Environmental Studies Program

What is the Environmental Studies Program?

The Environmental Studies (ENVS) Program is an interdisciplinary program that offers courses across multiple colleges at UVM. Students sample courses with themes of humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences while also focusing on a particular interest area. This flexible structure empowers students to create a unique academic pathway tailored to their individual interests in environmental learning. 

The program nurtures a supportive network of faculty, students, and staff including faculty expertise in economics, humanities, ecology, policy, equity, and creative arts. ENVS Program positions itself as a university wide hub, connecting CAS, Rubenstein, CALS, and other colleges with a central mission around environmental justice and sustainability. Undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Science have the opportunity to declare a major in Environmental Studies or simply pursue it as a minor.

What makes the Environmental Studies Program Unique?

The mission of the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Vermont is to empower students with the interdisciplinary tools, knowledge, and experience to understand and address complex environmental challenges. Rooted in the liberal arts, our program fosters critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, ethical reflection, systems thinking, and social and environmental justice.

Through a student-centered and experiential curriculum, we prepare graduates to become informed, compassionate, and effective leaders in the creation of a more just and sustainable world. Graduates are prepared to take on environmental challenges in non profits, policy, education, creative media, or to pursue graduate or professional study.

History of Environmental Studies at UVM

The Environmental Studies Program at University of Vermont was established in 1972 to understand the ecological and cultural systems that support life on Earth. The Environmental Program established the Environmental Studies major, one of the first in the nation, which drew on faculty expertise and courses from many different disciplines.

Core Principles

• Interdisciplinary approach to understanding
• Commitment to high-impact experiential learning
• Joy of creative teaching
• Sustainability in all things
• Catalysts for change

Scholarship, teaching, advising, and service are the hallmark of UVM's Environmental Program. Our interdisciplinary approach is to support students by designing individualized courses of study based on interest and skill level.

The strength of the Environmental Studies Program starts with the faculty and the work they do to advance interdisciplinary environmental thinking. Their areas of expertise range from ecocritical media studies to forest carbon markets. Our faculty's interdisciplinary research sets the bar and serves as a model for student research, whether in course projects, senior capstones, or independent studies.

Learning Objectives for the Environmental Studies Program Are:

1. Demonstrate a deep understanding of the scope, scale, and multiple dimensions of current environmental challenges.
2. Demonstrate the ability to apply interdisciplinary approaches to critically evaluate environmental challenges and solutions.
3. Understand how people from diverse walks of life value, engage with, and are affected by environmental challenges.
4. Actively engage in steps to solutions to environmental challenges using scientific, creative, and entrepreneurial approaches.