Environmental Studies Program

98-99 University Bulletin Entry for:

(file last updated: [8/10/1998 - 15:23:11])

Objectives

Awareness of the mutual impactof human activity and the natural environment is rapidly growing.On scales as different as personal hygiene and international tradeagreements, decisions increasingly reflect environmental concernsand understanding. This broad range of issues can be sucessfullyapproached from the vantage point of several traditional disciplines.Yet, no single field is truly representative of, or adequate for,the study of "the environment." Accordingly, the BrandeisEnvironmental Studies Program aims to expand disciplinary trainingin the social and natural sciences to assure adequate groundingin environment-related sub-fields, but also to complement suchtraining with similarly relevant courses outside a student's mainfield of concentration. This combination is designed to providea broad, trans-disciplinary base for employment or future professionaltraining.

How to Become a ProgramMember

The program is open to studentsfrom any field of concentration. The requirements may be met withspecific courses in the sciences, the social sciences, and thehumanities, and must also include a practical component of anenvironmental problem, and a senior research paper (that may serveas a thesis in the student's concentration), or a structuredinternship experience. Some students may elect to receive fieldtraining in specialized subjects, e.g., marine biology, sustainabledevelopment, tropical ecology. The program maintains extensivefiles of such off-campus opportunities. Students may registerfor the program, seek guidance in course selection, off-campustraining, and paper topics, by contacting the Environmental StudiesProgram faculty advisor as early in their Brandeis career as possible.Registered participants will receive information on courses andcampus events.

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)

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 theNatural World).

C.Successful completion of AMST 20a (Environmental Issues).

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 (EnvironmentalInternship).

Special Note on Off-CampusCourses

Through our membership in theMarine Biological Laboratory (MBL) Consortium, competitively selectedstudents may satisfy some of the above requirements by participatingin the Semester in Environmental Science offered each fall atthe MBL in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Brandeis is also affiliatedwith the School for Field Studies and the Marine Studies Consortium(MSC). Both offer programs of special interest to those enrolledin the Environmental Studies Program.

Courses of Instruction

ENVS 10b Into the OceanWorld

Signature of Professor Donahuerequired. Offered under the auspices of the MSC and open to Brandeisstudents by petition.

This interdisciplinary courseconsiders the far-reaching consequences of human interactionswith the seas. We will examine the physical and biological natureof the sea, the history of ownership, literature and art, theeffects of the sea on development, and tensions between undevelopedand developed countries for ocean resources, including the contemporarymarine issues of drilling and transporting petroleum. Usuallyoffered every fall (at Bentley College).