This fall, Wagner College will begin offering a new major in Environmental Studies, building on the strength of its existing minor in Environmental Studies.
“We have a number of students interested in serving others and making the world a better place,” explained Celeste Marie Gagnon, head of the Anthropology Department. “This major equips students like that to bring an environmental perspective to bear on world problems.”
“A lot of other colleges have developed programs like this over the last 10 years,” added biology professor Elizabeth Suter.
Students enrolling in the multidisciplinary major will be able to complete their senior capstone work in either the Biological Sciences or Anthropology department.
“Your concentration will be based on what kind of research you want to do, or where you want to go with your bachelor’s degree,” Gagnon explained.
“I was an environmental studies major as an undergraduate, and I became a scientist,” Suter said. “There are many kinds of work you can do with this: policy, law, management, risk management, NGO work in the fields of the environment, social justice, the impacts of the environment and environmental change on economics. Even local NGOs, such as those focusing on asthma.”
Students enrolled in the Environmental Studies major will learn about the three pillars of sustainability — social, environmental and economic — and how culture functions as a mediating process between humans and their environment. They will also acquire an introductory knowledge of geographic information systems.
For more information:
- See the overview of the Environmental Studies major
- And visit the Anthropology Department website to review the degree requirements for the B.A. in Environmental Studies
