Liberal Arts
introduction

Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary major offered by the Department of Geography and Urban Studies that examines the nature, causes and consequences of human interactions with the environment. Students in Environmental Studies gain the intellectual and methodological tools to understand and address the crucial environmental issues of our time and the impact on individuals, society, and the planet. Students are introduced to a physical lab science, an understanding of the economic system, and social science methods in order to prepare for our core courses.

The Environmental Studies core courses are designed to develop the theoretical and methodological frameworks and tools necessary to understand the relationships between people and their environment as they interact through local to global connections. Students examine environmental policy and the role of political institutions; environmental decision-making; natural hazards and risk assessment; environmental ethics and legal issues; and environmental justice. The electives give students the opportunity to develop an area of emphasis around their particular interests.

We encourage our students to incorporate a semester abroad and/or an internship into their plan of study. Each student's program is developed with a departmental advisor to suit individual interests and is designed to maximize educational and career opportunities. Our graduates find employment with government environmental agencies, nonprofits (domestic and international), citizens' organizations, consulting firms, and corporate environmental affairs departments. Many also go on to graduate programs in environmental studies, law, geography, planning, and other fields.

We offer the B.A. as well as a minor in Environmental Studies. Many of our students choose to complete a double major or a minor in a complementary discipline.

Internships

We encourage students to apply their skills and knowledge in a credit-bearing internship that utilizes their academic training. Assignments at planning, social service, environmental and other agencies, as well as at firms that specialize in mapping and geographic data analysis, have helped in securing employment opportunities. The internship is complemented by a seminar in which students discuss their experiences. Contact guses@temple.edu for more information on this opportunity.

Requirements for the B.A. Degree in Environmental Studies

1. University Requirements:

Math 0701 (4sh) and/or English 0701 (4sh), if required by placement testing.
All Temple students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses as part of the major. See below for a list of the specific courses required for your major.
Students must complete requirements of the General Education (GenEd) Program. See the General Education section of the Undergraduate Bulletin for more details.

2. College of Liberal Arts Requirements:

Completion of a minimum of 123 credits, including: 90 credits in CLA/CST courses, 45 credits of which must be at the upper level (numbered 2000-4999). For Social Science majors, 6 upper level credits must be taken in the Humanities Departments (English, French, German, Greek and Roman Classics, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese (only available at our Japan campus), Philosophy, Religion, Russian, and Spanish), Art History, or any department in the College of Science and Technology.
A minimum GPA of 2.0, cumulatively, in CLA/CST coursework, and in the major.
Only courses in which a student receives a grade of at least C- can satisfy GenEd, major, minor, or CLA Foreign Language and Global Studies requirements.

3. Foreign Language/Global Studies Requirements:

1) All students must complete the second level of a foreign language;

2) All students must complete at least one course from the GenEd World Society category; and

3) All students must complete one of the following options:

Third level of a foreign language;

Demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language;

A second General Education World Society course;

Study Abroad at an approved program; or

Take one Global Studies course from the list on the CLA College Graduation Requirements page

4. Major Requirements (49 s.h.)

Specifically Required courses:

Biology 1011, 1012

Economics 1101, 1102, 3596

Environmental Studies/GUS 1051 (or 1951), 1052, 3062

Geography and Urban Studies 3161

Environmental Studies 4198

Other major requirements:

A Research Methods course selected from GUS 4197 (which also completes the second writing intensive course) or ENST/GUS 4078 (which is *not* writing intensive, so a student must select a WI Elective to compensate for this).

One course selected from the Policy Listing Below

One course selected from the Natural Science Topics Listing below

One additional course from either area.

5. General electives vary according to a student's individual program of study. Consult your academic advisor for more information.

Prerequisite and Fundamental courses:
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
Economics 1101 Macroeconomic Principles 3
Economics 1102 Microeconomic Principles 3
Major courses:
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
ENST/GUS 1051 or 1951 Environment and Society 3
ENST/GUS 1052 Introduction to the Physical Environment 4
Biology 1011 General Biology I (with lab) 4
Biology 1012 General Biology II (with lab) 4
ENST/GUS 3062 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems 3
GUS 3161 Statistics for Urban and Spatial Analysis 3
Economics 3596 Energy, Ecology, and Economy (prereq. ECON 1101 and 1102) 3 WI
ENST 4198 Senior Research Seminar 3 WI
Select one Research Methods course from: 3
GUS

ENST/GUS 4197

4078 Research Methods in Geography and Urban Studies
or
Research Methods in Environmental Studies** WI
Electives Choose three courses from the list of approved electives below.
One must be a policy course and one must be from the natural sciences.

