Environmental Studies
The Environmental Studies Department (ENVS) offers a rich selection of courses to help you explore both our urban and wild surroundings. Our courses investigate sustainability and environmental justice, as well as the relationships between humans and other living things.
Everyone is welcome to major or minor in Environmental Studies. Before declaring, students should take one of the introductory courses (ENVS 117 Intro to Environmental Science, ENVS 118 Intro to Environmental Social Science, or ENVS 119 Intro to Environmental Humanities), ideally during the first three semesters at the College. The major requires 14 courses. The minor requires 7 courses.
Both the ENVS major and minor provide students with a multi-disciplinary education. For example, during one semester an ENVS student might take an environmental humanities course in Landscape Photography and an environmental social science course in Environmental Justice or Consumer and Corporate Sustainability. Students are able to select the courses that most appeal to them to fulfill their requirements. Many ENVS students enrich their experience by studying abroad (financial aid applies), or doing an independent research tutorial or internship.
Students especially interested in environmental science often major in Biology and minor in ENVS or Geosciences. Students interested in environmental policy making and law often major or minor in ENVS and major in Economics, History, Political Science, or Sociology. Students interested in how culture, ethics, and power shape our relationship to the natural world often major or minor in ENVS and major (or minor) in Anthropology, English, History, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies or the Visual Arts. The Environmental Studies Department Chair can assist students in determining which combination of majors and minors might best serve the students’ academic interests and career or graduate study objectives.
Sarah Luria, Ph.D., Professor, Chair
Mostafa Javadian, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Jordan Lovejoy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Holly Elizabeth Moulton, Ph.D, Assistant Professor
Keith Seitter, Ph.D, Distinguished Visiting Professor
Clare Gaffey, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor
Valentina Muraleedharan, Ph.D, Visiting Assistant Professor
Olympia Bowker, J.D., Visiting Lecturer
Robert D. Cox, , Jr. J.D., Visiting Lecturer
Ashley Hoffman, Ph.D., Visiting Lecturer
ENVS 117 — Intro to Environmental Science Course count: 1
The goal of this course is to provide an understanding of major environmental problems by studying their biological bases. Applied and basic material will be integrated in most sections. Basic topics include ecosystem structure, energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, population growth and regulation and environmental policy. Applied topics include human population growth, agriculture and food production, pest control, conservation of forests and wildlife, preservation of biological diversity, energy use, water and air pollution and atmospheric climate change.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Natural Science
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ENVS 118 — Introduction to Environmental Social Science Course count: 1
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of environmental studies, which examines the diverse relationships between humans and the natural and constructed worlds in which they live. This course will examine the complex ways that we think about what constitutes nature and environment and how humans do and should relate to these categories. It will then provide an overview of the emergence of environmental challenges as a topic of concern in the United States and globally as well as encourage students to engage with contemporary environmental challenges. We will place special emphasis on questions of how axes of difference (class, race, ethnicity, nationality, etc.) intersect with environmental change, using social justice as a core lens through which we will define, describe, and analyze impacts of and solutions to environmental challenges. Integrating approaches from the social sciences and humanities, the course will provide students with essential background for engaging in subsequent Environmental Studies courses and for living in a rapidly changing world.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Social Science
Typically Offered: Annually
ENVS 119 — Introduction to Environmental Humanities Course count: 1
Environmental narratives are stories told by different people and cultures around the world that shape our ideas and values about how we relate to our surroundings. Some very famous and important storiesbeginning even with the story of Genesis in the Old Testamenthave served to emphasize both the separation of humans from nature, and also the superiority of humans to nature. Why have these stories encouraged us to think in this way, and how might we rethink these narratives to develop new and more informed understandings of how humans interact with the world? By using the methods and approaches of humanist scholarship, this class engages in the broader movement of the environmental humanities, and explores the ways that political, social, and cultural values shape how we understand our responsibilities to the natural world and to each other.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
ENVS 125 — Introduction to Climate Change Course count: 1
Climate change is the most pressing problem facing humanity and is already impacting every aspect of society. This course will cover the irrefutable scientific evidence on how humans are causing global warming and the current and projected impacts of climate change. The political and social science aspects of the climate debate will be explored, as well as science-informed policies that provide viable solutions to limit climate impacts. Pathways toward a more climate resilient and sustainable future that also address longstanding environmental justice issues will also be covered.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Natural Science
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ENVS 199-S01 — Oceans and People Course count: 1
