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Undergraduate Bulletin College of Arts and Sciences
Integrated Program in the Environment

Bachelor of Arts in Environmental and Sustainability Studies

Students on Summer 2020, Fall 2020, or Spring 2021 requirements ENVSUSTBA

The Bachelor of Arts in Environmental and Sustainability Studies is an interdisciplinary, liberal-arts degree designed to provide an introduction to the complex system-scale challenges of sustainability as well as the tools needed to address problems that transcend solely social or environmental domains. Students pursuing this degree can expect to integrate experience in the humanities with the natural and social sciences. The major offers the opportunity to develop skills in communication and creative expression, data collection and analysis, environmental science, and economics. Although this is designed as a stand-alone major, students are encouraged to pursue this degree program as a second major opportunity. Pursuing two majors enables students a combination of depth in a core discipline and breadth across the range of topics that are inherent in environmental and sustainability studies. Potential career areas include environmental planning and coordination, environmental education and communications, sustainability coordination or consulting in the private or public sector, green design, environmental law or public affairs, or further academic pursuits with graduate study.

The degree is co-awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. College of Arts and Sciences policies are enforced.

Requirements

The major requires at least 30 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.
  1. Introduction to Sustainability Studies. One (1) course:
    • ANTH-E 101 Sustainability and Society
    • EAS-E 116 Our Planet and Its Future
    • GEOG-G 185 Environmental Change: The End of the World as We Know It?
    • GEOG-G 208 Environment and Society
    • SPEA-E 183 ENVIRONMENT AND PEOPLE
  2. Human-Environment Systems. One (1) course:
    • ANTH-B 343 Evolution of Human Ecological Footprint
    • ANTH-E 318 Nature/Culture: Global Perspectives in Environmental Anthropology
    • ANTH-E 418 Globalization and Consumer Culture
    • ANTH-E 444 People and Protected Areas: Theories of Conservation
    • COLL-C 103 Critical Approaches to the Arts and Humanities (approved topic: "Pleasure, Pain, and Peak Oil")
    • COLL-C 104 Critical Approaches to the Social and Historical Studies (approved topic: "Language Hotspots and Biodiversity")
    • HIST-W 215 Natural Disasters in World Environmental History
    • GEOG-G 315 Environmental Conservation
    • GEOG-G 341 Ecological Restoration: Science, Politics, and Ethics
    • GEOG-G 343 Perspectives on Environmental Decisions
    • GEOG-G 359 Fundamentals of Sustainable Agriculture
    • GEOG-G 368 Water in the Midwest
    • GEOG-G 411 Sustainable Development Systems
    • GEOG-G 444 Climate Change Impacts
    • GEOG-G 448 Capitalism and Nature
    • GEOG-G 449 Political Ecology
    • GEOG-G 453 Water and Society
    • GEOG-G 478 Global Change, Food, and Farming Systems
    • INTL-I 302 Advanced Topics in Global Health and Environment (approved topic: "Arctic Encounters: Animals, People and Ships")
    • INTL-I 420 Global Sustainability Studies (approved topics: "Nature and the City"; "Negotiating Climate: Culture, Science, Politics")
    • POLS-Y 313 Environmental Policy
    • SOAD-D 203 Green Building Concepts and Technologies
    • SPEA-E 332 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED ECOLOGY
    • SPEA-E 400 TOPICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (approved topic: "Food systems and community resilience")
    • SPEA-E 457 INTRODUCTION TO CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
    • SPEA-V 424 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, JUSTICE, AND POLITICS
    • SPH-O 305 INTEGRATED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
    • SPH-O 360 HUMAN HEALTH AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
  3. Communication and Creative Expression. One (1) course:
    • BIOL-L 322 Writing Workshop in Biology
    • CSCI-A 348 MASTERING THE WORLD WIDE WEB
    • ENG-R 212 Communicating Sustainability
    • ENG-R 348 Environmental Communication
    • ENG-W 311 Writing Creative Nonfiction
    • ENG-W 321 Advanced Technical Writing
    • ENG-W 350 Advanced Expository Writing
    • FOLK-F 253 Folklore and the Social Sciences (approved topic: "Music and disaster" and "Music, Community, and Sustainability")
    • FOLK-F 330 Folk Culture and Related Fields (approved topic: "Folklore and the Environment")
    • MSCH-C 226 Visual Communication
    • MSCH-J 360 Journalism Specialties (approved topic: "Web Design")
    • MSCH-J 460 Topics Colloquium (approved topic: "Science in the Public Sphere")
    • MSCH-P 351 Advanced Video Field and Post Production
    • MSCH-P 435 Advanced Documentary Workshop
    • MSCH-S 452 Communicating Climate Change
    • SPEA-E 311 INTRODUCTION TO RISK ASSESSMENT AND RISK COMMUNICATION
    • SPEA-E 412 RISK COMMUNICATION
    • SPH-O 340 INTERPRETATION AND TOUR GUIDING
    • SPH-O 341 FIELD TECHNIQUES IN ENVIR EDUC
  4. Data Collection and Analysis. One (1) course:
    • Qualitative Methods
      • ANTH-E 302 Ethnographic Methods
      • GEOG-G 388 Qualitative Methods in Geography
    • Geospatial Data Analysis
      • GEOG-G 237 Mapping our World: From Mercator to Mashups
      • GEOG-G 336 Environmental Remote Sensing
      • GEOG-G 338 Geographic Information Systems
