Dickinson College
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Dickinson's environmental studies & environmental science department is remarkable for its range of activities and commitment to sustainability. Students choose to pursue either a B.S. in environmental science or a B.A. in environmental studies. Environmental studies/science faculty are active in the fields of environmental policy, aquatic ecology, conflict resolution and peace-building, environmental health, environmental literature, air quality, conservation, climate change, and social justice. They work closely with Dickinson students in the classroom and support them in their scholarship – whether they are assisting communities on environmental-justice issues or conducting field research in our Cumberland Valley forests and streams and on the ice sheets of Greenland.

The environmental studies & environmental science department recognizes that solutions to the human predicament require an interdisciplinary effort. The goals of the program include providing a sound academic background and an opportunity for students to use their education through research and community engagement.

The geosciences span and integrate the five major Earth systems: the atmosphere, oceans, soils, organisms and solid earth both past and present. The geosciences curriculum at Dickinson provides students with experiences that foster critical thinking about these systems, so that students make connections among the systems and can understand how they impact humans now and in the future.

We do this in a variety of ways, like providing opportunities for deeper understanding through lecture and discussion, experimental and analytical laboratory work, fieldwork and independent study and research. We prepare students for the challenges of providing mineral, energy and water resources sustainably; mitigating environmental pollution and hazards; and informing the public about the challenges ahead through teaching, research and community engagement.

The Dickinson approach to food studies stands to contribute substantially to the development of engaged citizens who are well-equipped to participate thoughtfully and productively in the full range of endeavors that any liberal-arts graduate might consider--in business, academia, nonprofit work, policymaking, law and medicine.

The food studies certificate exemplifies a useful education, one that affects every member of the community on a daily basis by:

Combining courses across the curriculum
Providing hands-on experiential learning opportunities
Interacting with community partners
Integrating the Dickinson College Farm into student learning

This certificate can be applied directly to learning outcomes for sustainability.

Food studies is the critical examination of food—the evolution of its procurement, production, consumption and cultural meanings within the contexts of the natural and social sciences and humanities. It's a multidisciplinary field of study that involves and attracts philosophers, historians, scientists, literary and language scholars, artists, sociologists, art historians, anthropologists, nutritionists, psychologists, agriculturalists, economists, artists, film producers and critics, policymakers and consumers.

International studies is an interdisciplinary major that is at the intersection of international relations, international economics, international security, international development, comparative politics, demography, and foreign policy. Insights from these fields in an interdisciplinary major help students attain a well-rounded, multifaceted understanding of global developments and trends and prepare majors to succeed in the globally connected world of the 21st century. The major has a concentration in Sustainability and the Global Environment.

In addition to core courses in international politics, history, and economics, students study a foreign language and choose an area of concentration in which they take a cluster of courses in one of four areas: A Geographical Area or a Specific Country, Sustainability & the Global Environment, World Economy & Development or Global Security.

To complete the International Studies major, students complete core coursework in international politics, economics, and history; a foreign language requirement; four courses in the concentration of their choice; a senior research seminar; a course to prepare for the comprehensive written and oral exams at the end of the senior year; and the comprehensive exams themselves.

Educating for a sustainable society is a far-reaching and transforming initiative at Dickinson, but it is also a natural extension of the college’s longstanding mission to provide a useful education in the liberal arts.

Our graduates need a 21st-century skill set that prepares them to integrate knowledge about complex problems, learn from and adapt to changing conditions, and envision and implement sustainable solutions.

Dickinson does not offer a single distinct major or minor for sustainability, but instead offers over 120 courses/year across the curriculum that help students gain knowledge about sustainability concepts, problems, and solutions while building competencies and dispositions for creating a sustainable world. We pride ourselves in being a national leader in this practice. Over the years, these courses have been integrated throughout the Dickinson curriculum. Since 2011, we have consistently offered them in over 38 academic departments each year and regularly tracked and assessed our success.

Our certificate programs formalize the interdisciplinary study of sustainability but in no way capture our work across the curriculum in its entirety.