Skidmore College
AC-2: Undergraduate Programs

• Interact effectively and collaboratively with individuals and across social identities (Intellectual Skills and Practice)

• Interrogate one's own values in relation to those of others, across social and cultural differences (Personal and Social Values)

• Apply learning to find solutions for social, civic, and scientific problems (Personal and Social Values)

• Integrate and apply knowledge and creative thought from multiple disciplines in new contexts (Transformation)

Environmental Studies Major and Environmental Science Major

The following is the overview from the departmental home page:

Environmental challenges are among the most pressing issues facing citizens in the 21st century. Few local, national, or international conflicts lack an environmental dimension. Understanding these environmental problems requires an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts. We cannot adequately understand an issue like water pollution through a single disciplinary perspective; it involves anthropology, biology, business, chemistry, economics, geosciences, government, history, literature, and sociology. The mission of Environmental Studies and Sciences is to help students develop literacy at the intersection of these disciplines.

We emphasize the integration of problem-solving within an interdisciplinary framework. Our students design and carry out empirical research and develop and defend their conclusions through clear written and spoken presentations. Environmental Studies and Sciences students will graduate with rigorous and multifaceted problem-solving skills necessary to frame, describe, analyze, and offer realistic solutions to environmental challenges.

The Environmental Studies and Sciences program includes courses that are interdisciplinary and that address environmental issues from a disciplinary perspective, and offers both a major and a minor degree. We immerse our students in the complexities of environmental issues through both classroom and experiential learning, locally and abroad. Students enrich their academic learning with experiences outside the classroom to foster responsible citizenship and to help our students understand the challenges of creating environmentally sustainable communities.

Environmental Studies Minor

The following is the overview from the departmental home page:

Environmental challenges are among the most pressing issues facing citizens in the 21st century. Few local, national, or international conflicts lack an environmental dimension. Understanding these environmental problems requires an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts. We cannot adequately understand an issue like water pollution through a single disciplinary perspective; it involves anthropology, biology, business, chemistry, economics, geosciences, government, history, literature, and sociology. The mission of Environmental Studies and Sciences is to help students develop literacy at the intersection of these disciplines.

We emphasize the integration of problem-solving within an interdisciplinary framework. Our students design and carry out empirical research and develop and defend their conclusions through clear written and spoken presentations. Environmental Studies and Sciences students will graduate with rigorous and multifaceted problem-solving skills necessary to frame, describe, analyze, and offer realistic solutions to environmental challenges.

The Environmental Studies and Sciences program includes courses that are interdisciplinary and that address environmental issues from a disciplinary perspective, and offers both a major and a minor degree. We immerse our students in the complexities of environmental issues through both classroom and experiential learning, locally and abroad. Students enrich their academic learning with experiences outside the classroom to foster responsible citizenship and to help our students understand the challenges of creating environmentally sustainable communities.

Management and Business (Major and Minor)

The learning goals of the Management and Business Department are set forth in seven dimensions for studying management and business in a liberal arts context and then focused through seven learning objectives.The fifth dimension is "Natural environment and sustainability in management and business: Natural environment and sustainability courses that fulfill this dimension provide an opportunity for students to learn about close connections between business organizations and the natural environment, while highlighting issues of sustainability. (Ia, IIa, IIb, IIId, IVa, IVc)"

Economics (Major and Minor)

Students majoring in economics learn analytical skills and methods of the field, including deductive reasoning, decision-making techniques, quantitative analysis, and modeling principles, and apply these skills in analysis of the ways in which economic forces affect national and international policies and issues. Goals for the economics major that empasize the interdependence of ecological and social/cultural/economic systems include:

• Analyze economic systems in a cultural, global, and/or social justice context. (Ib, Ic, IId)
• Appreciate the impact of economic activity on environmental and ecological systems. (Ia, IIb, IIId)
• Appreciate the impact of economic activity on human well-being and welfare. (IIb, IIId, IVb)

Note on 2.3: Skidmore students are limited to two majors and three minors at Skidmore, with a large number of students choosing to double major (20% of the graduates in 2024) and nearly half of all graduates (46% of the graduates in 2024) completing at least one minor. Skidmore offers two undergraduate degree types (Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts), with courses of study chosen from 40+ majors and 50+ minors. Diplomas, conferred to each gaduate and reflecting all courses of study, are used as the primary qualification for measurement and assessment purposes. Of the 641 graduates in 2024, 200 of them completed a course of study with sustainability-focused learning requirements.