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Majors & Minors

The Environmental Studies Program offers one interdisciplinary major and two interdisciplinary minors

Major in Environmental Analysis

Our Environmental Analysis Major is a flexible, 49-credit major that focuses on developing critical skills and competencies in interdisciplinary environmental problem-solving. It is designed to prepare students to real world environmental problem solving by providing breadth and depth across environmental humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, as well as deep and interdisciplinary training in analysis, problem solving, communication, and community engagement. It is ideal for students seeking interdisciplinary training focused on the environment and sustainability and is designed to stand alone or complement another primary major.

Required core disciplinary courses (Choose 3)

BIOL 2950: Introduction to Environmental Biology

ENST 215: Introduction to Environmental Humanities

ENST 250: One Health: Linking Health of Humans, Animals, & Environment

ENST 251: Metropolitan Environment

ENST 252: Sustainability in Business

ENST 2XX: Conservation Biology (coming in 2025)

EEPS 202: Introduction to Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science

POLSCI 2010: Introduction to Environmental Policy (Fall or Spring)

The following Beyond Boundaries courses (open to first-year students only) may apply to this section; students may count two Beyond Boundaries courses toward the major.

ENST 101: Earth's Future: Causes and Consequences of Global Climate Change

ENST 102: To Sustainability and Beyond: People, Planet, Prosperity

ENST 111: Environmental Racism and the Health of Everyone

 

Required core courses in analysis and communication (Choose 4)

DRAMA 214: Public Speaker: Embodied Communication

DRAMA 4081: Theatre for Social Change

ENST 315: Fallout

ENST 316: Beyond the Evidence

ENST 350W: Writing skills for environmental professionals

ENST 357: Multiparty environmental decision-making

ENST 364: Field Methods for Environmental Science

ENST 380: Applications in GIS

ENST 415W: Writing Home 

ENST 481: Advanced GIS

ENST 4995: Foundations of Research: Building a Literature Review

IPH 3123: Introduction to Digital Humanities

SDS 2200: Elementary Probability and Statistics

SDS 3200: Elementary to Intermediate Statistics and Data Analysis

SDS 3211: Statistics for Data Science I

Students may count a fifth analysis and communication course toward the depth electives.

One course in social identity and environment (Choose 1)

AFAS 1130: Introduction to Race

ENST 111: Environmental Racism and the Health of Everyone

GEST 232: Intergroup Dialogue: Race/Ethnicity

JIMES 2910: Racism and Antiracism

SOC 2010: The Roots of Ferguson: Understanding Racial Inequality in the Contemporary U.S.

SOC 2110: Social Inequality in America

SOC 2520: Inequality By Design: Understanding Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities

SOC 3212: The Social Construction of Race

SOC 3910: Economic Realities of the American Dream

SOC 4289: Neighborhoods, Schools, and Social Inequality

SOC 4810: Global Structures and Problems

SOC 4830: Global Racial Systems

 

 

One interdisciplinary environmental capstone course (Choose 1)

ENST 405: Sustainability Exchange: Community and University Practicums

ENST 407: RESET: Renewable Energy and Decarbonizing the Grid

ENST 452: International Climate Negotiation Seminar

ENST 498: Senior Thesis Research

ENST 539: Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic

Due to the intensity of these project-based classes, students may only take one per semester.

Students may count a second capstone course toward the depth electives.

One 1-credit Fourth-Year Reflection Seminar

This is a one-credit seminar to be taken during spring of the last semester (or second to last semester for December graduates), the purpose of which is to create a written narrative portfolio synthesizing, integrating, and reflecting on learning across courses and experiences in the major. Reflection will occur through personal writing and discussion with peers in the course.

ENST 492: Environmental Studies Fourth Year Reflection Seminor

 

Breadth/Depth Electives

Students will choose depth and breadth elective courses from the three categories below (Social Science, Humanities and Arts, Natural Science). Students must choose 7 elective courses with at least 4 courses from one category and at least 1 course in each of the other two categories. This means that students can choose a 5/1/1 combination or a 4/2/1 combination from the elective categories. The following flexibility is allowed regarding substitutions: Students may count a fifth analysis and communication course toward the depth electives; Students may count a second capstone course toward the depth electives; students may request one course substitution outside of the electives listed below to take advantage of unique one-time or rarely offered courses. To complete any major, the College of Arts and Sciences requires that students must complete no fewer than 18 units of courses numbered 300 or above within the major with a grade of C-or better. There is no doubling count of advanced classes (300-and 400-level) between two majors or a major and a minor. The rule of ‘no double-counting of upper-level units’ also applies to students who are double majoring across schools.

Environmental Humanities (HA)

A46 209: Design Process

AFAS 288: Free the Land: Black Lives and Environmental (in) Justice

AFAS 3075: Recipes for Respect: Black Foodways in the United States

ART 318P: Photography: Art Practice (Art, Environment, Culture & Image)

ART-ARCH 3961: Art & Ecology

COMPLIT 4111: Pastoral Literature

DRAMA 351: Introduction to Playwriting -  *EnSt students must choose an environmental topic for their full-length play

DRAMA 4081: Theatre for Social Change

ENST 315: Fallout: Analyzing Texts and Narratives of the Nuclear Era

ENST 3410: Native American Storytelling - Healthy Land Practice

ENST 415W: Writing Home

HIST 2561: Urban America

HIST 3194: Environment and Empire

HIST 3810: Between Sand and Sea: History, Environment, and Politics in the Arabian Peninsula

IPH 312: Introduction to Digital Humanities

IPH 431: Statistics for Humanities Scholars

LAND 530F: Foodscapes: Art Food Space Activism

LAND 553A: Seeds

PHIL 235F: Environmental Ethics

WRITING 309: Writing the Natural World

No longer offered but may count toward this section of the major:

  • AFAS 474: Black Geographies: Space, Place, and Ecologies of Power

 

 

Social Science (SSC)

AMCS 227: Topics in Native American Studies: Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies

AMCS 299: The Study of Cities and Metropolitan America

ANTHRO 3102: Topics: Sustainability in Extraactive Communities

ANTHRO 3215: Food, Culture, and Power

ANTHRO 3472: Global Energy and the American Dream

ANTHRO 3602: Environmental Inequality: Toxicity, Health, and Justice

ANTHRO 361: Culture and Environment

ANTHRO 374: Social Landscapes in Global View

ANTHRO 379: Meltdown: The Archaeology of Climate Change

ANTHRO 4281: Ecological Anthropology

ECON 451: Environmental Policy

ENST 255: Systems Thinking

ENST 3060: Community-based Conservation in Madagascar

ENST 310: Ecological Economics

ENST 316: Beyond the Evidence

ENST 346: Environmental Justice

ENST 347: Sustainable Cities

ENST 4527: IPCC: Governance, Policy and Science

ENST 461: Intro to Environmental Law

ENST 481: Advanced GIS

ENST 482: Applications in Geospatial Intelligence

ENST 4995: Foundations of Research: Building a Literature Review

MGT 450R: Business & Governance: Understanding and influencing the Regulatory Env.

MGT 460L: Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship 

MPH 5002: Epidemiology *

MPH 5323: TPS: Climate Change and Public Health *

POLSCI 332B: Energy Politics

POLSCI 363: Quantitative Political Methodology

POLSCI 3760: Urbanization, globalization, and the environment

POLSCI 389A: Power, Justice, and the City

POLSCI 4043: Policy Analysis, Assessment and Practical Wisdom

POLSCI 495: Research Design and Methods

SOC 3350: Poverty and the New American City

SOC 4810: Global Structures and Problems

* Students should request permission from the instructor to enroll in these courses.

No longer offered but may count toward this section of the major:

  • ANTH 360: Placemaking St. Louis
  • ANTH 3608: Caribbean Island Vulnerabilities: Puerto Rico
  • ANTH 3613: Follow the Thing: Global Commodities & Env
  • ANTH 3618: Urban Ecological Anthropology
  • ANTH 3880: Multispecies Worlds: Animals, Global Health, and Env
  • ANTH 4280: Tourism & Sustainability
  • ENST 340: Energy Governance in Israel & Middle East
  • ENST 341: International Energy Politics

 

Natural Science (NS)

ANTHRO 3053: Nomadic Strategies and Extreme Ecologies

ANTHRO 3660: Primate Ecology, Biology, and Behavior

ANTHRO 3662: Primate Conservation Biology

ANTHRO 4285: Environmental Archaeology

ANTHRO 4803: Advanced GIS Modeling and Landscape Analysis

BIOL 3171: Biology for Climate Change Solutions

BIOL 3220: Woody Plants of Missouri

BIOL 3221: Research and Public Education in the Arboretum

BIOL 343: Plants, People, and the Environment

BIOL 3494: Microbes and the Environment

BIOL 370: Animal Behavior

BIOL 373W: Laboratory on the Evolution of Animal Behavior 

BIOL 381: Introduction to Ecology

BIOL 3900: Science for Agriculture and Environmental Policy

BIOL 419: Community Ecology

BIOL 4193: Experimental Ecology Laboratory

BIOL 4195: Disease Ecology

EEPS 317: Introduction to Soil Science

EEPS 323: Biogeochemistry

EEPS 340: Minerals, Rocks, Resources and the Environment 

EEPS 342: Environmental Systems

EEPS 385: Earth History   

EEPS 386: Earth’s Climate System

EEPS 387: Geospatial Science 

EEPS 407: Remote Sensing

EEPS 409: Surface Processes

EEPS 428: Hydrology

EEPS 442: Aqueous Geochemistry

EEPS 454: Exploration and Environmental Geophysics

EEPS 468: Geospatial Field Methods

EEPS 486: Paleoclimatology

ENST 3630: Arctic Climate System

ENST 364: Field Methods for Environmental Science

ENST 365: Applied Conservation Biology

ENST 375: Urban Ecology

ENST 481: Advanced GIS

ENST 483: Introduction to Spatial Epidemiology

LAND 551A: Landscape Ecology

No longer offered but may count toward this section of the major:

  • EEPS 219: Energy and the Environment
  • EEPS 336: Minerals & Rocks in the Environment

Minor in Environmental Studies

  • Exposure: Includes introductory-level courses and a sampling of electives across disciplines
  • Accessible: Includes introductory courses and wide degree of choice of electives
  • Flexible: Wide degree of choice of electives so you can tailor to your interests
  • Audience: Pairs easily with many majors to provide interdisciplinary exposure

Our Environmental Studies Minor is a flexible, 18-credit option that includes introductory and upper level courses, allowing students to explore environmental courses across a range of disciplines that complement your major and personal areas of interest. Students must have at least 9 units of 300+ coursework unique to this minor.

Required core introductory courses (choose two classes)

Students may count one of these Beyond Boundaries courses (first years only)

Electives (choose four classes, one each from a different category)

Analysis and Communication (choose 1)

Analysis and Communication

Environmental Humanities (choose 1)

Environmental Humanities

No longer offered but may count toward this section of the major:

  • AFAS 474: Black Geographies: Space, Place, and Ecologies of Power

Social Science (choose 1)

No longer offered but may count toward this section of the major:

  • ANTH 360: Placemaking St. Louis
  • ANTH 3608: Caribbean Island Vulnerabilities: Puerto Rico
  • ANTH 3613: Follow the Thing: Global Commodities & Env
  • ANTH 3618: Urban Ecological Anthropology
  • ANTH 3880: Multispecies Worlds: Animals, Global Health, and Env
  • ANTH 4280: Tourism & Sustainability
  • ENST 340: Energy Governance in Israel & Middle East
  • ENST 341: International Energy Politics

Natural Science (choose 1)

No longer offered but may count toward this section of the major:

  • EEPS 219: Energy and the Environment
  • EEPS 336: Minerals & Rocks in the Environment

Minor in Interdisciplinary Environmental Analysis (no longer available to declare)

  • Deep training: Courses in analysis, critical thinking, and problem-solving
  • Accessible: Most courses do not have pre-requisites
  • Application and problem solving: Opportunities for interdisciplinary, collaborative, project-based, and community-engaged learning
  • Audience: Pairs well with disciplinary-based majors to provide interdisciplinary, applied experiences that can be leveraged for career and job preparation

Our Environmental Analysis Minor is an 18-credit minor that includes deep training in analysis, critical thinking, and problem-solving. The coursework includes opportunities for interdisciplinary, collaborative, project-based, and community-engaged learning. It is designed to pair well with disciplinary-based majors to provide interdisciplinary, applied experiences that can be leveraged for career and job preparation. Most courses do not have pre-requisites. Courses that appear as options in multiple sections may only be taken for credit toward one section of the minor.

Required Courses (Choose 3)

One Interdisciplinary Environmental Capstone Course

One Advanced Elective in Natural Science

*Pre-reqs: ENST 481 (ENST 380); EPSC 454 (EPSC 201)

One Advanced Elective in Social Science and Humanities

*Pre-reqs: ECON 451 (ECON 1011); ENST 481 (ENST 380)

Approved for students who entered Spring 2020 or before

  • HIST 3068: Human History of Climate Change
  • POL SCI 340: Topics in Politics: Environmental Justice
  • POL SCI 3752: Topics in American Politics: Globalization, Urbanization, & the Environment
  • POL SCI 4043: Public Policy Analysis Assessment and Practical Wisdom

 

Minor in Environmental Studies Pre-2021 (no longer available to declare)

  • Exposure: Includes introductory-level courses
  • Accessible: because it includes introductory courses
  • Flexible: Wide degree of choice in elective categories
  • Pairs easily with many majors to provide interdisciplinary exposure
  • Note: if a student has a major and a minor, the upper-level (300+) units for the major and minor must be independent of one another. (The minor must have 12 units independent of any other major.)

Required Courses

* Students can take EPSC 201 or EPSC 202

In addition to the required introductory courses, students must take at least 9 units of elective courses at the 300 level or above, one from each of the three categories below. Students may bring up to six units total from a Washington University approved summer or semester program when equivalent to electives below. The minor must have 12 units independent of any other major. Students who are majors in Environmental Biology or Environmental Earth Science may substitute the advanced science course required by taking an additional advanced political science, law, ethics or anthropology course. Students who are majors in Environmental Policy may substitute the advanced political science or law course required by taking an additional advanced science course.

One Advanced Science Course

One Advanced Political Science or Law Course

 

 

One Advanced Anthropology or Ethics Course

 

Other pre-approved substitutions

Courses that are offered less frequently or have more pre-requisites but that are pre-approved substitutions for these requirement categories include:

Advanced science:

Advance political science or law:

Advanced anthropology or ethics: