The Environmental Humanities Minor helps students to understand the environment and the human condition through interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities and allied disciplines—history, literature, philosophy, art and architecture and their histories, anthropology, sociology, and historical and cultural geography—in conversation with the natural sciences. Through interpretation, argumentation, storytelling, and the arts, Environmental Humanities students reflect on the interactions between humans and their environments over time and among different cultures, grapple with complex moral and ethical issues, think critically about the world around us, and help to transform our environmental futures through imaginative and creative projects. This minor differs from the Environmental Studies minor in its primary focus on how humanities disciplines and the arts can contribute to understandings of environmental change; environmental ethics and politics; environmental justice; climate justice; and equitable, sustainable futures. At the UO, the Environmental Humanities are also concerned with the long histories of colonialism and racism.
The minor requires 24 credits from an approved list of courses:
- ENVS 203 (Introduction to Environmental Studies: Humanities) is required.
- All upper-division coursework for the minor must be taken in residence at the University of Oregon. Up to 4 lower-division credits may be earned elsewhere, with approval of the ENVS Academic and Career Advisor.
- No more than two courses for the Environmental Humanities minor may have the same subject code, with the exception of ENVS, which can be two courses beyond the required ENVS 203.
- Only two courses taken for the minor may be used to fulfill another minor, certificate, or major.
- Letter grades of C or better must be earned in all courses counted toward the Environmental Humanities minor.
ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES MINOR:
Required ENVS 203 (4 Credits)
ENVS 203 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Humanities
Elective Courses (20 Credits, no more than two courses with the same subject code)
Elective Lower-Division Courses (no more than 4 credits)
ENG 230 Introduction to Environmental Literature
HIST 215 Food and World History
HIST 273 Introduction to Environmental History
INTL 280 Global Environmental Issues and Alternatives
LAW 201 Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy
Elective Upper-Division Courses (minimum of 16 credits)
ARH 399 Art, Visual Culture, and Climate Change
ARH 410 Land and Environmental Art
ENG 325 Literature of the Northwest
ENG 469 Literature and Environment
ENVS 345 Environmental Ethics
ENVS 429 Environmental Leadership *with instructor approval*
ENVS 435 Environmental Justice
ES 350 Native Americans and the Environment
ES 354 Environmental Racism
GEOG 343 Society, Culture, and Place
GEOG 410 Race, Nature, and Power; Forests and Society
GEOG 461 Environmental Alterations
GEOG 463 Geography, Law, and the Environment
GER 357 Nature, Culture, and the Environment
HIST 378 American Environmental History to 1890
HIST 379 American Environmental History 1890-Present
HIST 466 American West to 1890
HIST 467 American West 1890-Present
HIST 468 The Pacific Northwest
HIST 473 Topics in Environmental History
PHIL 339 Philosophy of Science
PHIL 340 Environmental Philosophy
WGS 331 Science, Technology, and Gender
WGS 432 Gender, Environment, and Development