ENVS Major 2022-23
Here are some changes to the ENVS major effective 2022-23!
The ENVS Program continually updates its major to make new opportunities available for students, to ensure that students can smoothly get through major requirements, and to maintain a rigorous academic curriculum.
Below is what will appear in the college catalog effective 2022-23 for the new ENVS major. Unless you are graduating in 2023, we strongly recommend that all current students pursue the new major, by completing this form to adopt the 2022-23 catalog. [By adopting the new catalog, you will need to adopt all requirements, including other majors/minors and graduation requirements. In rare cases, then, this may not be preferable.]
A set of draft three- and four-year sample plans following this new major (ENVS major requirements only) are also available for view.
Primary changes from the current major include:
- Reduction in the number of required ENVS core courses
- Addition of ENVS breadth courses, and removal of ECON 260 breadth requirement
- Addition of an ENVS/ESS elective requirement
- Addition of a quantitative requirement
Feel free to contact ENVS if any questions.
ENVS Requirements
The major includes core courses in environmental studies, breadth courses in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, elective courses, and a quantitative requirement.
Core courses are designed to weave together concepts and skills drawn from breadth course fields, in order to build an intellectually coherent understanding of environmental problems and solutions. The core sequence starts with a broad introductory course followed by development of quantitative and qualitative analytical skills. It culminates in a senior capstone representing original scholarly research on a topic of practical relevance. An additional core course builds communication, cultural competency, and other skills toward successful public engagement.
Breadth courses in fields including biology, chemistry, English, earth system science, economics, political science, sociology and anthropology, international affairs, history, philosophy, and religious studies provide important discipline-specific tools for environmental analysis.
Elective courses in environmental studies and earth system science offer opportunities to explore key topics outside of ENVS core and breadth courses.
The quantitative requirement builds skills in data analysis and modeling, given the significance of these skills in environmental studies.
Majors receive faculty guidance toward areas of interest relevant to their academic and professional goals, and are encouraged to pursue overseas study, ideally related to these areas of interest, during their third year.
Major Requirements
A minimum of 50 semester credits, including the following:
Core Requirements
- ENVS 160 Introduction to Environmental Studies
- ENVS 220 Environmental Analysis
- ENVS 295 Environmental Engagement
- ENVS 400 Senior Seminar
Breadth Requirements
- Two natural science breadth elective courses chosen from the list below. The courses must be taken from different departments.
- Two social science breadth elective courses chosen from the list below. The courses must be taken from different departments.
- Two arts and humanities breadth electives chosen from the list below. The courses must be taken from different departments.
Additional Requirements
- One elective ENVS or ESS course chosen from the list below.
- One quantitative course in math, computer science, or statistics, chosen from the list below.
All Lewis & Clark courses intended to fulfill environmental studies major requirements must be taken for a letter grade.
Minor Requirements
A minimum of 25 semester credits (six courses), distributed as follows:
- ENVS 160 Introduction to Environmental Studies
- ENVS 220 Environmental Analysis
- ENVS 295 Environmental Engagement
- One social science breadth course chosen from the list below.
- One natural science breadth elective chosen from the list below.
- One arts and humanities breadth course chosen from the list below.
All Lewis & Clark courses intended to fulfill environmental studies minor requirements must be taken for a letter grade.
Natural Science Breadth Courses
BIO 201 Biological Core Concepts: Systems
CHEM 100 Perspectives in Environmental Chemistry
CHEM 110 General Chemistry I
ESS 150 Environmental Geology
ESS 170 Climate Science
Social Science Breadth Courses
ECON 260 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
ENVS 460 Topics in Environmental Law and Policy
IA 257 Global Resource Dilemmas
IA 340 International Political Economy
POLS 346 State and Local Politics
SOAN 265 Critical Perspectives on Development
SOAN 305 Environmental Sociology
Arts and Humanities Breadth Courses
ENG 276 Animals and Animal Rights in Literature
HIST 239 Constructing the American Landscape
HIST 261 Global Environmental History
HIST 388 What’s for Dinner
PHIL 215 Philosophy and the Environment
RELS 102 Food and Religion in America
RELS 105 Apocalyptic Imagination
ENVS or ESS Electives
ENVS 311 (Un)Natural Disasters
ENVS 350 Environmental Theory
ENVS 490 Topics in Environmental Studies
ESS 270 Issues in Oceanography
ESS 280 The Fundamentals of Hydrology
ESS 290 Topics in Earth System Science
ESS 340 Spatial Problems in Earth System Science
Quantitative Requirement Courses
MATH 131 Calculus
MATH 123 Calculus & Statistics for Modeling the Life Sciences
CS 171 Computer Science I
DSCI 140 Introduction to Data Science
ECON 103 Statistics
POLS 201 Research Methods in Political Science
PSY 200 Statistics I
Environmental Studies is located in room 343A of John R. Howard Hall on the Undergraduate Campus.
MSC: 62
email envs@lclark.edu
voice 503-768-7790
fax 503-768-7620
Director James Proctor
Environmental Studies
Lewis & Clark
615 S. Palatine Hill Road MSC 62
Portland OR 97219