Curriculum

Environmental issues call upon people, organizations, and governments to grasp complex scientific concepts, address conflicting human values, and make difficult economic, political and ethical choices. The curricular options in Environmental Studies—the major in Environmental Studies and the concentration in Environmental Studies—are designed to prepare students to effectively address these issues by integrating perspectives and methodologies from the natural sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Environmental Studies Program at Williams College offers a major in Environmental Studies and a concentration in Environmental Studies. The major and the concentration prepare students to understand and address the critical environmental issues of our times. The curriculum integrates perspectives and methodologies from the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities to ask: How do societies shape the environment? How do we design environmental solutions that are just, equitable, and sustainable? How do we transform the systems and ways of life that have created the global environmental crisis? And how do we explain the values and ideas that people have used to make that crisis comprehensible? Answering these questions requires studying complex scientific problems and conflicting values and making difficult economic, political and ethical choices.

PLANNING FOR A POSSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MAJOR OR CONCENTRATION

Incoming students with an interest in Environmental Studies should consider taking ENVI 101: Nature and Society during their first year at Williams. This gateway course is required for the major and the concentration and provides an intellectual framework for critical, interdisciplinary environmental inquiry in the social sciences and humanities while surveying the most pressing environmental problems of our time. In the spring, many first-year students also take ENVI 102: Introduction to Environmental Science, which provides an overview of the global earth system: the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. In this class, students are introduced to scientific methods from physics, chemistry, geology, and biology that are used to examine real-world case studies at global and local scales.

While ENVI 101 or ENVI 102 are recommended starting points for the major, and are prerequisites for many other ENVI course offerings, please note that some of the course options for the major may have other courses as prerequisites that may not count toward the major or concentration. For example, ENVI/ECON 213 (Intro to Environmental and Natural Resource Economics) has a prerequisite of ECON 110 (Principles of Microeconomics). We strongly suggest that you do advance planning to avoid being blocked from taking a relevant course.

CREDIT FOR AP, IB, A-LEVELS AND OTHER PRE-WILLIAMS COURSES

Students are not allowed to place out of ENVI 101. Students with a score of 5 on the AP Environmental Science exam may take a 200-level environmental science lab course (cross-listed with Environmental Studies) in lieu of ENVI 102.

ADVISING

Students interested in the Environmental Studies major or concentration are encouraged to consult with members of the Environmental Studies Program, including the Chair of Environmental Studies ([email protected]).All incoming majors will be assigned a faculty advisor in the spring of their sophomore year.

PREPARATION FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL

We advise students who are considering pursuing a Ph.D. to meet with members of the Environmental Studies program to plan for specialized training. Some graduate programs in Environmental Studies expect prior coursework in statistics, GIS, or advanced humanities, social science, or science courses. The selection of outside courses will depend on the field in which a student wants to specialize.

THE DEGREE WITH HONORS IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

A student pursuing either the major or concentration in Environmental Studies can pursue an honors thesis, which is a year-long independent research project under the supervision of a faculty member, conducted over the fall semester (as ENVI 493), Winter Study (as ENVI 31), and spring semester (as ENVI 494) of the senior year. Given the breadth of environmental studies, a thesis may follow a variety of formats. In general, it is a good idea for the thesis to build upon prior coursework and/or prior research or internship experience, and many students conduct thesis research during the summer before senior year. Students completing an Environmental Studies thesis may count one semester of the thesis (ENVI 493 or 494) as their senior seminar. Interested students should talk to Environmental Studies faculty about project options at any time, but generally no later than January of the junior year. See the Environmental Studies website or contact the Environmental Studies Chair for detailed instructions and application timeline.

For more information, see our page on Honors Thesis Program and Guidelines.

STUDY AWAY

Many study away options are available to students in Environmental Studies, including the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program. Students considering either a semester or year away who intend to major in Environmental Studies should consult the Chair of Environmental Studies and the Dean in charge of study abroad as early as possible to discuss their options. Students may take up to two courses outside of Williams toward their major, but must have approval in writing from the Chair of Environmental Studies.

For more information, see our page on Study Away.