Oct 09, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Environmental Studies Minor


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Coordinator: Rob Alexander
Phone: (540) 568-3771
Email: alexanrw@jmu.edu
Website: http://www.jmu.edu/environment/studies.shtml

The environmental studies minor provides a cross disciplinary 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 cultural, political and scientific 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.

Overview of Requirements

The minimum requirement for a minor in environmental studies is a minimum of 21 credit hours taken from the three categories: Introduction to Environment and Environmental Science Literacy, The Socio-Cultural Context of Environmental Studies and the Senior Seminar capstone course.

No more than two courses from a single subject (e.g., GEOG, GEOL, ANTH, ENG) may count toward completion of the 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.

Courses


Introduction to Environment and Environmental Science Literacy


Fundamental to exploring the problems which emerge through the human/nature interaction is an understanding of core scientific concepts and processes that underlie natural systems. Therefore, minors will take an environmental science course that provides a broad survey of core concepts as well as an environmental science course that provides a targeted focus on an environmental science topic.

Introduction to Environment: 3-4 Credit Hours


All students seeking the minor must have one broad survey course on the human/nature relationship. Select one course from the following, which can be double-counted with General Education :

Environmental Science Literacy: 3-4 Credit Hours


The Environmental Literacy requirement ensures that Minors will have at least one course providing depth and focus on at least one environmental science topic. Select one course from the following, which can be double-counted with General Education :

The Socio-Cultural Context of Environmental Studies: 12 Credit Hours


The core of the Environmental Studies minor is exploring the human/nature relationship and the challenges emerging from it through multiple disciplinary lenses, resulting in a truly interdisciplinary environmental studies experience.

Select four courses (a minimum of 12 credit hours) from the following. Only two courses with the same course subject may be taken.

Senior Seminar Capstone Course: 3 Credit Hours


The culminating experience for the environmental studies minor is the combined capstone, co-taught by two faculty members from different fields and joined by the environmental science and environmental management minors. With a small size, opportunities for experiential field trips and engagement with current environmental challenges, ENVT 400  creates an all hands on deck opportunity to demonstrate interdisciplinary competency in environmental studies and to make a difference with real environmental, sustainability, climate justice and resiliency problems.

Total: 21-23 Credit Hours


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