North Central College, Sustainably

The new Environmental Studies program is excited to be offering two new courses during the next academic year. Keep them in mind when you are signing up for 2008-2009 classes.

Modern Environmental Issues (ENV 300) will be taught by Professor Will Barnett in Spring 2009. It is the only required course for the Environmental Studies minor – the other 6 courses in the minor can be chosen from a variety of courses in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. ENV 300 is an interdisciplinary course that examines local, national, and international environmental problems, and evaluates potential solutions. Field trips and group projects will be important components of the course. ENV 300 fulfills the Leadership, Ethics, and Values (LEV) requirement.

American Environmental History (either ENV 248 or HST 248) will be taught by Professor Barnett in Fall 2008. It can be used to fulfill the core requirement for an environmental course from the humanities, and there is no prerequisite. ENV 248 examines U.S. history from an environmental perspective. Students will study events from initial contacts between European colonists and Native Americans all the way up to the atomic bomb and suburban sprawl. We will look at how different groups of Americans have adapted to and changed the landscape, and we will read authors like Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold to examine changing American ideas about nature.

A variety of other classes being offered next year can also be counted toward this new minor. Contact Professor Martha Bohrer (mlbohrer@noctrl.edu) coordinator of Environmental Studies, or Professor Will Barnett (wcbarnett@noctrl.edu) with any questions.