Barnard College
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

The Environmental Science curriculum recognizes the need for well-trained scientists to cope with balancing human requirements and environmental conservation. Majors acquire an understanding of earth systems by taking courses in the natural sciences, as well as courses investigating environmental stress. Students learn to critically evaluate the diverse information necessary for sound environmental analysis. Courses foster an interdisciplinary approach to environmental problem-solving.

The Environment and Sustainability major was approved by the Barnard Faculty in the Fall of 2017, growing out of a revised and renamed version of the Environmental Policy major. Sustainability is a growing field focusing on finding solutions in an ever-changing environment. Majors develop an understanding of the processes and stresses of earth's systems, handle environmental data and make reasoned assessments, and engage in collaborative and interdisciplinary work required for developing approaches to maintain a sustainable environment. Careers in Sustainability are growing to meet the needs of our changing planet.

Environmental Biology Majors take courses in both the Environmental Science and Biology departments. Majors will have advisers from both departments and will elect whether they will complete senior research thesis coursework in either the Environmental Science or Biology Departments. Career opportunities are possible in: research, natural history museums and parks, environmental education, environmental advocacy, and government agencies.

Majors build an intellectual foundation that combines interdisciplinary coursework and a concentration of study within a single field. The program enables students to explore and understand the urban experience in all of its richness and complexity. It recognizes the city as an amalgam of diverse peoples and their social, political, economic, and cultural interactions within a distinctive built environment. Students study the evolution and variety of urban forms and governance structures, which create opportunities for, as well as constrain, the exercise of human agency, individual and collective. They explore the place of the city in different historical and comparative contexts, as well as in the human imagination. Environmental Science specialization requires 5 courses in either the Environmental Science or Sustainable Development departments.

Studies people’s dynamic interaction with nature, climate, and geography and explores the cultural, economic, political, and social contexts of science and technology. Students investigate how the natural world has deeply informed the development of human societies and in turn how societies have endeavored to change nature, climate, and the environment to suit their historically specific interests.

No specific concentration or specialization, but sustainability and building efficiency have become central topics within the department.

The studio major in architecture provides students with the opportunity to explore the discipline of architecture within the context of the College’s commitment to liberal arts. The major is introduced through a series of studio and academic courses that explore the multiple relationships between architectural design, history, theory, and criticism. Students are expected to develop technical skills, design excellence, and a critical understanding of architecture as part of our visual, social, and political history and culture. The major is designed to prepare students to work in architecture and related disciplines or pursue graduate study. Most students take advantage of the resources of New York City and the teaching faculty by working in internships in the city while majoring in the field.