The Environmental and Sustainability Studies core curriculum embraces the interdisciplinary nature of environmental issues through scientific, social, and humanistic approaches to undergraduate scholarship. The curriculum envisages core themes, or Domains, that are essential to modern environmental education: the physical and biological sciences; the history of human interactions with the non-human world; the social and cultural dimensions of environmental problems; environmental thought as reflected in literature, ethics and philosophy; policy and decision-making; and practical experience.

A student may declare a major in Environmental and Sustainability Studies when the student has done the following:

1. Completed 30 hours of college work, at least 15 hours of which are at Western Michigan University.
2. Achieved an overall GPA of 2.50 or above.
3. Completed the Entry Option and the Physical Science Domain with a grade of “C” or better in each.

After completing these requirements, students must take at least one course from each of the remaining domains. All domains have a prerequisite of one of the courses in the Entry Option.

At the advanced level, undergraduates will develop interdisciplinary competency by taking advanced courses outside the ENVS core. Students will also take a senior seminar capstone course. The senior seminar will bring together ENVS undergraduates from diverse disciplinary majors, who will work in teams outside the classroom to address complex environmental problems in both theoretical and experiential modes.

Note: Because of the complexity of this course of study, students are encouraged to speak regularly with an advisor.

Academic Standards

Students in this program must earn a grade of “C” or better in all courses counted toward their major.