Academics

Environmental Studies at HMC

Academic options:

There are a wide variety of courses taught in environmental sciences on the five college campuses. (View sample syllabi here)

Multiple academic options are available for HMC students interested in environmental studies. They may:

• Complete their Humanities and Social Science concentration in Environmental Studies.
• Enroll in the Semester in Environmental Science at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA.
• Pursue a formal or informal emphasis in Environmental Studies within an HMC technical major.
• Design a major in Environmental Studies as an Individual Program of Study.
• Double major in an HMC technical discipline and Environmental Studies at Pitzer.
• Major in Environmental Studies at Pitzer through the off-campus major program.
• Complete the requirements of a typical major in Environmental Studies without entering a formal program.

Information on each of these options is provided below.

Advising:

Each academic department at HMC has an Environmental Studies Advisor who can help students plan suitable courses of environmental study. For a list of advisors and contact information, please see our Advising page.

Courses:

For a list of courses dealing with environmental subjects, please see our Courses page.

Descriptions of Academic Options

Humanities and Social Science Concentration in Environmental Studies:

HMC students interested in environmental studies can fulfill their Humanities and Social Science concentration in this interdisciplinary field. Humanities and social science courses related to environmental studies are available at HMC, Pitzer, and Pomona. Since these courses cross disciplinary boundaries, it is often possible for a single course to fulfill more than one distribution area, opening up more elective room in the student's program, which usually permits more than four courses to be taken in the concentration. (See sample program below.) the following are some examples of current and recent environmental HSS courses offered at HMC and the other Claremont colleges:

Examples of Current and Recent HSS Environmental Studies Courses:

HMC:
Sosc 124S, Science and Politics (Black)
Govt 179B, Special Topics: Environmental Politics and Policy (Black)
Govt 179S, Special Topics: Technological Design and Social Reform (Winner)
Posc 179a, Global Environmental Politics (Steinberg)
Posc 179b, Biodiversity Policy (Steinberg)
Phil 140, Environmental Philosophy (Beckman)

Pomona:
Soc 89A, Environmental Sociology (Roth)

Pitzer:
Econ 166, Environmental Economics
Envs 36, Native Americans and Their Environment (Miller)
Envs 43A, Special Topic: Southwestern Literature (Arnold)
Envs 140, Desert as a Place (Faulstich)
Envs 174, Living in a Dry Climate (Schenk)
Envs 181, The Politics of Water (Sullivan)
Post 166, Environmental Policy
Post 181, The Politics of Water

Emphasis in Environmental Studies within an HMC technical major:

An emphasis in environmental studies can usually be created within any HMC major program. For information about the possibilities within a specific major, contact the appropriate departmental Environmental Studies advisor. Keep in mind that in addition to HMC courses, Environmental Science courses are offered at the other Claremont Colleges, as shown below.

 

Examples of Current and Recent Environmental Science Courses at Other Colleges:

Joint Sciences:
Biology 62L, Environmental Science (Guthrie)
Biology 165, Adv Topics in Environmental Biology (Morhardt)
Biology 166, Animal Physiological Ecology (Preest)
Envs 70L, Chemistry and the Environment (Davis)
Biology 62L, Environmental Science (Guthrie)
Biology 146, Ecology (McFarlane)
Biology 159, Natural Resource Management (Morhardt)
Envs 70L, Chemistry and the Environment (Davis)

Pomona:
Biology 112, Ecology of Terrestrial Communities (Wirtz)

Semester in Environmental Science:

HMC students are also eligible to apply for the Semester in Environmental Science offered at the Ecosystems Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. If you are interested in this program, you should contact Prof. Cathy McFadden, who is the HMC coordinator for this program. You should also check with the Environmental Studies advisor for your major to find out about receiving credit for courses taken through this program. This program could be taken as part of an environmental emphasis within an HMC major or as part of an Environmental Studies major.

Majoring in Environmental Studies:

Students who wish to major in Environmental Studies have several options:

1. Students can design an Environmental Studies major as an Individual Program of Study (IPS). The IPS program allows students to devise their own majors when their educational goals are not met by the traditional HMC majors. An IPS program contains at least 14 courses (42 credit hours) that make up a coherent set, and it must be consistent with the nature and strengths of the College, but it may cross departmental and even college lines. The requirements for an IPS major may be obtained from the Dean of Faculty and are described near the end of the Curriculum section of the HMC catalog. Students devising IPS programs may wish to consult information about requirements of other academic environmental studies programs, which can be obtained from our links page. Please consult one of the Environmental Studies advisors if you are interested in designing an Environmental Studies IPS.

2. With judicious choice of HSS courses and electives within their HMC major, students can complete a double major in a technical HMC major and Environmental Studies at Pitzer College. One example is shown in the sample program below. Please consult the Environmental Studies advisor for your major if you are interested in exploring the possibility of a double major.

3. Students may also complete an off-campus major in Environmental Studies at Pitzer College as their only major. In this case, the student must also complete a minor in one of the Harvey Mudd College major-granting departments, along with all other graduation requirements, including the Common Core and the program in Humanities and Social Sciences. Additional description of this program is available at the end of the Curriculum section of the HMC catalog, and detailed requirements can be obtained from the Registrar.

4. Lastly, students can simply take courses equivalent to an Environmental Studies major without entering a formal program. The combination of technical studies in one of the HMC majors with an environmentally oriented HSS program should be sufficient to meet most typical requirements for the equivalent of an environmental studies major. Employers and graduate programs are usually much more interested in your experience, what courses you've taken, and what you know than they are in the title of your program. This informal approach will allow you the greatest flexibility in your choice of courses.

Sample Program in Environmental Studies

Here is a plausible HSS program that would meet the Pitzer Environmental Studies requirements.

Hum 1 and Hum 2 (satisfied freshman year)

Arts, Literature, and Languages Distribution

1. HMC Lit 105, The Land and Literature
   or
   PIT Envs 122, Reading and Painting the Landscape

2. PIT Envs 39, Environments, Arts, and Action
   or
   Pit Envs 144, Visual Ecology

Humanities Distribution

1. HMC Phil 140, Environmental Philosophy
   or
   PIT Envs 130, Environmental Ethics

2. HMC Hist
   or
   Am Studies elective

Social Sciences Distribution

1. HMC Econ 179, Political Economy of the Environment
   or
   POM Polsci 136, Environmental Politics and Policy
   or
   CMC Govt 120, Environmental Law

2. PIT Envs 36, Native Americans and Their Environment
   or
   PIT Envs 148, Ethnoecology

Electives

1. PIT Envs 108, Environmental Policy

2. HMC elective

3. PIT Envs 141, Progress and Oppression: Ecology, Human Rights, and Development

4. HMC or PIT Senior seminar, fieldwork, or clinic in environmental studies