Stanford University
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

The Earth Systems Program is an interdisciplinary environmental science major. Students learn about and independently investigate complex environmental problems caused by human activities in interaction with natural changes in the ecosystem. Earth Systems majors become skilled in those areas of science, economics, and policy needed to tackle the globe’s most pressing environmental problems, becoming part of a generation of scientists, professionals, and citizens who approach and solve problems in a systematic and interdisciplinary way.

The Civil and Environmental Engineering department is committed to finding solutions to our major sustainability challenges this century, as well as educating and training the leaders who will have a large impact on the profession and on society.

The Program in Science, Technology, and Society is a dynamic interdisciplinary major that provides students with a liberal arts education for the twenty-first century.

The Program's affiliated faculty represent over a dozen departments, including Anthropology, Communication, Computer Science, Education, Electrical Engineering, History, Law, Management Science and Engineering, Political Science and Sociology.

One of the only majors at Stanford to offer both a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree, STS majors develop depth within two or three fields of study while fostering a broad understanding of the technical and social dimensions of science and technology. The current curriculum includes a focused core as well as five thematic concentration areas. Students also have the opportunity to pursue research in affiliated labs and through the honors program, to network with alumni and to take innovative project-based courses.

STS provides an arena for dialogue among students of engineering, humanities, the natural sciences and the social sciences: a common ground where ideas that transcend the divisions between fields are not merely envisioned, but practiced. Founded in 1971, the Program is among the oldest of such programs in the United States.

There are numerous such programs offered for undergraduate-level degrees. Please see the complete list of degree programs and website URLs in the uploaded back-up materials for AC-2.

The minor in Earth Systems, Sustainability subplan, provides an introduction to the fundamental science, interdisciplinary systems thinking, and environmental justice considerations, as well as a foundation in practical skills and applied problem solving experience needed to understand social-environmental systems and address intergenerational sustainability challenges. Coursework requirements for the minor are listed below:

Core:
EARTHSYS 10: Introduction to Earth Systems, 4 units
EARTHSYS 111: Biology and Global Change, 4 units
EARTHSYS 112: Human Society and Environmental Change, 4 units (ECON 1 recommended as a pre- or co-requisite to EARTHSYS 112)
SUST 210: Pursuing Sustainability: Managing Complex Social Environmental Systems, 3 units (Prerequisites to SUST 210 for the minor: EARTHSYS 111, EARTHSYS 112)
EARTHSYS 131: Pathways in Sustainability Careers, 1 unit

Electives:
Students must take a minimum of 19 units of electives at the 100-level or above that address dimensions of environmental systems and social-environmental systems in theory or practice, with at least one course taken in each category.

Of the electives selected from the categories above:
1) at least one course must address dimensions of environmental justice in theory or practice;
2) at least two courses must provide opportunities to develop skills applicable to sustainability-related questions or challenges; and
3) at least one course must engage students in applied problem solving on a sustainability-related question or challenge.

The Urban Studies program treats urbanism as an interdisciplinary field; it brings together students, faculty, and outside specialists concerned with cities and the impacts of cities on society and people's lives. The Urban Studies major encourages students to inquire deeply into the nature of cities and the techniques used to modify urban environments. It prepares students to address urbanization, and gives students a knowledge base and theoretical, analytical, and practical skills to understand urban social systems and effect social change.

A minor in Human Biology provides an introductory background to the relationship between the biological and social aspects of humanity's origin, development, and future. Many of the major problems facing human civilization today involve both biological and social aspects. Scientific approaches to these problems are essential, but they must be broadly conceived, integrating what is known of the biological with an understanding of the social and cultural settings in which they exist. Students with a minor in Human Biology are expected to develop a strong background in the integration between the biological and social aspects of human beings.

To adopt this background in both biological and social dimensions, students must complete a set of core courses to earn the minor. These include:

HUMBIO 2A Genetics, Evolution, and Ecology
HUMBIO 2B Culture, Evolution, and Society
HUMBIO 3A Cell and Developmental Biology
HUMBIO 3B Behavior, Health, and Development
HUMBIO 4A The Human Organism
HUMBIO 4B Environmental and Health Policy Analysis

If not directly based on the integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability (such as HUMBIO 4B Environmental and Health Policy Analysis), these courses all integrate examples of sustainability into their curriculum in order to showcase the breadth and depth of sustainability as a topic area and how it ties directly to the relationships between the biological and social aspects of humanity.

There are numerous such programs offered for undergraduate-level minors, concentrations and certificates. Please see the complete list of degree programs and website URLs in the uploaded back-up materials for AC-2.