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Minors
(Requirements apply to members of the Class of 2012 and beyond)
The Skidmore College Environmental Studies minor provides students with the opportunity to study interrelationships between humans and the environment and the problems resulting from these interrelationships. The minor is interdisciplinary and designed for both students who are interested in using it as part of their preparation for an environment-oriented career and for students who want to have a better general understanding of environmental issues. The environmental studies minor involves study in the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences directed toward helping the student gain an understanding of the complexity of the natural world, the values and ethical problems connected with how humankind perceives nature and its relationship to nature, and the history of environmental policy as it has evolved in the context of the competing priorities of environmental protection and economic development.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MINOR
The minor requires students to complete nineteen to twenty-four credit hours.
- Foundation courses: ES100 Environmental Concerns in Perspective and ES105 Field Studies in Environmental Science
- Two Cluster A courses: Culture, Society, and the Environment
- One Cluster B1 course: Exploring the Natural World
- One additional course from either Cluster A or Cluster B1.
CLUSTER A: Culture, Society, and the Environment
Courses in this cluster examine the social and cultural dimensions of environmental issues. Drawing upon disciplinary and interdisciplinary foundations in the social sciences, humanities, and arts, these courses provide the student with an understanding of how changes in the environment affect social organization and cultural development. Courses in this cluster also examine how society and culture affect the environment and influence human response to environmental issues. Cluster A courses emphasize social and cultural perspectives (i.e., social sciences, humanities, and arts), although concepts in the natural sciences may be introduced as background material. Cluster A courses apply to both tracks of the ES major and the ES minor.
CLUSTER B1 AND B2: Exploring the Natural World
Courses in this cluster examine the physical and biological aspects of environmental issues and, to a significant extent, examine how these aspects influence and are influenced by people. These courses offer students a scientific foundation in environmental issues by drawing on disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses in biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics, physics, and/or other disciplines. Cluster B courses emphasize the natural sciences, although social and cultural dimensions may be introduced as background material. Cluster B1 courses apply to the ES minor and the Social and Cultural Perspectives track of the ES major, whereas the extended list of B2 courses applies to the Environmental Science track of the ES major.
