Minor in Environmental Studies
18-19 units
The environmental studies minor offers a learning environment that equips a rising generation with the intellectual tools and learning experiences needed to understand and address the causes and consequences of the unprecedented environmental challenges facing them. The program summons students to a profound interior conversion—an “‘ecological conversion,’ whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them” (Pope Francis, Laudato si’). This includes a systematic examination of how human beings affect the environment and how the environment affects human institutions and relationships. The new perspectives, affections, and personal habits fostered through the program ground the task of repairing the damage done to marine and terrestrial ecosystems and producing sustainable systems of food, fuel, and shelter. This minor program supports the emerging need to equip students in the area of sustainability, and also supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to environmental sciences.
Distinctive Features
- Interdisciplinary: Synthesis of the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, including the arts and expressive culture (e.g., music, literature, film). The minor is taken simultaneously with an undergraduate major.
- Experiential Learning and Internship: Field trips; field studies; community, regional, or global internships with community organizations (e.g., public schools) or national environmental organizations (e.g., the Nature Conservancy, the National Audubon Society, the Environmental Defense Fund, SoCal A Rocha, Eden Reforestation Projects); or engagement in political and cultural activism through a broad range of environmentally focused organizations in the Los Angeles area.
Vocational Paths
This minor helps prepare students for earth-keeping careers in education (sustainability studies), sustainability management (public, private), community advocacy (nonprofit), environmental planning and policy development, environmental law, wildlife and game management, the alternative energy sector, forestry, and agriculture.
Requirements
The minor comprises 18-19 units, at least 12 of which must be upper-division coursework.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Foundational/Introductory | 2 | |
| Readings | ||
| Science | 4 | |
| General Biology II | ||
| Ecology 1 | ||
| Humans and the Environment 2 | ||
| Chemistry and Society 2 | ||
| Science and Technology for Everyday Applications 2 | ||
| Social Science | 3 | |
| Contemporary Global Issues 1 | ||
| Sustainable Societies 3 | ||
| Humanities | 3 | |
| Civic Knowledge and Engagement 1 | ||
| Environmental Ethics | ||
| Writing 2: Writing in the Humanities 4 | ||
| Economics | 3-4 | |
| Environmental Economics and Readings 5 | ||
| Capstone or Policy | 3 | |
| Choose one of the following: | ||
| Thesis/Project 6 | ||
| Interdisciplinary Capstone | ||
| Total Units | 18-19 | |
- 1
Meets the General Education Civic Knowledge and Engagement requirement.
- 2
Meets the General Education Natural Sciences requirement.
- 3
Meets the General Education Integrative and Applied Learning requirement.
- 4
WRIT 210 is a topics course; the topic Nature and Environmental Writing is the only topic that fulfills this requirement. This course also meets the General Education Writing 2 requirement.
- 5
ECON 355 has a prerequisite of ECON 251—students who have satisfied ECON 251 do not need to take ECON 497; students who have not taken ECON 251 may take ECON 497 for 1 unit to meet the prerequisite.
- 6
Course must be taken one time for 3 units.