Environmental Humanities announced as new minor

When it comes to education, students tend to look for opportunities to connect their learning with the world around them. The new Environmental Humanities minor does just that. 

Co-creator and Professor Melissa Purdue said the minor’s concept came from students showing more interest in environmental issues. Over a two-year process, Purdue and co-creator and Professor Danielle Haque collaborated on building the minor and reaching out to 14 other departments. 

One of the classes Haque teaches is on global literature and the environment. Haque said classes in the minor allow students to collaborate on projects and ideas for topics impacting them such as climate anxiety.

“It’s a part of what’s happening in this world and they don’t just want to watch it happen, they want to do something about it,” Haque said. “It gives us a classroom space to introduce students to all these fields and concepts that influence the way we think about the environment.”

Haque said one of the benefits of taking the minor is students can shape it to fit their interests. Students are required to take the Environmental Humanities core class, one class from a Humanities and Social Sciences list and one class from the Natural Sciences and Allied Health list. Students then have to take three additional courses from either list to complete the 19-credit minor. 

Haque said she and Purdue tried to get as many departments involved on campus such as geography, ethnic studies and women’s studies so students could tailor their minor to their major. 

“There’s a whole bunch of different options to show students how every single discipline in the university touches on the environment,” Haque said. “It’s not just your biology or geology classes. It’s health, history, sociology and more. There isn’t a single academic discipline that doesn’t in some way intersect with environmental studies.”

In Haque’s class, she said there are myriad majors ranging from nursing to political science to microbiology to aviation. One of the assignments she’s planning is having her students give presentations on how their major interacts with the environment. 

Haque said the minor fits in with the current state of the world by addressing real-world problems like hopelessness about how the future climate will look and giving them knowledge about how they can take initiative besides sustainable consumption methods. 

“I think it gives students a sense of possibility and participation and a sense of “ok, I can do things about this on a local level,’” Haque said. “It’s not a luxury to have environmental concerns and it’s not something separate from the life you want to lead. You can participate in climate change activism in your workplace, your neighborhood and in your cities.”

Purdue said bringing in humanities like art, literature and philosophy can help students understand climate change in other ways. 

“Science is essential in understanding and solving the crisis, but the humanities can develop a deeper understanding of how we got here and how we might change,” Purdue said. “We can take a broad issue like climate change and then approach it through various disciplines and questions like ‘How do films or TV programs portray our relationship with nature?’ to make it feel more real and tangible in people’s everyday lives.”

Haque said she wants students to know learning about the environment does not have to be just about the hard sciences.

“Part of what we talk about in Environmental Humanities is how the humanities and the arts socialize and shape the way we interact with and think about nature and our relationship with it,” Haque said. 

Haque said the Environmental Humanities minor applies to all majors and said students should consider adding it if they want to connect their work with environmental issues. 

Purdue said this minor would work well with those looking to pursue jobs in environmental advocacy, sustainable development and those looking to work with federal agencies like the National Park Service. 

Purdue said she hopes students who are interested in making an impact on the world consider adding this major to their degree.

“We’re all citizens of the world and we all hopefully want to help make the world a better and safer place and I think this minor will open student’s eyes to a different sort of understanding about the world around them,” Purdue said.

Write to emma.johnson.5@mnsu.edu