Environmental Studies Major Requirements (B.A.)
(Also see Requirements for a Bachelor's Degree.)
The Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary major that introduces students to the ways in which human activities impact Earth systems and vice versa. It equips students to use a variety of tools, such as policy, science, communication, and individual and societal behavior change, to solve environmental and sustainability problems, with an emphasis on the perspectives and tools of the social sciences. Environmental Studies majors must complete a set of core courses common to both ENVS majors, including a research-focused senior capstone course and an applied experience involving an internship, plus three additional social science core courses and a suite of electives in the student's area of interest.
The ENVS senior capstone experience involves both the completion of a research project or comparable scholarly endeavor under the supervision of a JHU faculty member and participation in a 1-credit senior seminar that explores career development and current events to support seniors as they transition to post-graduate life and work. A 1-credit research design course taken in the junior year guides students in the development of their senior research project proposal. All ENVS majors must enroll in the capstone and senior seminar courses in the fall semester of their senior year.
The applied experience can be completed during any semester including summers and involves at least 80 hours of supervised, hands-on experience working with an organization on environmental or sustainability issues through an internship or similar work or volunteer experience. Synthesizing assignments reflecting on the experience are also required. The goal of the applied experience requirement is to ensure that students have practical experience in a workplace or community setting that will help prepare them for the next step in their education and career.
The Environmental Studies major requires a total of 65 or more credits to complete. All courses must be taken for a letter grade, and students must earn a grade of C- or better to apply the course to the major. All ENVS majors are encouraged to consider studying abroad at some point during their undergraduate years to develop a more global, culturally sensitive perspective on environmental and sustainability issues. Students are not permitted to double-major in both Environmental Studies and Environmental Science. Consult the ENVS program's website for additional information: http://krieger.jhu.edu/envs/requirements/major/
Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Common ENVS Core | ||
| AS.270.103 | Introduction to Global Environmental Change | 3 |
| AS.271.107 | Introduction to Sustainability | 3 |
| AS.270.202 | Introduction to Ecology | 3 |
| AS.270.205 | Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Geospatial Analysis | 3 |
| AS.270.336 | Freshwater Systems | 3 |
| AS.271.399 | Research Design | 1 |
| AS.271.401 | Environmental Ethics | 3 |
| AS.271.403 | Environmental Policymaking and Policy Analysis | 3 |
| AS.271.496 | Senior Capstone Experience | 3 |
| AS.271.499 | Senior Seminar | 1 |
| AS.271.509 | Applied Experience | 1 |
| AS.030.101 | Introductory Chemistry I | 3 |
| AS.110.106 | Calculus I (Biology and Social Sciences) | 4 |
| or AS.110.108 | Calculus I (Physical Sciences & Engineering) | |
| AS.180.102 | Elements of Microeconomics | 3 |
| AS.190.102 | Introduction To Comparative Politics | 3.0 |
| or AS.190.111 | Introduction to Global Studies | |
| or AS.190.108 | Contemporary International Politics | |
| or AS.190.226 | Global Governance | |
| AS.230.205 | Introduction to Social Statistics | 4.0 |
| or AS.280.345 | Public Health Biostatistics | |
| or EN.553.111 | Statistical Analysis I | |
| or EN.553.211 | Probability and Statistics for the Life Sciences | |
| or EN.553.310 | Probability & Statistics for the Physical Sciences & Engineering | |
| or EN.553.311 | Probability and Statistics for the Biological Sciences and Engineering | |
| Social Sciences Core | ||
| AS.180.101 | Elements of Macroeconomics | 3 |
| AS.230.202 | Research Methods for the Social Sciences | 3 |
| or AS.200.200 | Research Methods in Psychology | |
| or AS.070.317 | Methods | |
| or AS.230.323 | Qualitative Research Practicum | |
| AS.271.302 | Exploring Nature | 3 |
| or AS.271.320 | Environmental Photojournalism | |
| Electives | ||
| Choose 12 credits of approved courses related to the student's area of interest, at least 9 credits of which are at the 300-level or above. | 12 | |
| Total Credits | 65 | |
Electives
Each student should work with their advisor to choose a coherent suite of elective courses totaling at least 12 credits, 9 of which are at the 300-level or above. These courses should be relevant to the student's individual interests and career plans and may center around one or more environmental/sustainability issues or environmental studies disciplines, such as anthropology or economics. Appropriate elective courses are those that concentrate directly on environmental or sustainability issues. The ENVS Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) distributes a list of approved focus area courses each semester, and approval for other courses can be sought by emailing the major advisor and DUS.
Sample Program of Study
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
| AS.270.103 | 3 | AS.271.107 | 3 |
| AS.180.101 | 3 | AS.180.102 | 3 |
| AS.190.111 | 3 | AS.230.205 | 4 |
| AS.110.106 | 4 | ||
| 13 | 10 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
| AS.270.202 | 3 | AS.270.205 | 3 |
| AS.030.101 | 3 | AS.230.202 | 3 |
| 6 | 6 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
| AS.271.302 | 3 | AS.271.399 | 1 |
| AS.270.336 | 3 | AS.271.509 | 1 |
| Elective course | 3 | Elective course | 3 |
| Elective course | 3 | ||
| 9 | 8 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
| AS.271.496 | 3 | AS.271.401 | 3 |
| AS.271.499 | 1 | AS.271.403 | 3 |
| Elective course | 3 | ||
| 7 | 6 | ||
| Total Credits 65 | |||
Honors in the Environmental Studies Major
To qualify for honors in the major, a student must:
- Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.5 in the courses taken to fulfill the major requirements.
- Successfully complete 3 credits of senior thesis, AS.271.511 Senior Thesis, beyond the senior capstone experience involving an environmental or sustainability-related research project or other comparable scholarly endeavor.
- Earn a rating of good or excellent on the final product of the thesis, as determined by the faculty research advisor.
- Present the results of the thesis orally in an appropriate JHU department.
B.A./M.S. Option
Undergraduates majoring in Environmental Studies may apply for accelerated status toward an M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Policy (ESP) or an M.S. in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) through the JHU Krieger School of Arts & Sciences' Advanced Academic Programs. Interested students should speak with their advisor and the Director of the ESP and GIS Programs, Jerry Burgess (jerry.burgess@jhu.edu), in their senior year. Students may apply up to three courses taken as undergraduates toward the M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy and up to two courses toward the M.S. in GIS, thereby leaving only seven to eight more courses to complete the M.S. following receipt of their bachelor's degree. Students will receive two separate degrees, so the requirements of both degrees must be fulfilled. Students cannot earn the M.S. degree without completion of the B.A. or B.S., however, students who do not complete the M.S. retain their B.A. or B.S.