SUNY Potsdam

Contact Person:
Stacy Rosenberg, Department of Politics & Environmental Studies Program
249 MacVicar, (315) 267-2963, rosenbsr@potsdam.edu

43-51 credit hours required.

The major includes course offerings from twelve departments and programs.  The curriculum emphasizes the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences to prepare students to shape viable environmental policy and practice, as citizens as well as environmental educators, planners, policy analysts, advocates, lawyers, and field managers. The major also prepares students for graduate school in related environmental fields. 

The curriculum’s distinctive feature is that it employs the nearby Adirondack Park as case study and field site, grounding theory in the experience of a protected area of international importance. First-year students are advised to begin with the Adirondacks Environmental Studies Semester. The service-learning capstone experience provides students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the environmental field during the summer after the junior year. In a three-credit fall seminar, seniors develop and present a project based upon their field work.

A grade of 2.0 or better must be achieved in all courses.

Each student is also required to complete a minor in one of the disciplines that offer courses for the Environmental Studies major, with no more than two courses counting toward the major. All disciplines participate except Computer Science, Modern Language, Theater/ Drama, Education, and Music.

All courses are 3 credits unless noted. Credits are divided as follows: