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2020-2021 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog

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Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Sustainability Studies

Website: gvsu.edu/ens

Requirements

The environmental and sustainability studies major requires 35 to 37 credits, plus nine to 11 credits in B.A. or B.S. program requirements.

Required Courses

The following courses are required (nine credits):

Technical Skills Courses

Choose one course from the following (three to four credits):

Triple Bottom Line Overview Courses

Students must choose one course from each of the following three groups (nine credits).
No course may count toward both a focus area and the triple bottom line overview.

Social and Cultural Perspectives

Physical and Life Science Perspectives

Political and Economic Perspectives

Synthesis and Application

A minimum of five credits are required from the following:

Focus Areas

Students must complete the required coursework in at least one of the following four focus areas (a minimum of 9 to 10 credits):

  • Sustainable Food Systems
  • Energy
  • Water Resources
  • Culture and the Built Environment

A focus area includes one course relevant to the focus area topic from each of the three triple bottom line perspectives:

  • Social and cultural perspectives
  • Physical and life science perspectives
  • Political and economic perspectives

The focus area in sustainable food systems also requires completion of a course on food safety (either HTM 201 or HTM 250).

Students are encouraged to complete additional coursework within a focus area, or to complete more than one focus area, as their interests and resources permit.

1. Sustainable Food Systems

Students must complete a food safety course and one course from each perspectives list. No course may count as both a focus area course and as a triple bottom line overview course.

Food Safety

Social and Cultural Perspectives

Physical and Life Science Perspectives

Political and Economic Perspectives

2. Energy

Students must complete one course from each perspectives list. No course may count both as a focus area course and as a triple bottom line overview course.

Social and Cultural Perspectives

Physical and Life Science Perspectives

Political and Economic Perspectives

3. Water Resources

Students must complete one course from each perspectives list. No course may count both as a focus area course and as a triple bottom line overview course.

Social and Cultural Perspectives

Physical and Life Science Perspectives

Political and Economic Perspectives

4. Culture and the Built Environment

Students must complete one course from each perspectives list. No course may count both as a focus area course and as a triple bottom line overview course.

Social and Cultural Perspectives

Physical and Life Science Perspectives

Political and Economic Perspectives

B.A. and B.S. Degree Requirements

Nine to 12 credits are required for the B.A. or B.S. degree.

The Bachelor of Arts degree is distinguished by its concentration in liberal arts and typically focuses on culture, arts, philosophy, and language.

The Bachelor of Science degree is grounded in the liberal arts and distinguished by its focus on mathematics, statistics, quantitative reasoning, and scientific analysis.

B.A. Degree Requirements

Twelve credits are required. Third-semester proficiency in a foreign language, either a classical or a modern language, of the student's choice, equivalent to a 201 course in a GVSU language program.

B.S. Degree Requirements

Students must complete:

AND one of the following:

AND one of the following:

Environmental and Sustainability Studies Program Description

Click here for the program description.


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