The dream of environmental Studies at the College is more than three years old. In 1989, former Professor of Fine Arts Carl Schmaltz and former Visiting Lecturer in American Studies Emeritus Thomas Looker created the First-Year Seminar, The Imagined Landscape. A number of subsequent First-Year Seminars have revolved around aspects of the environment and raised issues that the professors have increasingly felt deserve more attention. “A back burner conversation has been going on for quite a while,” explained Dizard.
In 1999, the idea of an environmental studies major became more focused and gained momentum when alumnus Thomas Pick and his wife, Sue Pick, donated a substantial amount of money to establish the Pick Readership through which a faculty member serves a three-year term to arrange lectures and panel discussions on environmental issues and coordinate one or two interdisciplinary colloquia on the environment each year. Dizard became the first Pick Reader followed by Associate Professor of Biology Ethan J. Temeles. Dizard currently occupies his second term as the Pick Reader.
Three years ago, President Tony Marx established the President’s Initiative Fund to encourage faculty to explore more interdisciplinary projects. By that time, a large group of professors was interested in moving to the next step in finalizing the creation of an environmental studies major. The group applied for and received a grant to enable planning and research for the major and sent out a general invitation to other faculty members to join the discussion. Fifteen faculty members from across the College formed a committee to determine the department’s direction.
The project has not been easy. The committee has reviewed the requirements of comparable environmental studies programs at the College’s peer institutions and interviewed their professors to help the committee determine how the College’s program should look. The committee has debated whether the College should call the program environmental science or environmental studies and discovered an environmental science major is less practical for graduate studies. “What we heard is that environmental science, that is a mix within the physical and earth sciences and the life sciences, didn’t give students enough preparation in any one of the traditional disciplines to get into a graduate school,” remarked Dizard. In addition, Dizard and the other professors felt that the broader environmental studies major would bring together a group of students with many different interests, rather than simply science students. “One of our initial interests in environmental studies was its being a natural vehicle to bring science and non-science students together in a classroom, where the value of science was made explicit,” said Dizard. “These would be classrooms where science and non-science professors would teach and it would show how these two areas could be brought together. It could make students who didn’t think they were interested in science take a science class or two and vice-versa for science students to take humanities and social sciences classes.” After some serious, lengthy and thoughtful meetings, the group has decided an interdisciplinary environmental studies major is the way to go.
The intricacies of the major are still a work in progress. Dizard and his colleagues are fine-tuning the program’s details so it can appear in next academic year’s course catalog. As of now, the major will consist of six core courses. In addition to the core, students will choose four courses from a long list of electives (see chart). The Class of 2009 should include the College’s first environmental studies majors.
Dizard said that the committee will address specifics at the conclusion of this semester. New courses will be envisioned and submitted by early February to the Committee on Educational Policy. “The whole idea is to bring people from across the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities under one tent.” Two of the six required courses are team taught by a scientist and a non-scientist, for example.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karena McKinney served on the faculty group that created the environmental studies program proposal and shared her thoughts on the major from the perspective of a science professor. “A basic understanding of and appreciation for the sciences certainly informs study of the sociological, philosophical or other aspects, and that is why at least one science course is required for environmental studies majors,” said McKinney of the core requirements. “By the same token, students who are interested in environmental science should be exposed to the field from the perspectives of the social sciences and the humanities,” she added.
Though the professors involved in the program occasionally differ on specifics, they all agree that environmental studies majors should think critically about the important environmental issues we face. “Clearly Amherst College has an interest in graduating students who are aware of the intense pressures that have been placed on natural systems,” remarked Assistant Professor of Biology Jill Miller, who is also involved in the project. “The environmental studies major offers an opportunity for any Amherst College student, science major or not, to explore environmental issues and to educate themselves about the science, policy, social context and consequences of changes in the natural world. One very important goal is to challenge students to think creatively and cross-disciplinary about viable solutions to incredibly complicated problems.”
The major has already generated positive feedback from students. “I was extremely happy to hear about the creation of the environmental studies major,” said Erin Camp ’11, who is considering a double major in environmental studies and a natural science. “[This development] will open up so many opportunities to students interested in the field because each individual will be able to fulfill the foundation requirements for the major while also fine-tuning exactly what he or she wants to learn with regard to the growing issue of the environment.”
Member of the Board of Trustees’ Board for Student Life and of the Faculty Committee on Admission and Financial Aid Michael Britt ’10 shared his excitement. “[The major] is something long awaited,” remarked Britt. “A lot of students here want to major in environmental studies, and many people predict in a few years that it will be our second largest major.” Britt said many seniors he has talked to, especially economics majors, would have majored in environmental studies had the program been established earlier. Britt also spoke of the impact of the major on prospective students. “A lot of students applying to college are really excited about this decision,” said Britt. Britt noted that news of the major has graced the discussion boards of popular Web site CollegeConfidential.com. Even those students with little interest in the major understand how important it will be in the College’s future. “It seems to me that since environmental issues will probably be the biggest problems our generation will face, having an Environmental Studies major is a good idea,” said Michael Goldberg ’10.
“It’s exciting to see this new major come forward,” said Dean of Faculty Gregory Call. “I’m really pleased that this major program developed through a faculty initiative. I think we are in a position to build a strong program, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to do just that.”