Environmental Thought and Practice

The Environmental Thought and Practice (ETP) major teaches undergraduates to think about environmental issues within a broadly interdisciplinary framework. Environmental problems concern natural phenomena whose dimensions are appropriately described by environmental scientists. However, the "problems" themselves result from changes in public perception that are contingent upon cultural constructs and historical events. Attempts to solve these problems necessarily fall within the political sphere, but policy debates draw on principles and discourses from philosophy, economics, and ethics. In short, understanding and solving environmental problems demands the ability to connect ideas from such diverse disciplines as anthropology, literature, history, ethics, politics, the natural sciences, economics, and land use planning.

The objective of the Environmental Thought and Practice program is to produce students who can:

• comprehend and think critically about scientific information, economic analysis, and the various ethical constructs that enter into environmental decisions; and,
• appreciate how political and social context, historical events, and cultural expectations shape the way we perceive and solve environmental problems.

From its inception the ETP major was designed around the core principle that undergraduates need and want to connect classroom theory with real-world practice, a concept that other leading universities are only now beginning to incorporate into their curricula.

Prerequisites

All four prerequisite courses listed below are required for Environmental Thought and Practice majors. In order to apply for the major students must be enrolled in, or have already completed, at least two of the four prerequisite classes:

1. ECON 2010 Microeconomics
2. Any Environmental Sciences class other than those taken to meet the core or Natural Science area requirements
3. One of the following Statistics classes: STAT 1120, 2120, STAT 2020, SOC 3110, SOC 3130, ECON 3710 (requires MATH 1210 or equivalent), ECON 3720, EVSC 5030 (requires MATH 1110, STAT 2120, or equivalent), MATH 3120 (requires MATH 3100), or APMA 3120 (requires APMA 3100 or equivalent), or PSYC 3005/3006 (taken together) 
4. PLAN 1010 Introduction to Community and Environmental Planning OR ETP 2020 / ARCH 5150/2150 / COMM 3880 / ENGR 2595 / EVSC 2559 Global Sustainability OR RELG 2210

Core courses

The following core courses are required of all majors.

1. EVSC 2030/ETP 2030/PLAP 2030 Politics, Science, and Values: Introduction to Environmental Policy (fall only)
2. Either EVSC 2800/2801 (Physical Geology) or EVSC 3200/3201 (Fundamentals of Ecology) or EVSC 3600/3601 (Physical Hydrology) or EVSC 3300/3301 (Atmosphere and Weather). EVSC 3200, 3600, and 3300 all require one semester of calculus; EVSC 2800 recommends one semester of chemistry; EVSC 3200 recommends one semester each of chemistry and biology; EVSC 3300 recommends one semester of physics with lab.
3. ETP 4010 Environmental decisions (majors only, taken in spring of 4th year) (spring only)

Electives

Each student must also choose seven (7) classes distributed across the three areas indicated below, with the restriction that at least two (2) classes must be taken in Area I (Values, Culture, and History) and at least one (1) class must be taken in each of Areas II and III (two classes are required in Area I because there are no such classes in the core curriculum).

We recommend checking SIS frequently for environmentally-themed courses, as courses often come and go. Students who wish to have classes not specified here counted against their ETP elective requirements must submit their request plus the full course syllabus to Professor Thomson.  Please give this information to Professor Thomson during her office hours or leave it in her Clark Hall mailbox. ETP elective courses must be upper-level or graduate three- or four-credit classes and they must have environmental concerns as the central focus.  Requests to count courses that do not meet these basic requirements will not be considered.

I. Values, Culture, and History

If approved by one of the ETP Program Directors, students may count one related 3000-, 4000-, or 5000-level class in History, Anthropology, Philosophy, English, Religious Studies, Landscape Architecture, or Science, Technology, and Society against the two-class requirement for this area.

• AAS 3250 - MotherLands: Landscapes of Hunger, Futures of Plenty Credits: 3
• ANTH 3340 - Ecology and Society: An Introduction to the New Ecological Anthropology Credits: 3
• ANTH 5590 - The Nature of Nature  Credits: 3
• ENMC 3500 - Jungle Stories Credits: 3
• GDS 3112 - Ecology and Globalization in the Age of European Expansion Credits: 3
• or HIST 3112 - Ecology and Globalization in the Age of European Expansion 
• LAR 4120 - History of Landscape Design I Credits: 3
• LAR 4130 - History of Landscape Design II Credits: 3
• LAR 4140 - Theories of Modern Landscape Architecture Credits: 3
• LAR 5230 - Cultural Landscapes Credits: 3
• LAW 9158 - Literature, Law and the Environment
• HIST 2559 - Global Environmental History
• or
• SEMS 3500 - Global Environmental History  Credits: 3
• IHGC 5559 - The Moral Ecology of Food  Credits: 3
• MDST 4559 - Global Environmental Media
• PLAN 5840 - Environmental Ethics and Sustainability  Credits: 3
• RELG 3820 - Global Ethics & Climate Change Credits: 3

II. Policy, Planning, and Society

Students may fulfill their one-class requirement for this track by taking any one of the following specific classes (there are no prerequisites for these upper-level Planning classes):

If approved by one of the ETP Program Directors, students may take one related 3000-, 4000-, or 5000-level course in Economics, Government and Foreign Affairs, Sociology, the Law School, Darden, or Urban and Environmental Planning to meet the overall seven-course elective requirement, but not to meet the basic one-class requirement for this area.

The College allows students to count 18 credits of classes in other schools toward the 120-credit graduation requirement.

• COMM 4821 - Managing Sustainable Development Credits: 3
• COMM 4822 - Invest in Sustainable Future Credits: 3
• ECON 4430 - Environmental Economics Credits: 3
• ETP 4810 - Class Race & the Environment Credits: 3

• or

• PLAP 4810 - Class, Race, and the Environment Credits: 3
• ETP 4800 - Politics of the Environment Credits: 3

• or

• PLAP 4800 - Politics of the Environment Credits: 3
• EVSC 4030 - Environmental Policymaking in the United States Credits: 3
• PLAN 3030 - Neighborhoods, Community and Regions Credits: 3
• PLAN 3060 - Law, Land and the Environment Credits: 3
• PLAN 3860 - Cities and Nature Credits: 3
• PLAN 4040 - Planning in Government Credits: 3
• PLAN 5620 - Sustainability and Adaptive Infrastructure  Credits: 3
• PLAN 5810 - Sustainable Communities  Credits: 3
• PLAN 5830 - Environmental Policy and Planning  Credits: 3
• PPOL 3280 - Urban Environmental Policy Credits: 3
• STS 2500 - Science and Technology in Social and Global Context Credits: 3

III. Natural Science

Any 3000- or 4000-level EVSC course. If approved by one of the ETP Program Directors, students may take one related 3000-, 4000-, or 5000-level class in Biology, Chemistry, or Environmental Engineering (e.g., MAE 4140, CE 2000) to meet the overall seven-class elective requirement, but not to meet the basic one-class requirement for this area. (Upper level EVSC classes build on the classes listed above under “Core Classes.” Upper-level Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Engineering classes can have several prerequisites.) 

Pre-approved Non-EVSC or 2000-level courses include:

• BIOL 3450 - Biodiversity and Conservation Credits: 3
• CE 3100 - Water for the World Credits: 3
• CE 2100 - Introduction to Environmental Engineering Credits: 3
• EVAT 5300 Environmental Climatology
• EVSC 2800 - Fundamentals of Geology Credits: 3
• EVSC 4559 - Human Impact on the Environment
• ANTH 4559 - Human Impact on the Environment
• LAR 5370 - Natural Systems and Plant Ecology
• PLAN 5120 - Geographic Information Systems
• or
• EVSC 3020 - GIS Methods Credits: 4

Distinguished Majors Project (DMP)

Majors with a minimum 3.6 GPA in the major (and 3.4 GPA overall) are eligible for a distinguished majors program (DMP) for their fourth year. DMPs take a year-long independent study with a faculty advisor, with the goal of producing a thesis that is evaluated by outside readers. To participate in the ETP distinguished majors program, set up an appointment with Professor Thomson during the spring semester of your third year. 

Credit/No Credit Grades

Please note that the ETP program adheres strictly to the College of Arts and Science’s policy regarding classes taken for CR (credit) or NC (no credit). Courses counting towards the ETP prerequisites, area requirements, and core courses may NOT be taken on a CR/NC basis.

The College does not permit students to take courses on a CR/NC basis in interdisciplinary programs, nor does it permit students to count courses taken on a CR/NC basis towards a major, minor, or College area requirements.

• Students whose first language is not English should take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Students who are bilingual in English and another language and have scored well on the verbal portion of the SAT may be exempted from the TOEFL and IELTS.
• Recommendations from one counselor and one teacher
• Application and Fee
• Secondary School Forms and Transcript (official translation required of transcripts not presented in English)
• Final Transcripts
• Students who will be applying for Fall 2017 can chose to submit results from the previous version of the SAT, the current SAT, or the ACT. The SAT Essay and ACT Writing sections will not be required for those applying for the Fall 2017 term. SAT Subject Tests are optional.