M = Environmental Studies Program

Environmental Studies Program

S = Objectives

Awareness of the mutual impact of human activity and the natural environment is rapidly growing. On scales as different as personal hygiene and international trade agreements decisions increasingly reflect environmental concerns and understanding. This broad range of issues can be sucessfully approached from the vantage point of several traditional disciplines. Yet, no single field is truly representative of, or adequate for, the study of ìthe environment.î Accordingly, the Brandeis Environmental Studies Program aims to expand disciplinary training in the social and natural sciences to assure adequate grounding in environment-related sub-fields, but also to complement such training with similarly relevant courses outside a studentís main field of concentration. This combination is designed to provide a broad, trans-disciplinary base for employment or future professional training.

S = How to Become a Program Member

The program is open to students from any field of concentration. The requirements may be met with specific courses in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, and must also include a practical component of an environmental problem, and a senior research paper (that may serve as a thesis in the studentís concentration), or a structured internship experience. Some students may elect to receive field training in specialized subjects, e.g., marine biology, sustainable development, tropical ecology. The program maintains extensive files of such off-campus opportunities. Students may register for the program, seek guidance in course selection, off-campus training, and paper topics, by contacting the Environmental Studies Program faculty advisor as early in their Brandeis career as possible. Registered participants will receive information on courses and campus events.

S = Committee

Brian Donahue, Chair

(American Studies)

Joyce Antler

(American Studies)

Richard Gaskins

(American Studies, Legal Studies)

Laura Goldin

(American Studies)

Judy Herzfeld

(Chemistry)

Adam Jaffe

(Economics)

Attila Klein

(Biology)

R. Shep Melnick

(Politics)

S = Requirements for the Program

A. Two semester courses chosen from Group I (Environment and Society).

B. Two semester courses chosen from Group II (Environment and the Natural World).

C. Successful completion of AMST 191b (Environmental Research Workshop) to be taken during the junior or senior years.

D. Either successful completion of ENVS 97a or b (Senior Essay) (or an approved Senior Honors Thesis submitted to any department); or successful completion of ENVS 92a or b (Senior Internship).

S = Special Note on Off-Campus Courses

Through our membership in the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) Consortium, competitively selected students may satisfy some of the above requirements by participating in the Semester in Environmental Science offered each fall at the MBL in Woods Hole, MA. Brandeis is also affiliated with the School for Field Studies and the Marine Studies Consortium (MSC). Both offer programs of special interest to those enrolled in the Environmental Studies Program.

S = Courses of Instruction

ENVS 10b Into the Ocean World

Signature of Professor Klein required. Offered under the auspices of the MSC and open to Brandeis students by petition.

This interdisciplinary course considers the far-reaching consequences of human interactions with the seas. We will examine the physical and biological nature of the sea, the history of ownership, literature and art, the effects of the sea on development, and tensions between undeveloped and developed countries for ocean resources, including the contemporary marine issues of drilling and transporting petroleum. Usually offered every fall (at Bentley College).