Department of Society, Environment, and Health Equity (SEHE) 

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Major in Environmental Studies

The major in Environmental Studies will equip you with vital knowledge, theory, and skills for engaging and contributing to a world impacted by climate change and environmental degradation. Environmental Studies majors study how environmental issues intersect with health and well-being, economics, politics, ethics, and human values. Majors work to find solutions that promote environmental justice in Southern California and around the globe. Graduates can apply their knowledge and skills to developing and communicating socially conscious and culturally sensitive projects to improve environmental conditions in various occupations, including public service, urban and environmental planning, policy advocacy, health care, green industry and B-corporations, outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, international development, higher education, and non-profit organizations.

The Environmental Studies B.A. requirement consists of 52 units (13 courses). 

Lower-division requirements: 

The lower-division requirements  (4 courses, 16~17 units) consist of a course taught by SEHE core faculty that introduces students to the social dimensions of environmental change and three CNAS courses. Students must take an additional science course with a lab to gain a better understanding of the scientific method. Two additional courses chosen from a list of CNAS courses related to sustainability and the environment are designed to acquaint students with the scientific approaches to environmental topics. 

  1. SEHE 001: Society, Culture, and the Environment
     
  2. two courses for building scientific literacy chosen from a list of in natural, earth, and environmental sciences (cannot double count with the CHASS 20 unit science and math requirement)
    • BPSC 011: Plants and Human Affairs
    • BPSC 021: California’s Cornucopia: Food From the Field to Your Table 
    • ENSC 001 Introduction to Environmental Science
    • ENSC 002 Introduction to Environmental Science: Environmental Quality
    • ENSC 003 Contemporary Issues in the Environmental Sciences 
    • ENSC 004 Climate Change in California
    • ENSC 006/ECON 006 Introduction to Environmental Economics 
    • GEO 002 Earth’s Climate Through Time
    • GEO 003 Headlines in the History of Life
    • GEO 004 Natural Hazards and Disasters 
    • GEO 005 Geoscience in Movies 
    • GEO 007 Minerals and Human Health 
    • GEO 008 Earthquake Country 
    • GEO 009/009H Oceanography
    • GEO 010 Earth Resources and Sustainability
    • GEO 011/011H Global Climate Change
    • GEO 012 At Home in the Universe 
    • PHYS 018 Energy and the Environment
       
  3. one additional science course with a lab or STAT 004, STAT 005 or equivalent  (cannot double count with the CHASS 20 unit science and math requirement)

Upper-division requirements:

The upper-division requirements (9 courses, 36 units) are designed to cover a breadth of environmental topics and approaches in social sciences and humanities. An emphasis is placed on understanding social structures that create environmental disparities and the needs of disadvantaged communities. One elective provides an opportunity for students to take an additional SEHE course or an upper-division course from another college or school related to the environment, sustainability, or climate change (Courses are subject to approval by the SEHE curriculum advisor. Students are responsible for fulfilling the prerequisites). Students are given a few options to complete the 4 unit capstone requirement.  

  1. SEHE 101: Community Research and Anti-Oppressive Methods
     
  2. One of the following 
    • SEHE 105/GSST 171: Environmental Health and Social Justice 
    • SEHE 106/106S: Movements and Advocacy for Social Change in Environmental Justice and Health Equity
       
  3. Four courses from the list i~v
    1. Climate Studies
      • NASC 171/ENGR 171/PBPL 171
      • SEHE 116: Intersectionality, Climate Emotions, and Mental Health
      • SEHE 131: Climate Change Politics and Policy
      • SEHE 132: Community Resilience to Climate Change
      • SEHE 141: Gender and Climate Change
         
    2. Environmental Justice
      • ETST 179: Race and the Environment: Nature, Colonialism, and Justice 
      • SEHE 110: Environmental Health in Southern California
      • SEHE 129: Food Justice
      • SEHE 135: Environmental War Crimes
      • SEHE 137/POSC 137 Environmental Justice and Human Rights
         
    3. Environmental Governance
      • ANTH 132: Cultural Ecology
      • MCS 122: Sustainability as the Future of Democracy
      • MCS 159: Race, Space, and Identity
      • SEHE 130: Environmental Planning
      • SEHE 136/POSC 106: Environmental Political Thought
      • SEHE 127/POSC 127: Global Environmental Politics
      • SEHE 127S/POSC 127S: Global Environmental Politics
      • SEHE 139/POSC 139: Environment, Sustainability & Society
      • SEHE 139S/POSC 139S: Environment, Sustainability & Society
      • SEHE 140/GSST 131: Sustainability, Gender, and Development in the Global South
         
    4. Environmental Humanities
      • ENGL 120A: Native American Literature to 1900
      • AST 180/JPN 180/MCS 180 Japanese Documentary
      • ENGL 120T Studies in Native American Literature
      • SEHE 123/GSST 161 Gender and Science
      • SEHE 142/GSST 181 Feminisms and Environmentalisms
      • SEHE 143/MCS 175/SPN 175 Human and Non-Human: Decolonial and Audiovisual Perspectives on Life on a Diminished Planet
      • MCS 108 Electric Earth: Media Ecology Theory Culture
      • MCS 117 Posthuman Bodies in Media, Science, and Culture
      • MCS 170 Senior Seminar On the Anthropocene
         
    5. Special Topics
      • SEHE 115/GBST 115 Ethnography: Collaborative/Activist Interdisciplinary Research
      • SEHE 145 /GSST 145 Intersectionality, Ecology, and Community Design
      • SEHE 148/GSST 148 Intersectionality, Ecology, and Design Science
      • SEHE 159 Special Topics in Environmental Studies
         
  4. One course in Gender, Race, and Structural Inequity
    • ANTH 127/127S Political Anthropology
    • ETST 102 Political Economy of Race and Class
    • ETST 111 Ethnic Politics: Practicum in Political Change
    • ETST 113 Black Feminist Theory and Activism
    • ETST163E Introduction to Queer StudiesGSST 107 Feminisms, Race, and Antiracisms: Critical Theories and Intersectional Perspectives
    • GSST 109 Women, Politics, and Social Movements: Global Perspective
    • GSST 113 Queer Theory
    • GSST 176 Gender, Human Rights, and Transnationalism
    • MCS 109 Algorithms and Everyday 
    • MCS 160 Race, State Violence, and Incarceration in the U.S. 
    • MCS 189 Political Culture of Race and Policing
    • SOC 128(S) Chicano Sociology
    • SOC 161 Immigration and Society
       
  5. One additional SEHE course or an upper-division course from a college or school other than CHASS related to the environment, sustainability, or climate change (Subject to approval)
     
  6. One capstone Course
    • SEHE 190 Special Studies (at least 4 units)
    • SEHE 198I Independent Internship (at least 4 units)