2024-2025 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog
Environmental and Sustainability Studies Minor
A total of 21 credits are needed to fulfill the environmental and sustainability studies (ENS) minor. A major must include at least 30 credits not duplicated in the minor.
Core Courses
- ENS 201 - Introduction to Environmental and Sustainability Studies (3 credits)
- ENS 401 - Environmental Problem Solving (3 credits)
Elective Courses
Choose one course from each of the three following categories.
Social and Cultural Perspectives
- ANT 340 - Culture and Environment (3 credits)
- ART 423 - Animals in Art (3 credits)
- BIO 338 - Environmental Ethics (3 credits)
- ENG 382 - Literature and the Environment (3 credits)
- ENS 222/NRM 222/SOC 222 - Social Inquiry and West Michigan Water (3 credits)
- ENS 238 - Polluted, Poisoned, and Pillaged: Exploring Michigan's Waterways Through Time (3 credits)
- ENS 242 - Climate Change in Popular Culture (3 credits)
- ENS 300 - Principles of Sustainability (3 credits)
- ENS 311 - To Bee or Not to Bee; Honeybees and Social Impact (3 credits)
- ENS 381 - Study Abroad in Environmental and Sustainability Studies (3 to 9 credits)
- GPY 362 - Farmers, Crops, and Our Challenging Agricultural World (3 credits)
- GPY 363 - World Forests and Their Use (3 credits)
- GPY 410 - Landscape Analysis and Green Infrastructure (3 credits)
- HST 320 - American Indians (3 credits)
- HST 323 - Michigan History (3 credits)
- HST 327 - History of United States Urban Society (3 credits)
- IDS 350 - Building Bridges Through Conversation (3 credits)
- INT 330 - The Idea of Nature (3 credits)
- INT 370 - Anishinaabeg Lifeways: Past, Present, and Future (3 credits)
- PNH 360 - Voluntarism and the Nonprofit Sector (3 credits)
- PSY 362 - Environmental Psychology (3 credits)
- SOC 288 - Sociology of Food (3 credits)
- SW 150 - Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare (3 credits)
- WGS 335 - Women, Health and Environment (3 credits)
Physical and Life Science Perspectives
- BIO 105 - Environmental Science (3 credits)
- BIO 107 - Great Lakes and Other Water Resources (4 credits)
- BIO 215 - Ecology (4 credits)
- BIO 319 - Global Agricultural Sustainability (3 credits)
- EGR 306 - Urban Sustainability (3 credits)
- EGR 360 - Thermodynamics (4 credits)
- ENS 310 - How the Living Earth Works (3 credits)
- ENS 392 - Sustainable Agriculture: Ideas and Techniques (3 credits)
- GEO 105 - Living with the Great Lakes (3 credits)
- GPY 100 - Physical and Environmental Geography (3 credits)
- GPY 312 - Urban and Regional Environmental Planning (3 credits)
- GPY 412/ENS 412 - Global Climate and Environmental Change (3 credits)
- HTM 201 - Good Food Gone Bad: Food Safety for Everyone (3 credits)
- HTM 250 - Food Production and Kitchen Management (4 credits)
- NRM 281 - Principles of Soil Science (4 credits)
- NRM 330 - Environmental Pollution (3 credits)
- PHY 215 - Energy in Modern Life (4 credits)
Political and Economic Perspectives
- CJ 370 - Environmental Crime and Justice (3 credits)
- ECO 345 - Environmental and Resource Economics (3 credits)
- EGR 406/NRM 406 - Renewable Energy Systems: Structure, Policy, and Analysis (3 credits)
- ENS 302/PHI 302 - Environmental Justice (3 credits)
- ENS 303/PLS 303 - Introduction to U.S. Environmental Policy (3 credits)
- ENS 305 - Sustainability Assessment and Reporting (3 credits)
- GPY 324/PNH 324 - Urbanization (3 credits)
- GPY 335 - Globalization and Development (3 credits)
- GPY 345 - The Geography and Land Use Management of Michigan and the Great Lakes Area (3 credits)
- GPY 361 - People, Environment, and Development in the Amazon (3 credits)
- GPY 365 - GIS for Economic and Business Decision-Making (3 credits)
- HTM 368 - Geotourism (3 credits)
- INT 322 - Wicked Problems of Sustainability (3 credits)
- INT 342 - Food Matters (3 credits)
- NRM 150 - Introduction to Natural Resource Conservation (3 credits)
- NRM 451 - Natural Resource Policy (3 credits)
- OSH 414 - Environmental Safety and Health Regulations (3 credits)
- PNH 307 - Local Politics and Administration (3 credits)
- PLS 314 - International Law (3 credits)
- SOC 351 - Urban Sociology (3 credits)
Additional Elective Courses
Six credits of upper-level electives (300-level or above) from two different disciplines from the perspectives lists are required. The following may count as additional upper-level electives:
- ENS 301 - Methods for Interdisciplinary Environmental and Sustainability Studies (3 credits)
- ENS 305 - Sustainability Assessment and Reporting (3 credits)
- ENS 399 - Independent Readings in Environmental Studies (1 to 3 credits)
- ENS 490 - Internship (1 to 6 credits)
- ENS 491 - Practicum (1 to 6 credits)