Environmental Analysis Major
Program Requirements
- Total Units Required: 49
- Grade Requirement: A grade of C- is the minimum acceptable performance for each unit of credit for all coursework for the major.
The Environmental Analysis Major is a flexible, 49-credit program that focuses on developing critical skills and competencies in interdisciplinary environmental problem-solving. It is ideal for students seeking interdisciplinary training focused on the environment and sustainability, and it is designed to stand alone or complement another major.
Required Courses
Students must complete a total of 28 units of required courses as described below:
- Choose three of the following (9 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 2150 | Introduction to Environmental Biology | 3 |
| BEYOND 1001 | Earth's Future: Cause & Consequences of Climate Change* | 3 |
| BEYOND 1004 | Sustainability and Beyond: People, Planet, Prosperity* | 3 |
| BEYOND 1014 | Environmental Racism and the Health of Everyone* | 3 |
| EEPS 2020 | Intro to Earth, Env., and Planetary Science | 3 |
| ENST 1210 | People Planet Health | 4 |
and ENST 2230 | Professional Development Seminar | |
| ENST 2220 | One Health: Linking Human, Animal, Environmental Health | 3 |
| ENST 2310 | Introduction to Environmental Humanities | 3 |
| ENST 2520 | Sustainability in Business | 3 |
| ENST 2530 | Metropolitan Environment | 3 |
| ENST 2620 | Conservation Biology | 3 |
| POLSCI 2000 | Introductionn to Environmental Policy | 3 |
- *
These Beyond Boundaries courses, open to first-year students only, may apply to this section; students may count up to two toward the major.
- Required core courses in analysis and communication; choose four of the following (12 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| DRAMA 2201 | Public Speaking: EmbodiedCommunication | 3 |
| DRAMA 4081 | Theatre for Social Change | 3 |
| ENST 3310 | Beyond the Evidence | 3 |
| ENST 3320 | Fallout: Analyzing Texts and Narratives of the Nuclear Era | 3 |
| ENST 3330 | Multiparty Environmental Decision-Making | 3 |
| ENST 3340 | Writing Skills for Environmental Professionals | 3 |
| ENST 3600 | Field Methods for Environmental Science | 3 |
| ENST 3710 | Introduction to GIS | 3 |
| ENST 4350 | Foundations of Research: Building a Literature Review | 3 |
| ENST 4410 | Writing Home: Creating cultural guides for environmental site workers | 3 |
| ENST 4710 | Advanced GIS | 3 |
| IPH 3123 | Introduction to Digital Humanities | 3 |
| SDS 2020 | Elementary Probability and Statistics | 3 |
or SDS 3020 | Elementary to Intermediate Statistics and Data Analysis | |
or SDS 3030 | Statistics for Data Sceince 1 | |
| WRITING 3005 | Writing the Natural World | 3 |
Note: Students may count a fifth analysis and communication course toward the depth electives.
- Required course in social identity and environment; choose one of the following (3 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| AFAS 1130 | Introduction to Race | 3 |
| BEYOND 1014 | Environmental Racism and the Health of Everyone | 3 |
| JIMES 2910 | Racism and Antiracism | 3 |
| SOC 2010 | The Roots of Ferguson | 3 |
| SOC 2110 | Social Inequlity in America | 3 |
| SOC 2520 | Inequality by Design | 3 |
| SOC 3212 | The Social Construction of Race | 3 |
| SOC 3910 | Economic Realities of the American Dream | 3 |
| SOC 4289 | Neighborhoods, Schools, and Social Inequality | 3 |
| SOC 4810 | Global Sturctures and Problems | 3 |
| SOC 4830 | Global Racial Systems | 3 |
- Required interdisciplinary environmental capstone course; choose one of the following (3 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ENST 4810 | RESET: Decarbonizing the Grid | 3 |
| ENST 4820 | International Climate Negotiation Seminar | 4 |
| ENST 4998 | Senior Honors Research | 3 |
| ENST 5830 | Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic | 4 |
| INTER 4004 | Sustainbility Excchange | 3 |
Note: Due to the intensity of these project-based courses, students may only take one per semester. Students may count a second capstone course toward the depth electives.
- Fourth-year reflection seminar (1 unit):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ENST 4920 | Environmental Studies Fourth-year Reflection Seminar | 1 |
Note: The purpose of this seminar is to create a written narrative portfolio that synthesizes, integrates, and reflects on the student's learning across the courses and experiences of the major. Reflection will occur through personal writing and discussion with peers in the course.
Elective Courses
Students will choose 21 units of depth and breadth elective courses from the three categories below: Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, and Natural Science. Students must choose seven elective courses, with at least four courses from one category and at least one course in the other two categories. This requirement means 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.
Students must complete no fewer than 18 units of courses numbered 3000 or above within the major with a grade of C- or higher. There is no double counting of advanced (3000- and 4000-level) courses between two majors or between a major and a minor. This "no double-counting rule" also applies to students who are double majoring across schools.
- Social sciences electives:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| AMCS 2270 | Topics in Native American Studies: Intro to Native American and Indigenous Studies | 3 |
| ANTH 3102 | Topics: Sustainability in Extractive Communities | 3 |
| ANTH 3215 | Food, Culture and Power | 3 |
| ANTH 3472 | Global Energy and the American Dream | 3 |
| ANTH 3602 | Env. Inequal: Toxicity, Health, and Justice | 3 |
| ANTH 3610 | Culture and Environment | 3 |
| ANTH 3740 | Social Landscapes in Global View | 3 |
| ANTH 3796 | Meltdown:The Archaeology of Climate Change | 3 |
| ANTH 4281 | Ecological Anthropology | 3 |
| ECON 3350 | Environmental Policy | 3 |
| ENST 3060 | Community-based Conservation in Madagascar | 3 |
| ENST 3310 | Beyond the Evidence | 3 |
| ENST 3520 | Ecological Economics | 3 |
| ENST 3530 | Sustainable Cities | 3 |
| ENST 3535 | Sustainabile Transportation | 3 |
| ENST 3540 | Environmental Justice | 3 |
| ENST 4350 | Foundations of Research: Building a Literature Review | 3 |
| ENST 4510 | Environmental Law | 3 |
| ENST 4527 | IPCC: Governance, Policy and Science | 3 |
| ENST 4710 | Advanced GIS | 3 |
| ENST 4720 | Applications in Geospatial Intelligence | 3 |
| MGT 4510 | Business & Governmnet: Understanding and Influencing the Regulatory Environment | 3 |
| MGT 4603 | Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| MPH 5002 | Epidemiology* | 3 |
| MPH 5323 | TPS: Climate CHange and Public Health* | 3 |
| POLSCI 3171 | Politics of Environmental Regulation | 3 |
| POLSCI 3328 | Energy Politics | 3 |
| POLSCI 3630 | Quantiative Political Methodology | 3 |
| POLSCI 3630 | Quantiative Political Methodology | 3 |
| POLSCI 3890 | Power, Justice, and the City | 3 |
| POLSCI 4043 | Policy Analysis, Assessment and Practical Wisdom | 3 |
| POLSCI 4905 | Research Design and Methods | 3 |
| SOC 3350 | Poverty and the New American City | 3 |
| SOC 4810 | Global Structures and Problems | 3 |
| URST 2000 | The Study of Cities and Metropolitan America | 3 |
- *
Students should request permission from the instructor to enroll in this course.
- Environmental humanities and arts electives:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| AFAS 2881 | Free theLand: Black Lives and Environmental (in)Justice | 3 |
| AFAS 3075 | Recipes for Respect: Black Foodways in the U.S. | 3 |
| ARCH 2090 | Design Process | 3 |
| ART 3315 | Photography: Art Practice (Art, Env., Culutre & Image) | 3 |
| ART-ARCH 3961 | Art and Ecology | 3 |
| COMPLIT 4111 | Pastoral Literature | 3 |
| DRAMA 4081 | Theatre for Social Change | 3 |
| ENST 3034 | Environmental Modernism | 3 |
| ENST 3320 | Fallout: Analyzing Texts and Narratives of Nuclear Era | 3 |
| ENST 3410 | Native American Storytelling for Health Land Practice | 3 |
| ENST 4410 | Writing Home: Creating Clutural guides for environmental site workers | 3 |
| HIST 2561 | Urban America | 3 |
| HIST 3194 | Environment and Empire | 3 |
| HIST 3810 | Between Sand and Sea: History, Environment and Politics in the Arabian Pennisula | 3 |
| IPH 3120 | Introduction to Digital Humanities | 3 |
| IPH 4310 | Statistics for Humanities Scholars | 3 |
| LAND 5424 | Seeds | 3 |
| PHIL 2080 | Environmental Ethics | 3 |
| WRITING 3005 | Writing the Natural World | 3 |
| WRITING 3400 | Introduction to Playwriting | 3 |
- Natural science electives:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 3053 | Nomadic Strategies andExtreme Ecolgies | 3 |
| ANTH 3660 | Primate Ecology, Biology, and Behavior | 3 |
| ANTH 3662 | Primate Conervation Biology | 3 |
| ANTH 4285 | Environmental Archaeology | 3 |
| ANTH 4803 | Advanced GIS Modeling & Landscape Analysis | 3 |
| BIOL 3172 | Biology for Climate Change Solutions | 3 |
| BIOL 3220 | Woody Plants of Missouri | 3 |
| BIOL 3221 | Research and Public Education in the Arboretum | 3 |
| BIOL 3430 | Plants, People, and the Environment | 3 |
| BIOL 3494 | Microbes and the Environment | 4 |
| BIOL 3700 | Animal Behavior | 3 |
| BIOL 3730 | Laboratory on the Evolution of Animal Behavior | 3 |
| BIOL 3810 | Introduction to Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 3900 | Science for Agriculture and Environmental Policy | 3 |
| BIOL 4193 | Experimental Ecology Laboratory | 3 |
| BIOL 4195 | Disease Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 4196 | Community Ecology | 3 |
| EEPS 3150 | Environmental Impacts of Human Energy Use | 3 |
| EEPS 3173 | Introduction to Soil Science | 3 |
| EEPS 3230 | Biogeochemsitry | 3 |
| EEPS 3400 | Minerals, Rocks, and Resources in the Environment | 4 |
| EEPS 3420 | Environmental Systems | 3 |
| EEPS 3853 | Earth History | 3 |
| EEPS 3860 | The Earth's Climate Systems | 3 |
| EEPS 3873 | Geospatial Science | 3 |
| EEPS 4074 | Remote Sensing | 3 |
| EEPS 4094 | Surface Processes | 3 |
| EEPS 4284 | Hydrology | 3 |
| EEPS 4425 | Aqueous Geochemistry | 3 |
| EEPS 4544 | exploratin and Env. Goephysics | 3 |
| EEPS 4684 | Geospatial Field Methods | 3 |
| EEPS 4864 | Paleoclimatology | 3 |
| ENST 3600 | Field Methods for Environmental Science | 3 |
| ENST 3610 | Urban Ecology | 3 |
| ENST 3620 | Applied Conservation Biology | 3 |
| ENST 3630 | Arctic Climate System | 3 |
| ENST 4710 | Advanced GIS | 3 |
| ENST 4730 | Introduction to Spatial Epidemiology | 3 |
| LAND 5330 | Landscape Ecology | 3 |
Additional Information
Grades and Credits
The program has set the following policy concerning the minimum acceptable grade performance. A grade of C- is the minimum acceptable performance for each unit of credit for all coursework for the major. Courses with grades of D may fulfill the College’s requirement for 120 total credit units, but they do not meet the program requirements. A grade of C- is also the minimum acceptable performance for each unit of credit for any course required as a prerequisite to enrolling in advanced or sequential courses. Please visit the Academic Regulations page of the College of Arts & Sciences Bulletin for more information. Note: Students must ensure that, while completing the major, they complete a minimum of 18 units of upper-level coursework (3000 level or above). At least half of the units (i.e., 25 units) for the major must be completed in residence.
