Emerson College
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Institutional level According to Emerson's Core Values associated with the strategic plan, the College is dedicated to: Engaged student learning that results in high-level intellectual and creative achievement; Teaching excellence; Research and creative expression that strengthen instruction; Innovation; Intercultural competence in an increasingly global world; Exemplary and thoughtful use of technology; Diversity of thought and people; Active, meaningful interaction with local, national, and global communities; Ethical engagement; Moral courage; Responsible use of resources (human, financial, and physical facilities). Division level School of Liberal Arts: While each major program at Emerson engages the liberal arts in a manner appropriate to its discipline(s), there is also a distinct Liberal Arts curriculum—Foundations, Perspectives, and Minors—in which all students engage and which accounts for more than a third of their overall educational experience. Perspectives Curriculum includes Ethics and Values (4 credits)-- Courses in this perspective challenge students to articulate the foundations for their beliefs and judgments and subject these value commitments to critical analysis. Examples include Contemporary Ethics, Environmental Ethics, and Religions Around the Globe and Scientific (4 credits)--Courses in this perspective explore existing knowledge in particular natural or physical domains, learn that science is an approach to acquiring more reliable knowledge of the natural world, and identify how science pertains to students’ own lives. Examples include Human Health and Disease, Evolution and Human Nature, Personal Genetics and Identity, and Earth Science: Natural Disasters.

Within the School of Liberal Arts, there is an Environmental Studies minor and the opportunity to take sustainability themed courses in order to fulfill coursework with the 'foundations, perspectives, and minors' requirements.

The interdisciplinary Environmental Studies minor within the School of Liberal Arts examines environmental processes, challenges, and solutions from a variety of perspectives, including science, policy, economics, history, ethics, media, literature, and the arts. Students will explore the relationships between people and the environment, focusing in particular on the sustainable use of natural resources and the causes, consequences, and communication of the complex environmental problems faced by human societies, including air and water pollution, habitat loss and restoration, and climate change.