As the Environmental Studies (ES) program fights for its existence this fall, the department should examine why some people do not see it as an essential part of the liberal arts education. Its overly flexible curriculum weakens it academically, the major plan is not coherent enough and it fails to adequately challenge students.

How can the department strengthen the major? Recognizing that a strong background is necessary, it requires introductory ES to acquaint students with major environmental problems as well as two courses each in the natural and social sciences. Though this leeway in course choice allows diversity, it does not necessarily provide ES students with the solid groundwork they need in entry-level courses. For instance, while most ES majors choose to enroll in Ecology, the department does not actually require the course. This leniency should be changed, for without a thorough understanding of life systems on the planet, majors may have difficulty assessing the full impact of policy and pollution.

The ES department should also require students to take Physical Geology. Here they will learn to contemplate the environment in the context of deep time and to study the processes that create landscape and climate (as well as some limited chemistry), upon which life depends. Students should also be strongly encouraged, but not required, in light of course burdens, to take Geomorphology, the study of surficial geology, Environmental Chemistry (unfortunately not offered) and Field Botany. In the natural sciences, biology and geology should be emphasized. They are the two bases for environmental studies, as they further understanding of life and the systems which govern it.

In the social sciences, Human Geography and Principles of Economics connect especially well to ES, and so should be required. Human Geography develops the importance of place in human development and the influence of culture within the environment. Both are necessary concepts for ES majors seeking innovative solutions to environmental problems. Principles of Economics addresses the realities of market influences on human welfare and shows how we can work within these constraints to correct poor policies. Other classes which might be encouraged but not required include a general Environmental Policy course, Environmental Anthropology, People and the Environment (Geography) and Environmental Economics.

The ES major requires a statistics course in which students learn the quantitative skills necessary for data analysis. In addition, it should encourage enrollment in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) classes in the Geography department. While furthering students’ understanding of the role that place plays in environmental issues, it will also provide them with mapmaking skills that are in growing demand. Unlike more theoretical aspects of ES, GIS classes will give graduates a concrete skill that can help get a job after college.

Ethics, in contrast, seeks not to give students tools for jobs but to encourage them to examine what they value in life. Over the course of lifetime, the ability to question and discern is probably as important to one’s understanding and judgment as discrete and practical work skills.

Junior and senior seminars help to integrate material learned in other disciplines, but their goals need to be changed. In past years, they have tended to simulate real-life situations that environmental professionals might face. While perhaps useful, these simulations are designed for those students planning a career in activism, which is unfair to majors aiming for other careers choices in environmentalism. Their necessity is dubious, as no organization will assign entry-level workers to run press conferences or give presentations without their first gaining this experience in internships and on the job. Furthermore, simulations do not propel students to actually examine the environment, but instead to act on information and skills already acquired in other classes. Refining and perhaps even revising our perspective on environmental issues should remain a primary goal of every class, especially the seminars, because they bring together majors from diverse disclipines for discourse.

A glaring hole in the Macalester ES program is its failure to offer classes in environmental history or literature. Without courses in these subjects, majors lack perspective, an appreciation for the origins and inspiration of the environmental movement. There is much to be learned from past successes and failures, and indeed it is quite encouraging to identify one’s own sentiments about nature in someone else’s words. Reading environmental literature and history would be inspiring and enlightening, allowing us to reinforce and refine our interpretation of the environment.

Creative or spiritual classes are popular choices among ES majors and are sometimes suggested as potential requirements. But while they may be instructive, requiring them seems burdensome. Those students who wish can follow these interests on their own in relevant courses. Personally, I prefer a less structured, more natural setting than a classroom to explore these avenues.

In addition to the requirements suggested earlier, which add up to nine or so classes, ES demands that students complete a core requirement. Presently, most ES majors double-major, which reflects their recognition of the environment’s connections to other disciplines as well as the broad, easy course load in the ES major. The core will allow students, as now intended, to develop expertise in a particular area that will make them more attractive to potential employers in future job markets.

This more coherent major will make the department stronger.