhetoric, Science, & Public Policy | ||
Deliberation & Democracy (with instructor permission) | ||
Division III: | ||
Public Policy | ||
Environmental Economics | ||
History & Philosophy of Environmental Ed | ||
Big History | ||
Capstone | 0 | |
ENS-400 | Environmental Studies Capstone | 0 |
Total Credits | 5 |