Oceans and People is an introduction to the multi-disciplinary field of marine science. This course will provide an overview of the main sub-disciplines of the marine sciences (the biology, geology, chemistry, and physics of the ocean) and will also consider concepts and ideas from ecology, conservation science, meteorology, cultural anthropology, economics, political science, and environmental law. A solid understanding of how the world ocean works and humanity's association with it is fundamental to the appreciation, preservation, utilization, and protection of oceanic environments worldwide.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Natural Science
ENVS 200 — Environmental Law Course count: 1
Environmental law is controversial and fascinating. Consider some of these newspaper headlines: "Scientist Say Climate Heating Up," "Pesticides Found in Local Groundwater," "Endangered Salamander Stops Development." Environmental law and policy are a part of everyday life. The challenges to environmental quality have a critical influence on where we live and how well we live and, most important, the kind of world in which our children and their children will live.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
ENVS 205 — Environmental Justice Course count: 1
Environmental justice is the fight and the right for everyoneregardless of identity or geographyto live, work, and play in a clean and healthy environment. While this may seem like a simple truth, reality often reflects deep inequities. This course explores environmental justice (EJ) from its roots in U.S.-based activism to global movements, examining who bears the burdens of environmental harm and who benefits from environmental protections. It examines the interactions between political processes, social structures, and power dynamics over time to determine how they influence in/equality and in/justice through the communities in our case studies. It explores imaginative futures, and enables students to investigate EJ through academic research, creative expression, and applied writing.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Social Science
Typically Offered: Annually
ENVS 210 — Worcester Eats Course count: 1
If we were to think of the relationship between food and humans as a twenty-four hour clock, our industrial/neoliberal food system has only been around for twenty seconds. Its promise (cheap and plentiful food and the eradication of hunger) has not been fulfilled, and instead it has created peril and increased precarity. Mitigations to this system, such as the emergency food systemi.e. food banks/pantries and soup kitchens, have become permanent features. Alternatives, such as organic and/or local systems, have for the most part been co-opted by it. The result is a system that continues to failmaintained by massive subsidies, regressive policies/politics, migrant workers, animal cruelty, and poor land management practices. Its no coincidence that this neoliberal food system has coincided with, and might be the largest component of, the greatest threat to our survivalclimate change. Climate change will have severe implications for how and what we eat; causing increased flooding, coastal erosion, crop failure, plant migration, species extinction, and habitat destruction. Climate change is antithetical to agriculturea system that largely relies on certainty, calculable risks, and consistency. This course will examine the past, present, and promise of a resilient and sustainable food system in Worcester.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Social Science
Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Spring
ENVS 219 — Rewriting Disaster Narratives Course count: 1
How do we come to understand our environments through both real and imagined moments of disaster? We will explore literary and cultural representations to examine how socio-environmental disasters become linked to place, like hurricanes in the Gulf South. We will also examine disaster narratives of flooding, pipelines, and industrial pollution to consider how people navigate, resist, and survive increasing or new disasters. What narratives emerge when disasters strike, and how are our imaginations and stories shaped by our experiences of disaster? What can literature and expressive culture offer us as we grow our understanding of and develop more just approaches toward the preparation and prevention of disasters across place and time? Students will design and share a research-based creative project related to a disaster of their choosing.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Annually
ENVS 220 — Environmental Psychology Course count: 1
This course offers an overview of the interdisciplinary field of environmental psychology. We will explore the dynamic relationships between people and places in order to understand how our behavior and cultural values shape our environment, and how in turn, our surroundings affect us. Using the lens of environments where we live, work and play, we will examine the everyday experience of different types of places including the home, institutional settings, public space, and play spaces. Attention will be placed upon social and spatial inequalities, local and global relations, and intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, and power. We will explore psychological questions of perception, place identity, restorative environments, pro-environmental behavior, culture, place attachment, cognition, and the meaning of spaces through readings, film, visual exercises, and ethnographic analysis. The course will place emphasis upon the built environment, with a particular focus on addressing the intertwining of social and environmental problems, and the role of design in producing social spaces.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Social Science
Typically Offered: Spring
ENVS 235 — Climate Science Course count: 1
The Earths climate is changing rapidly and represents the most pressing problem facing humanity. This course examines the science of the Earths climate system and the natural and anthropogenic forcing mechanisms that cause climate variability and change. It covers the mathematical models that describe the Earths energy balance and the sophisticated computer simulations models that allow the sensitivity of the climate system to be explored and for climate change impacts to be projected. Solutions to the climate crisis through science-informed policies covering mitigation and adaptation will also be examined.
Prerequisite: ENVS 125 (or ENVS 117 or CHEM 181 or PHYS 115 or GEOS 120 or GEOS 150 or MATH 133 or MATH 135) or by permission.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Natural Science
Typically Offered: Annually
ENVS 245 — Sustainable Energy Course count: 1
Minimizing the impacts of global climate change requires society to transition to non-fossil-fuel energy sources as quickly as possible. This course will explore the issues associated with developing our carbon-free energy future through renewable and other sustainable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, and geothermal. Topics will include the use of climatological data to project potential generation from renewables, siting issues, dealing with the variability of wind and cloud cover (and on longer timeframes, the rain needed to maintain hydropower reservoirs), and the complex interplay between generation and storage that need to be addressed to ensure reliable delivery of the energy we need now and in the future. All of this will be framed as part of the larger goal of achieving a more sustainable future.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Natural Science
Typically Offered: Spring
ENVS 247 — Introduction to Geographic Info Systems Course count: 1
Introduces and explores the fundamental concepts of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), with a focus on how to store, query, and analyze spatial environmental data. While students will gain a working knowledge of specific GIS software, the focus of the course is on concepts that are fundamental to spatial analysis using any GIS software. GIS is used in a diversity of fields ranging from archaeology to zoology, with some specific examples being ecology, geology, environmental hazards, environmental and social justice, and business. This course explains the structure and function of GIS, placing them in the context of computer information systems, cartography, and supporting disciplines such as remote sensing, and shows why and how GIS is important. Covers basic concepts such as map characteristics and projections, relational databases, and spatial analysis. Explores sources of data and the implementation and management of GIS projects to answer important environmental and societal questions.
Prerequisite: Enrollment is limited to ENVS majors or minors only.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
ENVS 252 — Urban Forestry Course count: 1
In this course, you will examine the urban forest ' one of the most important natural systems in cities to increase the quality of life and health of residents. Urban forests are socio-ecological systems; their structure, composition and distribution are the results of biophysical and human factors. For this reason, students will learn how to identify trees, best practices in planting and stewardship and how to model ecosystem services as well as the urban theory that explains the governance and 'rules of the game' behind green space distribution in cities. After completion of the course students should: identify common street trees in the northeast; monitor and model the urban forest and the ecosystem services they provide; be knowledgeable about the social processes and power dynamics that impact the composition and distribution of urban green space; be able to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to answer research questions.
Prerequisite: BIOL 117.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Natural Science
ENVS 299-F08 — Forest Ecology and Landscape Change in New England Course count: 1
This course explores how forests work by examining the past and present of New England forests. Students learn key ecological ideas such as succession, disturbance, and species interactions through regional case studies. Beginning with the retreat of glaciers, the course traces how climate, land use, and human activity have shaped forest composition and structure over time. Topics include Indigenous stewardship, colonial land clearing, agricultural abandonment, shifting disturbance regimes, invasive species, fragmentation, and climate change. Students will learn how the New England forests we see today developed and how they may change in the future.
Prerequisite: ENVS 117.
GPA units: 1
ENVS 299-S03 — Environmental Folklore Course count: 1
How do we tell cultural stories about and with our environments? This course examines various forms of environmental stories through the study of folklore, or artistic and informal traditional culture. From personal narratives and legends to customary practices and beliefs, we will explore how folklore and environment are theorized and applied through the documentation and analysis of environmental expressive culture. How do folklorists, activists, writers, artists, documentarians, and journalists use traditional culture to tell environmental stories and envision just futures? How might cultural forms help us work collaboratively to address environmental crises, and what role do folklore and storytelling hold in the work of environmental justice? As a class, students will design and create a research-based, collaborative project showcasing diverse forms of environmental folklore and narrative.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
ENVS 299-S10 — Global Energy Science Course count: 1
Global Energy explores the science behind how energy is produced, transformed, and used across the world. Through hands-on experiments, collaborative group work, and a creative final project, students will examine a wide range of energy technologiesfrom fossil fuels to renewablesand the social, environmental, and economic impacts tied to them. The course emphasizes real-world connections and encourages students to think critically about their roles as energy consumers, producers, and decision-makers in a global context. Students will gain a foundational understanding of the forms energy takes, how energy systems operate, and how technology and policy shape energy access and equity around the world. This course is designed for students from all disciplines who want to understand the science of energy and its relevance to their everyday lives and the future of the planet.
GPA units: 1
ENVS 399-F01 — Walking with Thoreau Course count: 1
This environmental humanities course provides a guided reading of Henry David Thoreaus central works. Well consider him as a founder of environmentalism and his continuing influence around the world: What has people building replicas of Thoreaus cabin today, or living in tiny houses, a la Thoreau? What has activists still using his essay Civil Disobedience as a guide? How is he valued today as a scientist? And how does his scientific and poetic approach to nature help widen and deepen our sense of the environmental humanities? Thoreau was in many ways a founder of the field.This course involves much walking and fieldwork around Pakachoag (College Hill) and other locations (well explore on Walden Pond and paddle the Concord River). Through these excursions well practice Thoreaus methods of observation and reflection (in a field journal). We will read current scholarship on Thoreau as an early ecologist, geologist, and recorder of Native American knowledge. Well read wildlife biologist Drew Lanhams Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Mans Love Affair with Nature to put Walden in dialogue with other rich studies of place being written today.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
ENVS 399-S01 — Feminist Climate Justice Course count: 1
This seminar focuses on feminist climate justice, which addresses how gender and power shape the unequal impacts of climate change. We will engage with environmental studies, feminist science and technology studies, advances in glaciology, and the human dimensions of climate change to explore climate justice in icy regions of the globe. Women and LGBTQIA+ peopleespecially those who live in economically disadvantaged communities, reside in the Global South, or identify as people of colorbear the disproportionate costs of environmental change. There are still major gaps in research, public awareness, and funding to address this issue, especially in remote areas with glaciers that are home to historically marginalized communities. Over the course of the semester, you will be asked to engage with as feminist theory and practice to re-think how climate change knowledge is produced and valued. Several weeks of the class will focus on rapidly de-glaciating regions, including the Andes, the Arctic, and Antarctica, and will draw on place-based local knowledge in addition to scientific and social scientific studies. This course will also teach you how to critically analyze climate change data and narratives, since information on climate and gender is synthesized and communicated to the public in a variety of contested formats. This class will function as a seminar in that you will be required to engage in course topics through weekly, in-depth reading and critical analysis of scholarly works in a discussion-style format. Throughout the term, you will also produce a research paper and rough draft for peer review, a creative assignment with an accompanying presentation, a short essay assignment on data feminisms, one group class lead where you unpack the readings for the week, and bi-weekly reading responses. By the end of the course, you will be better able to articulate how both gender and feminist theory can help to re-think human-environment interactions and climate justice in icy places.
Prerequisite: One previous environmental studies or gender, sexuality, and women's studies course.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Social Science
ENVS 400 — Tutorial Course count: 1
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ENVS 401 — Directed Readings Course count: 1
A program in reading and research in a specific topic.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ENVS 402 — Undergraduate Research Course count: 1
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ENVS 404 — Capstone Seminar Course count: 1
This capstone seminar is designed for Environmental Studies majors to apply and integrate their knowledge from previous coursework, while introducing the opportunity to conduct independent or collaborative work oriented towards the discovery of new information and/or solving environmental challenges. Seminar topics will vary from year to year and will be organized through an overarching question related to the environment. This question will be explored through a multi- and/or interdisciplinary lens, and in most years will involve community stakeholders, such as the College, the city of Worcester, and/or local organizations. Work will culminate in a final project and presentation.
Prerequisite: 4th year ENVS majors or permission.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually Fall