The courses in this connection investigate our relationship with the natural world from different perspectives. They will offer multidisciplinary approaches to understanding the environment and our human interaction with it, to addressing such issues as climate change, population growth and endangered species, and to assessing the impacts-positive and negative-of technology on the environment and human society.
Students will take one of the three science courses, each of which provides a basic understanding of the underlying physical, chemical and biological processes controlling the natural world. They will learn how science can inform policy decisions and how social and economic concerns can shape the environment. In SOC 315 , they will have the opportunity to consider the cultural, social and environmental impacts of contemporary Western civilization and its technologies. In REL 242 , they may explore the religious roots of the current environmental crisis by examining the spiritual origins of our ideas about nature.
This may be completed as a two- or three-course connection. A two-course connection must link courses from at least two different areas; a three-course connection must link courses from three areas. None of the courses need be taken concurrently or consecutively.