Dickinson College
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Dickinson's environmental studies & environmental science department is remarkable for its range of activities and commitment to sustainability. Students choose to pursue either a B.S. in environmental science or a B.A. in environmental studies. Environmental Studies/Science faculty are active in the fields of environmental policy, aquatic ecology, conflict resolution and peace-building, environmental health, environmental literature, air quality, conservation, climate change, and social justice. They work closely with Dickinson students in the classroom and support them in their scholarship – whether they are assisting communities on environmental-justice issues or conducting field research in our Cumberland Valley forests and streams and on the ice-sheets of Greenland. The environmental studies & environmental science department recognizes that solutions to the human predicament require an interdisciplinary effort. The goals of the program include providing a sound academic background and an opportunity for students to use their education through research and community engagement.

The earth sciences span and integrate the five major Earth systems: the Atmosphere, the Oceans, the Soils, the Organisms and the Solid Earth both past and present. The earth sciences curriculum at Dickinson College provides students with experiences that foster critical thinking about these systems, so that students make connections among the systems and can understand how they impact humans now and in the future. We do this in a variety of ways like providing opportunities for deeper understanding through lecture and discussion, experimental and analytical laboratory work, fieldwork and independent study and research. We prepare students for the challenges of providing mineral, energy and water resources sustainably, mitigating environmental pollution and hazards and informing the public about the challenges ahead through teaching, research and community engagement.

Dickinson’s certificate in social innovation and entrepreneurship (SINE) is about creating pathways for student-led change in our world. The college was founded on the premise of educating leaders for our new democracy when the country was in its infancy, and the college continues this important mission of educating leaders for the future. The SINE certificate was developed to focus this effort by highlighting the critical thinking skills, creative mindset, and organizational development capabilities associated with positive change in our society and on behalf of our natural environment. The certificate builds on the college’s educational pillars of interdisciplinarity, global studies, and sustainability. The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate enables students from all majors across the college to develop the knowledge, skills and capacity to conceive of and transform innovative ideas into new products, services and/or initiatives that change the world in meaningful ways.

At Dickinson, Food Studies is the critical examination of food – the evolution of its procurement, production, consumption, and cultural meanings within the contexts of the natural and social sciences and humanities. It is a multidisciplinary field of study that involves and attracts philosophers, historians, scientists, literary and language scholars, artists, sociologists, art historians, anthropologists, nutritionists, psychologists, agriculturalists, economists, artists, film producers and critics, policy-makers, and consumers. Complex questions frame food studies: Where does food come from? Why do people eat what they eat? Are current food systems sustainable? What factors will shape the future of food systems, foodways, and food culture? The Dickinson approach to Food Studies stands to contribute substantially to the development of engaged citizens who are well-equipped to participate thoughtfully and productively in the full range of endeavors that any liberal arts graduate might consider - in business, academia, non-profit work, policy-making, law, and medicine. This certificate can be applied directly to learning outcomes for sustainability.

International Studies is an interdisciplinary major that seeks to help students attain a well-rounded understanding of global developments and trends and to prepare them to succeed in the globalized world of the 21st-century. Globalization and Sustainability is a formal concentration in the program. In addition to core courses in international politics, history, and economics, students study a foreign language and choose an area of concentration in which they take a cluster of courses in one of three areas: a country or region of their choice, globalization and sustainability, or security studies. A distinguishing aspect of the major is the comprehensive oral examination, which students take in the last semester of the senior year. Coursework for the International Studies major includes six core courses; a foreign language requirement; four courses in the chosen concentration; and two capstone courses during the senior year. While carefully planning with an IS academic advisor is important ensuring satisfactory completion of the major, the International Studies curriculum was designed to be flexible enough to permit students to spend a year abroad and offers considerable freedom in choosing the electives that satisfy students’ area of concentration. Globalization and sustainability is the concentration that most closely connects to sustainability in this undergraduate program.

Educating for a sustainable society is a far-reaching and transforming initiative at Dickinson, but it is also a natural extension of the college’s long-standing mission to provide a useful education in the liberal arts. Our graduates need a 21st-century skill set that prepares them to integrate knowledge about complex problems, learn from and adapt to changing conditions, and envision and implement sustainable solutions. Dickinson does not offer a single distinct major or minor for sustainability, but instead offers over 100 courses/year across the curriculum that help students gain knowledge about sustainability concepts, problems, and solutions while building competencies and dispositions for creating a sustainable world. Over the years, these courses have been integrated throughout the Dickinson curriculum consistently, since 2011, in over 38 academic departments. Our certificate programs formalize the interdisciplinary study of sustainability, but in no way capture our work across the curriculum in it's entirety.