      • GEOG-G 439 GIS and Environmental Analysis
      • SPEA-E 418 VECTOR-BASED GIS
    • Statistical and Computational Techniques
      • ANTH-A 306 Anthropological Statistics
      • CJUS-K 300 Techniques of Data Analysis
      • EAS-E 314 Data Analysis for Earth Science
      • ECON-E 370 Statistical Analysis for Business and Economics
      • ECON-S 370 Statistical Analysis for Business and Economics: Honors
      • GEOG-G 250 Computing in the Geospatial Sciences
      • GEOG-G 488 Applied Spatial Statistics
      • POLS-Y 395 Quantitative Political Analysis
      • PSY-K 300 Statistical Techniques
      • SOC-S 371 Statistics in Sociology
      • SPEA-K 300 STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES
      • SPEA-V 475 DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
      • SPH-Q 381 INTRODUCTION TO BIOSTATISTICS
      • STAT-S 301 Applied Statistical Methods for Business
      • STAT-S 303 Applied Statistical Methods for the Life Sciences
      • SPH-R 314 DATA-BASED DECISION-MAKING METHODS
      • SPH-V 341 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT AND POLICY
    • Field Methods
      • ANTH-X 480 Fieldwork in Archaeology
      • BIOL-L 307 Biodiversity
      • BIOL-L 474 Field and Laboratory Ecology
      • GEOG-G 350 Field Methods in Physical Geography
      • EAS-X 377 Field Geology and Paleoanthropology at Olduvai Gorge
      • EAS-X 479 Geology, Hydrology and Geochemistry in the Rocky Mountains
      • SPEA-E 375 TECHNIQUES OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
      • SPEA-E 400 TOPICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (approved topic: "Plants and Plant Communities")
      • SPEA-E 442 HABITAT ANALYSIS-TERRESTRIAL
      • SPEA-E 443 HABITAT ANALYSIS-AQUATIC
      • SPEA-E 482 OVERSEAS TOPICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
      • SPH-O 244 NATURAL HISTORY AND FIELD ECOLOGY
  5. Environmental Science. One (1) course:
    • BIOL-L 350 Environmental Biology
    • COLL-C 105 Critical Approaches to the Natural and Mathematical Sciences (approved topic: "Records of Global Climate Change")
    • EAS-E 105 Earth: Our Habitable Planet
    • EAS-E 118 Sustainability in Water Resources
    • EAS-E 122 Earth's Dynamic Atmosphere
    • EAS-E 131 Oceans and Our Global Environment
    • EAS-E 171 Environmental Geology in the Twenty-first Century
    • EAS-E 226 Earth Processes
    • EAS-E 227 Earth Climate and History
    • GEOG-G 107 Physical Systems of the Environment
    • GEOG-G 109 Weather and Climate
    • GEOG-G 307 Biogeography: The Distribution of Life
    • SPEA-E 272 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
    • SPEA-E 332 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED ECOLOGY
    • SPH-O 244 NATURAL HISTORY AND FIELD ECOLOGY
  6. Economics. One (1) course:
    • ANTH-E 366 Commodities and Culture
    • BUS-G 316 SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE
    • BUS-G 456 NON-MARKET RISK CONSULTING
    • BUS-L 302 SUSTAINABILITY LAW & POLICY
    • BUS-L 318 BUSINESS & POVERTY ALLEVIATION
    • BUS-P 316 SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS
    • ECON-B 251 Fundamentals of Economics for Business I
    • ECON-E 251 Fundamentals of Economics I
    • ECON-E 321 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
    • ECON-E 364 Environment and Resource Economics
    • GEOG-G 448 Capitalism and Nature
    • INTL-I 300 Topics in International Studies (approved topic: "International energy markets: Environmental, Economic and Health Aspects")
    • SPEA-E 340 ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND FINANCE
    • SPEA-V 202 CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC ISSUES IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS
    • SPEA-V 401 FINANCIAL AND COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
  7. Concentration. One (1) of the following options:
    • One (1) of the concentrations listed below.
    • 12 credit hours of courses selected in consultation with the Environmental and Sustainability Studies academic advisor and approved by the director of the program.
  8. GPA and Hours Requirements.
    1. Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
    2. Major Upper Division Courses. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
    3. Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
    4. Major GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
    5. College Breadth. At least 58 credit hours must be completed in courses from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines outside of the major area.

Major Area Courses

Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:

  • Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken--as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent--except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
  • Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
  • Any course, consistent with the policies herein, that is part of a concentration, track, and/or specialization being pursued as part of this academic program

The above courses cannot be applied toward the College Breadth requirement in the major.

This program of study cannot be combined with the following:

  • Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (ENVBSES2)
  • Minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies (ENSUSTMIN)
  • Minor in Environmental Science (ENVSCIMIN)
  • Minor in Water Resources Science, Policy, and Management (WRPMGTMIN)

Exceptions to and substitutions for major requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Concentrations