All Courses Approved for the Major

The Cornerstone is like “boot camp” for the program. The course is designed for students who have declared the major, and are ready to dive into interdisciplinary work. It offers an overview of environmental teaching and research at OU; emphasizes the importance of integrating disciplinary perspectives on environmental topics; and gives students experience at working on teams, and at interacting with faculty and professionals in environmental fields. Most importantly, it trains students to plan an independent research project on an environmental topic; that plan is like the term paper for the course. (F)

The Research Project is an independent study into an environmental issue with one or more faculty researchers. Students will carry out the plan they developed in the Cornerstone, gaining experience at conducting in-depth academic research. Under faculty supervision, students will mostly work independently, gaining experience with methods appropriate to the topic they are investigating, and with ways to organize and present their findings. Note: students can fulfill this requirement by taking some other “high impact” experience—e.g. an internship, a service learning class, or a study abroad program. (F, Sp, Su)

The Seminar involves intensive study of models of interdisciplinary scholarship—major academic works that integrate multiple disciplines. It thereby furthers students’ training at taking an interdisciplinary approach to the environment. By presenting exemplary scholarship, the course aims to help students recognize rigorous standards for interdisciplinary work, which they can then apply to their work in other Environmental Studies courses. (F)

The Capstone is the culmination of the Environmental Studies major. Other classes help students integrate knowledge about environmental issues gained from a range of disciplines. In the Capstone they apply that skill by working on a team to address a local or regional environmental concern. Drawing on the disciplinary strengths of its members, each team will synthesize an interdisciplinary understanding of the issue at hand, and then propose a scientifically and socially informed, and ethically justified, policy response. (Sp)

The Learning Community deepens students’ engagement with Environmental Studies’ culture of interdisciplinary interaction. It is a one-hour class, taken three times over a student’s time in the major. Students will engage in a variety of activities including (among others) presentations on academic and policy topics; workshops on career planning; and environmentally-related service projects. Students will take the Learning Community concurrently with the Cornerstone class; as they carry out their Research in Environmental Studies; and one additional semester. (F, Sp)