Substitutions and Transfer Credit
Requests for substitutions for courses from other institutions (transfer credit) need approval by the College Office. Please visit the Policies and Procedures for more information.
Majors requesting a course substitution should complete the Course Petition Form.
Study Abroad
To study abroad, students must be in their junior or senior year and have a 3.0 grade point average. Students must understand the language of the country they plan to study in. Grades do not transfer back to Washington University. Credits can be applied toward the 120 credits needed to graduate, and courses taken abroad can substitute for classes for the Environmental Major and Minors. These substitutions should be worked out before leaving for Study Abroad. Final decisions for course credit will be made once the student has returned and the courses and grades are reported to Washington University. The minimum grade for study abroad coursework to apply to major/minor credit is C-.
Environmental Studies will accept up to 4 courses (12-16 units) from a study abroad program toward the Environmental Analysis Major. This can include courses in the social identity and environment and breadth and depth elective sections of the major, as well as a research methods courses taken on a field-based program, but not other sections of the major. Requests for substitutions should be submitted to the director and study abroad coordinator for Environmental Studies, Dr. Jeff Catalano.
Considerations
- Participating in a Washington University program allows financial assistance, and students may earn full academic credit for study abroad if they participate in Washington University programs.
- Students wishing to participate in non-Washington University programs must petition for credit before participating in the program.
- Students must communicate regularly with their advisors while abroad and report to them upon return.
- Each student must contact the Overseas Office to arrange for credit transfer.
- For details, contact the Overseas Office.
Distinctions
In Environmental Studies, we recognize student accomplishment by awarding departmental distinction to graduating students who have excelled in various ways within the Environmental Analysis Major, such as: High performance in coursework, exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills, or leadership in promoting environmental awareness, initiating sustainability projects, and inspiring others. See bulletin for more info: https://bulletin.wustl.edu/undergrad/artsci/honors/
Latin Honors
Any Environmental Analysis Major may conduct senior thesis research regardless of GPA. To complete senior thesis/Latin honors research, students must register for ENST 4998 (senior thesis class) and ENST 4999 (senior thesis independent study) in their final two semesters to receive credit for their time spent on research.
To be eligible for Latin Honors, students must complete senior thesis research (complete ENST 4998, complete ENST 4999, and submit a satisfactory thesis) and have maintained a 3.65 grade point average through the sixth semester and must be accepted for candidacy by Environmental Studies. To earn honors, students must maintain a minimum 3.65 GPA through the final semester. In accordance with university guidelines, for Latin Honors, students may be awarded the A.B. cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude according to the following proportions: the top 15% in overall GPA of the full cohort of Latin Honors candidates who complete the requirements of their major departments will graduate summa cum laude; the next 35% magna cum laude; and the next 50% cum laude. To learn more about completing senior thesis research, continue reading below. For more information, please visit our webpage: https://enst.wustl.edu/student-research
Department Awards
In Environmental Studies, we offer the following awards (recognition and a modest monetary prize) to graduating Environmental Analysis Majors with outstanding accomplishments. Program faculty members nominate and choose students.
- Environmental Studies Award for Academic Achievement
- Environmental Studies Award for Scholarship and Research
- Environmental Studies Award for Environmental Leadership
Contact Info
| Phone: | 314-935-7047 |
| Email: | bowinston@wustl.edu |
| Website: | http://enst.wustl.edu |