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The Online College Database has named Washington University in St. Louis one of “50 Colleges Committed to Saving the Planet.” The university earned a place on the list because of its Environmental Policy major.
The Environmental Policy major is one of three majors offered by the Environmental Studies program in Arts & Sciences.
This is a new major, so it’s exciting that it’s is being acknowledged, said Tiffany Knight, associate professor of biology and the director of the Environmental Studies Program at the university. The political science department has shown commitment to the environment by creating this major, and hope to expand it into the future, adding even more course offerings.
The Environmental Studies program offers two other majors as well: Environmental Biology and Environmental Earth Sciences.
The College Database called the major “a rigorous journey through the tangled web of politics, bureaucracies, public opinion, regulation, the global political economy, sustainability, global oil battles, climate change, genetically altered foods, air and water quality, and biochemistry.”
Bill Lowry, professor of political science at Washington University who organized the curriculum for the Environmental Policy major says it is
very interdisciplinary.
“We have five foundational courses that everybody has to take, which include Introduction to Environmental Biology; Introduction to Environmental Earth Science and Introduction to Environmental Policy, plus the anthropology department’s flagship course on environmental issues, Culture and the Environment, and finally a course on environmental ethics taught either by a political scientist or a philosopher. “
Students are also required to take courses on research methods but are then free to choose from an array of temptations that include the Politics of Bureaucracies; The Politics of Regulation; and Negotiating Major Legislation in Congress.
Lowry is particularly happy with the Introduction of Environmental Policy currently taught by Scott Krummenacher, a postdoctoral research associate in political science. “Scott is a dedicated teacher who is also involved in many environmental activities outside of campus. He can thus integrate a scholarly approach with real world experiences,” he says.
Lowry himself teaches an extremely popular course on Energy and Environmental Issues, says Tiffany Knight. “Students consistently report that it was the most important course they completed in their college career."Lowry's course is one of the inaugural offerings for the Semester Online, a group of online courses offered by a consortium of leading universities, including WUSTL.
Students interested in the requirements for the major may find them at http://enst.wustl.edu/programs/environmental-policy