Note: No electives may double-count between the Environmental Studies
major and either the Geography & Urban Studies major or minor. 9
Major subtotal: 39
Total major + prerequisites 45

All Temple students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses. The specific writing-intensive courses required for this major are listed above and are identified by "WI" in the Attribute column.

Double-Counting Across Curricula

Many students elect to take a combination of the Environmental Studies major or minor and the Geography and Urban Studies major or minor as they are complementary programs.

The ONLY courses that can double-count between the Geography and Urban Studies and Environmental Studies majors are: GUS 3161, GUS 4197, ENST/GUS 4078. When used for the major in either program, these courses may not be used to fulfill the minor elective requirements of the other program. Note GUS 4198 and ENST 4198 are NOT cross-listed seminars. Anyone pursuing a double major in GUS and ES must take both capstone courses.

Students may not combine a major or minor in Environmental Studies and a major or minor in Environmental Science in the College of Science and Technology.

Distinction in Major

Environmental Studies majors may graduate with distinction in major with a 3.5 in Environmental Studies coursework and a 3.0 GPA overall.

Requirements for the Minor

Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
ENST/GUS 1051 or 1951 Environment and Society 3
One of the following (plus any required prerequisites): 3-4
Biology

EES

ENST/GUS

Economics 2227

3021

3062

3596 Principles of Ecology
or
Introduction to Hydrology
or
Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
or
Energy, Ecology, and Economy
Policy Elective Select one policy course from the list of approved electives below. 3
Environmental Studies Electives Select three topics courses from the list of approved electives below.

Note: No electives may double-count between the Geography & Urban
Studies major and either the Geography & Urban Studies major or minor. 9
Total 18-19

Environmental Studies Electives List

Note: Upper-level Science and Liberal Arts courses from this list can be used to satisfy the CLA 45 credit upper-level distribution requirement. Please consult with an advisor.

*NS - Indicates that the course counts as a Natural Science course in fulfillment of B.A. requirements.

Subject Course # Course Title Hours NS
Select at least three electives, one must be policy-related, one must be science-related,
the third can be any course on this list.
Policy Electives Select at least one:
CRP 2014 Planning Policy and Law 3
ENST/ANTH 3175 Heritage Management in Archaeology 3
Economics 3512 Public Finance 3
Economics 3513 Economics of State & Local Government 3
ENVT 4761 Environmental Regulations 3
ENST 3025 Environmental Law and Regulation 3
ENST/GUS 3051 Environmental Policy Issues 3
ENST/POLS 3152 U.S. Environmental Policy 3
ENST/POLS 3265 International Environmental Policy 3
Natural Science Electives Select at least one:
ENST/ANTH 3170 Methods in Archaeology (Soils, Sediments, Stratigraphy topic only) 3 NS
ENST/ANTH 3189 Field Session in Archaeology 3 NS
ENST/ANTH 4896 Environmental Physiology 3 NS
Biology 2227 Principles of Ecology 3 NS
Biology 2238 Marine Environments 3 NS
Biology 3196 Experimental Marine Biology 4 NS
Biology 3245 Marine Ecology 4 NS
Biology 3316 Tropical Marine Biology 4 NS
Biology 3336 Freshwater Ecology 4 NS
Biology 4327 Biological Impacts of Global Climate Change 3 NS
Botany 1112 Plant Ecology 3 NS
EES 2096 Climate Change: Oceans to Atmosphere 4 NS
EES 2021 Facies Models 4 NS
EES 2061 Introduction to Geochemistry 4 NS
EES 3011 Remote Sensing and GIS 4 NS
EES 3021 Introduction to Hydrology 4 NS
Horticulture 2114 Soils 3 NS
LARC 2758 Summer Field Ecology 3 NS
Topics
ENST/ANTH 4117 Seminar in Environmental Archaeology 3
ENST/ANTH 4796 Biocultural Adaptations in Human Populations 3
CRP 1027 History and Practice of Community and Regional Planning 3
CRP 2114 Urban Form and Design 3
CRP 2213 Environmental Planning 3
CRP 2524 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems 3
CRP 3256 Sustainable Community Design and Development 3
ENST 3000 Special Topics in Environmental Studies 3
ENST 4082 Independent Study: Environmental Studies 1-3
ENST 4085 Internship: Environmental Studies 3
ENST/GUS 2051 The Urban Environment 3
ENST/GUS 3052 Environmental Problems in Asia 3
ENST/GUS 3054 Energy, Resources, and Conservation 3
ENST/GUS 3062 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems 3
ENST/GUS 3097 Environment and Development 3
ENST/GUS 4015 The Geographic Basis of Land Use Planning 3
ENST/GUS 4051 Hazards Geography 3
ENST/GUS 4056 Political Ecology 3
ENST/GUS 4071 Medical Geography 3
ENST/GUS 4096 Problems of Environmental Quality 3
EES 4197/4997 Environmental Seminar 3
ENST/History 3214 North American Environmental History 3
ENST/History 4297 Social History of American Medicine 3
Horticulture 2334/2353 Food Crops I/II 3
Horticulture 3514 Landscape Restoration 3
Journalism 3253 Health and Environmental Reporting 3
LARC 2144 Landscape Architecture Design Studio II 6
ENST/PHIL 2157 Environmental Ethics 3
ENST/PHIL 2596 Philosophical Perspectives on the Environment 3
ENST/REL 3001 Earth Ethics 3
Public Health 2102 Environmental Health 3
ENST/SOC 3511 Sociology of the Environment 3

