University of Oregon
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Environmental Studies Major/Minor (ENVS)

The Environmental Studies degree, while providing a foundation in the natural sciences, focuses in particular on the social sciences, policy studies, environmental design, and the humanities. This major prepares students for careers in the non-profit sector, government agencies, environmental planning, sustainability advising, green business, environmental education, environmental journalism, and related areas. Many of our alumni pursue degrees in environmental law or graduate degrees in environment-related fields.

Environmental Science Major (ESCI)

The Environmental Science degree emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to the natural sciences, including biology, geology, chemistry, data analysis, and physical geography. It is designed for students who want to focus on scientific careers in fields such as pollution abatement, water resources, ecosystem protection, environmental restoration, and environmental management. Graduates of this major hold positions in government agencies, the non-profit sector, and private business, and many pursue further education in environmental science fields.

The undergraduate program in landscape architecture that leads to the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture emphasizes the making of outdoor spaces that are beautiful in their understanding of human need and their ecological context. Planning and design are seen as processes for understanding and resolving the complex interdependence of the biophysical and cultural landscape.

The curriculum is conceived as a combination of required and elective courses and experiences. The program provides required and optional sequences in design studios; ecology; plants and planting design theory; landscape technologies and professional practice; landscape planning and analysis; landscape media; and history, literature and theory of landscape architecture. There are also courses available in allied disciplines including architecture, planning, geography, and the fine arts.
Towards these aims the education of landscape architects includes studies about the land and its processes -- ecology, plants, climate, geology, soils, hydrology; landscape technologies and construction practices; landscape history, theory, and literature. These areas are integrated in the study of design, a process of environmental understanding that gives order and form to environmental transformations.

The Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) offers an undergraduate major for students interested in public or nonprofit careers who seek to make a difference in their communities. Our approach is action-oriented, interdisciplinary, and focused on solving real-world problems. The size of the program is limited to create an environment that offers close student-faculty collaboration. Academic coursework and learning opportunities such as internships and field programs create a hands-on educational climate that is both exciting and challenging.

A degree with a major in planning, public policy and management (B.A. or B.S.) provides a sound basis for graduate study in fields such as urban planning, public policy, public management, business, law, journalism, public health and social welfare. In addition, graduates are prepared for entry-level positions in public service, and nonprofit and private firms that address issues allied to planning, public policy and public management.

Geography Major, http://geography.uoregon.edu/Undergrad/Requirements
Biology Major, http://biology.uoregon.edu/advising/prospectivestudents.php
Architecture Major, http://architecture.uoregon.edu/programs/arch
Material and Product Studies Major, http://pd.uoregon.edu/babs-degree
Economics, http://admissions.uoregon.edu/majors/economics
Business administration, http://admissions.uoregon.edu/majors/business%20administration

The Ecological Design Certificate is a design-based, interdisciplinary program focused on the development of a practical framework for the integration of the built environment with locale and region specific natural systems. It is available to all graduate students within the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Participating students are challenged to develop an in-depth understanding of the relationships between ecological processes, issues of cultural and social sustainability, and urban development and form, as well as how allied design and planning disciplines approach these relationships. Students will acquire a theoretical and pragmatic basis to carry these understandings into the world of practice.

The School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon has a national reputation as a leader in sustainable and ecologically sensitive design. The Ecological Design Certificate Program provides an explicit curricular structure in this area, encouraging students to develop a holistic, ecologically-based design awareness, solidifying the commitment of the University to ecological design, and promoting and upholding its capacity for leadership in the field.

Environmental studies is a field of study that crosses the boundaries of traditional disciplines (including the sciences, social sciences, and humanities as well as management, policy, design, and law), challenging faculty and students to look at the relationship between humans and their environment from a new perspective.

The interdisciplinary minor in Environmental Studies includes three (3) lower-division required courses and five (5) upper-division required courses, for a total of 32 credits. Letter grades of C- or better must be earned in all courses applied to the minor. At least 16 of the 32 credits must be taken at the University of Oregon. Students can count up to two upper division courses from their major department. Students may submit a petition to the undergraduate adviser to substitute an upper division ENVS course for one of the lower division requirements.

The PPPM minor provides a professional or applied context for the student's major discipline, allowing students in other majors to supplement learning in their major field with an overview of public sector issues, and the development of public sector professional skills. Through the PPPM minor, students can enhance their undergraduate education to include special preparation for a variety of professional occupations and areas of graduate study. Students in the minor are introduced to a broad overview of issues in urban and regional planning, public policy and public management, and nonprofit management. Through their selection of elective courses, students in the PPPM minor can also develop expertise in a special interest area ranging from social and health policy to land use planning to public management.

Architecture, http://architecture.uoregon.edu/programs/minors
Landscape Architecture, http://landarch.uoregon.edu/programs/minor
Historic Preservation, http://hp.uoregon.edu/minor
Biology, http://admissions.uoregon.edu/majors/biology
Geography, http://admissions.uoregon.edu/majors/geography
Economics, http://admissions.uoregon.edu/majors/economics