Because the environment is all-encompassing, Environmental Studies is inherently interdisciplinary. It is not a specific academic discipline alongside others. Rather it’s a space where disciplines overlap, providing an opportunity to interact across their boundaries, and to create a dynamic approach to the environment that responds to multiple sources of knowledge.
This interdisciplinary outlook is needed because no single way of thinking about the environment is enough. Instead we must think about it from a variety of perspectives. Each of the many academic disciplines involved in the formal study of the environment sheds an important light—but our understanding is enriched when different ways of seeing come together to reveal a fuller picture than is available from any single viewpoint.
This integration of diverse approaches is typically a group effort. It results from collaborations among people from different fields who come together around their shared dedication to solving environmental problems. Our program is built on the recognition that the capacities required for the teamwork used to tackle environmental issues include, in addition to knowledge of the environment, the ability to interact productively with others.