Further information is available at www.temple.edu/gus/undergraduate/esmajor/index.htm.

Suggested Semester-by-Semester Plan

Freshman Year – 1st Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
English 0802, 0812, or 0902 Analytical Reading & Writing 4 GW
GenEd 08xx or 09xx Quantitative Literacy 4 GQ
Foreign Language 1001 Foreign Language (first level) 4
GenEd 08xx or 09xx Race & Diversity 3 GD
Subtotal 15
Freshman Year – 2nd Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
IH 0851 or 0951 Mosaic: Humanities Seminar I 3 GY
Foreign Language 1002 Foreign Language (second level) 4
Economics 1101 Macroeconomic Principles 3
CLA/CST 0800-4999 Any CLA/CST Elective 3
Any 0800-4999 One Elective in Any School or College 2
Subtotal 15
Sophomore Year – 1st Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
Foreign Language/
GenEd 0800+ Foreign Language (third level) or
GenEd World Society course or
Internationally Focused Course From Approved List 3
GG
IH 0852 or 0952 Mosaic: Humanities Seminar II 3 GZ
GenEd 08xx or 09xx Human Behavior 3 GB
Economics 1102 Microeconomic Principles 3
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ CLA/CST Course 3
Subtotal 15
Sophomore Year – 2nd Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
GenEd 08xx or 09xx Arts 3-4 GA
GenEd 08xx or 09xx U.S. Society 3 GU
GenEd 08xx or 09xx World Society 3 GG
ENST/GUS 1051 or 1951 Environment and Society 3
CLA/CST 0800-4999 Any CLA/CST Elective 3
Subtotal 15-16
Junior Year – 1st Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ Humanities/CST Course 3
ENST/GUS 1052 Introduction to the Physical Environment 4
Biology 1011 General Biology I * 4
Economics 3596 Energy, Ecology, and Economy 3 WI
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ CLA/CST Course 3
Subtotal 17
Junior Year – 2nd Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ Humanities/CST Course 3
Biology 1012 General Biology II * 4
GUS 3161 Statistics for Urban and Spatial Analysis 3
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ CLA/CST Course 3
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ CLA/CST Course 3
Subtotal 16
Senior Year – 1st Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
ENST/GUS 3062 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems 3
ENST Electives List 1000+ One Approved Environmental Studies Elective (Natural Science) 3
ENST Electives List 2000+ One Approved Environmental Studies Elective (any) 3
Select one Research Methods Course: 3
GUS
or
ES/GUS 4197
or
4078 Research Methods in Geography and Urban Studies
or
Research Methods in Environmental Studies WI
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ CLA/CST Course 3
Subtotal 15
Senior Year – 2nd Semester
Subject Course # Course Title Hours Attribute
ENST 4198 Senior Research Seminar 3 WI
ENST Electives List 2000+ One Approved Environmental Studies Elective (Policy) 3-4
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ CLA/CST Course 3
CLA/CST 2000+ One 2000+ CLA/CST Course 3
CLA/CST 0800-4999 Any CLA/CST Elective 3
Subtotal 15-16
Degree Total 123
*Completion of the Biology sequence fulfills the GenEd Science & Technology requirement.

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