Environmental Studies Major
Major Requirements
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Introduction | |
| ENVR 204 | Environment and Society |
| ENVR 205 | Lives in Place |
| Lab Introduction | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Scientific Approaches to Environmental Issues/Lab | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Marine Invertebrate Ecophysiology: Organismal and Ecosystem Responses to Global Change | |
| Soils/Lab | |
| Natural Science Core | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Evolution and Interactions of Life | |
| Human Impacts on Marine Ecosystems | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Conservation Biology | |
| Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab | |
| Research Design and Analysis in Environmental Science | |
| Marine Ecology | |
| Sedimentary Processes and Environments/Lab | |
| Hydrogeology | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Human Impacts on Marine Ecosystems | |
| Perspectives on Human Ecology | |
| Ecology of Food and Farming | |
| Conservation Biology | |
| Hydrogeology | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab | |
| Research Design and Analysis in Environmental Science | |
| Marine Invertebrate Ecophysiology: Organismal and Ecosystem Responses to Global Change | |
| Soils/Lab | |
| Social Science Core | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Disasters and Displacement | |
| Politics of Wildlife Conservation | |
| Climate (In)Justice | |
| International Development | |
| Consumerism and Beyond | |
| Indigenous Ecologies | |
| Political Ecology of Climate Change | |
| International Development | |
| Humanities Core | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| Environmental History of China | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| Environmental Ethics | |
| Nature in the Cultures of Russia | |
| Free The Land: Histories of Environmental Racism in the United States | |
| New England: Environment and History | |
| Narrating (Agri)cultures: Ecologies of Livelihood, Care and Reciprocity | |
| Environmental History of China | |
| Ecomedia: Audiovisual Cultures of the Environment | |
| Mountains and Modernity | |
| Indigenous Ecologies | |
| Nature in the Cultures of Russia | |
| Mountains and Modernity | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| New England: Environment and History | |
| Environmental History of China | |
| Mountains and Modernity | |
| Environmental Ethics | |
| Nature in the Cultures of Russia | |
| Concentration | |
| Complete all requirements from one concentration listed below: | |
| Capstone | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Capstone in Community-Engaged Research | |
| Capstone in Environmental Communication | |
| Senior Thesis | |
| Senior Thesis | |
Majors must complete a capstone for their [W3]. Capstone courses and projects must build in some significant way upon the courses that students take as part of their major concentration.. Students write proposals for [W3] placement in the winter semester of the junior year.
The majority of environmental studies majors fulfill their [W3] capstone requirement by taking either ENVR 417 Capstone in Community-Engaged Research, a community-engaged research capstone, or ENVR 450 Capstone in Environmental Communication, a capstone in public writing. Students who wish to undertake a semester (or in rare cases, two semesters) of independent research, culminating in a long-form research paper (ENVR 457 Senior Thesis, ENVR 458 Senior Thesis), may apply to do so. In order for students to have sufficient scholarly background for an extended independent research project, students wishing to pursue this option will need to undertake additional coursework beyond that required for the major either within their concentration or across other concentrations. Students should speak with their advisor to plan such coursework.
Concentrations
Concentration 1: Environment and Human Culture
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Environmental Literature, Film, Rhetoric, and/or Cultural Studies | |
| Complete at least three courses from the following: | |
| Decolonizing the Museum: Understanding Colonial Legacies, Display Practices, and Repatriation | |
| Photographing the Landscape | |
| Utopia/Dystopia Fiction | |
| Nature in the Cultures of Russia | |
| Narrating (Agri)cultures: Ecologies of Livelihood, Care and Reciprocity | |
| Ecomedia: Audiovisual Cultures of the Environment | |
| Mountains and Modernity | |
| Landscape and Power | |
| Infrastructures | |
| Photographing the Landscape | |
| Local Food: Sovereignty and Justice | |
| Overstories: Telling the Lives of Trees | |
| Nature in the Cultures of Russia | |
| Mountains and Modernity | |
| Infrastructures | |
| What is Rhetoric? | |
| Introduction to Screen Studies | |
| Nature in the Cultures of Russia | |
| Environmental Philosophy and/or History | |
| Complete at least two courses from the following: | |
| Technology in U.S. History | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| Landscape Ethnography | |
| Environmental History of China | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| Environmental Ethics | |
| Free The Land: Histories of Environmental Racism in the United States | |
| New England: Environment and History | |
| Environmental History of China | |
| Indigenous Ecologies | |
| Landscape Ethnography | |
| Technology in U.S. History | |
| Technology in U.S. History | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| New England: Environment and History | |
| Environmental History of China | |
| Environmental Ethics | |
| Buddhist Philosophy | |
| 300-Level Requirement | |
| At least two courses taken as part of the concentration must be at the 300-level. | |
Concentration 2: Global Environmental Politics
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Introductory Social Science | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Environmental Economics | |
| States and Markets | |
| International Politics | |
| International Political Economy | |
| Methods | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry | |
| Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry | |
| Ethnographic Methods | |
| Landscape Ethnography | |
| Biostatistics | |
| Digital History Methods | |
| Statistics | |
| Qualitative Methods of Education Research | |
| GIS across the Curriculum | |
| Landscape Ethnography | |
| Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry | |
| Digital History Methods | |
| Statistics for Political Analysis | |
| Statistics | |
| Rhetorical Criticism | |
| Television Criticism | |
| Research Methods for Sociology | |
| Electives | |
| Complete at least two courses from the following: | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| Native American History | |
| Peoples of the Sea: Sailors, Pirates, Fishers, and More | |
| International Politics of East Asia | |
| The Political Economy of Capitalism | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| Disasters and Displacement | |
| Politics of Wildlife Conservation | |
| Latin America Debates Dependency and Development | |
| Climate (In)Justice | |
| International Development | |
| U.S. Environmental History | |
| Native American History | |
| International Development | |
| Politics of Latin America | |
| State-Society Relations in the Modern Middle East | |
| Political Participation in the United States | |
| Politics of Latin America | |
| Politics of the Modern Middle East | |
| International Politics of East Asia | |
| The Political Economy of Capitalism | |
| Politics of Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| Global Health: Sociological Perspectives | |
| Urban Sociology | |
| Privilege, Power, and Inequality | |
| 300-Level Courses | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Decolonization | |
| Decolonization | |
| Economics of Less-Developed Countries | |
| Prices, Property, and the Problem of the Commons | |
| New England: Environment and History | |
| Consumerism and Beyond | |
| Indigenous Ecologies | |
| Political Ecology of Climate Change | |
| New England: Environment and History | |
| Political Challenges in Latin America | |
| Power and Protest | |
Concentration 3: Ecology and Earth Systems
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Natural Science | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
BIO 195 Lab-Based Biological Inquiry | |
| Chemical Reactivity/Lab | |
| Earth Surface Environments and Environmental Change/Lab | |
| Earth’s Climate System/Lab | |
| Calculus II | |
| Linear Algebra | |
| Energy and Environment | |
| Introductory Physics of Living Systems I/Lab | |
| Introductory Physics of Living Systems II/Lab | |
| Energy, Matter, and Motion | |
| Courses in this section must be taken at Bates (no AP credit). An additional course from the “Electives” category can substitute for this requirement. | |
| Electives | |
| Complete at least two courses from the following: | |
| Applied Research and Scientific Writing | |
| Evolution and Interactions of Life | |
| Human Impacts on Marine Ecosystems | |
| Global Change in Terrestrial Systems | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Conservation Biology | |
| Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab | |
| Microbiology/Lab | |
| Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology | |
| Plant Physiology/Lab | |
| Sedimentary Processes and Environments/Lab | |
| Hydrogeology | |
| Earth Structure and Dynamics/Lab | |
| Environmental Geochemistry/Lab | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Human Impacts on Marine Ecosystems | |
| Perspectives on Human Ecology | |
| Ecology of Food and Farming | |
| Hydrogeology | |
| Global Change in Terrestrial Systems | |
| Water and Watersheds/Lab | |
| Conservation Biology | |
| Dendrology and the Natural History of Trees/Lab | |
Any course listed under 300-Level Ecology or Earth Systems Course below | |
| Methods | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Biostatistics | |
| Mathematical Models in Biology | |
| Research Design and Analysis in Environmental Science | |
| Analytical Chemistry/Lab | |
| Computational Physics | |
| Mapping and GIS/Lab | |
| Dynamical Climate/Lab | |
| Mapping and GIS/Lab | |
| GIS across the Curriculum | |
| Research Design and Analysis in Environmental Science | |
| Mathematical Models in Biology | |
| Computational Physics | |
| Dynamical Climate/Lab | |
| 300-Level Ecology or Earth Systems Course | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Marine Ecology | |
| Quaternary Paleoclimatology | |
| Stable Isotope Geochemistry | |
| Aquaculture Science and Management | |
| Marine Invertebrate Ecophysiology: Organismal and Ecosystem Responses to Global Change | |
| Soils/Lab | |
Courses Taken Outside of Bates
Students are encouraged to consider study abroad. Students who are far enough along in the major to successfully complete it even with a semester away are typically approved for one semester abroad. Students pursuing extensive study of a foreign language at Bates may apply for two semesters abroad in a country where the language of study is spoken if they are sufficiently far enough along in the environmental studies major. Only one course taken abroad may count toward the major, regardless of the number of semesters abroad, and the course must be approved by the major advisor. For both study-abroad courses and transfer courses from other institutions, a single course may transfer as either an introductory or intermediate course in the student’s concentration. Transfer credits may not be counted towards the core or a 300-level elective.
Pass/Fail Policy
Pass/Fail grading may not be elected for courses applied toward the major.
Restricted Declarations
Students who have declared the Environmental Studies major with Ecology and Earth Systems track may not declare the following:
- Biology major
Other Considerations
Students must complete ENVR 204 Environment and Society, ENVR 205 Lives in Place and the Lab Introduction courses by the end of their sophomore year. The core courses ENVR 203 Scientific Approaches to Environmental Issues/Lab, ENVR 204 Environment and Society, and ENVR 205 Lives in Place are not open to junior or senior majors. To ensure that students are able to enroll in mid-level electives in the natural sciences, the environmental studies committee recommends that all students interested in environmental studies take a related course in biology, chemistry, physics, earth and climate sciences, or environmental science during their first year.
Students are advised that no more than two courses may be counted toward the environmental studies major and second major or a minor.
Students should note that there may be flexibility in requirements due to changes in the curriculum.
Students interested in environmental education are advised to take a minor or General Education Concentration in education in addition to their major in environmental studies.
Program Policy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs)
The Environmental Studies Program recognizes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) are premised on extraction and theft – of water, land, energy, creativity, and intellectual property. Generative AI and LLMs thus profoundly threaten the fundamental ideals of social and environmental justice. Furthermore, critical thinking is a foundational skill that all liberal arts students should develop, and the use of LLMs may precisely inhibit such critical thought. The Environmental Studies Program’s policy is that students may not use generative AI in class or for assignments except to the extent that the professor has explicitly permitted. ES faculty reserve the right to give zeros for assignments that show unauthorized use of AI.