University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Our program gives students a broad interdisciplinary liberal arts education in environmental issues that students combine with specialized study that fits their interests and goals. We stress engagement, with students and faculty active in a variety of efforts and applying academic learning to real world problems and possibilities. Critical Thinking, Writing and Communication Skills Students will be able to analyze representations of key concepts from environmental science, policy and values as they appear in mass media, society, literature, theory and/or empirical scholarship. Students will be able to elucidate the key points of a complex article or research work in environmental studies, and to critique the theoretical framework, methodology and findings of that study. Students will be able to appreciate the societal (social, political, economic, cultural and/or ethical) variables that contribute to environmental degradation and to consider critical thought and responsive activism toward resolving environmental problems. Students will be able to demonstrate ability to effectively present research to professional and lay audiences in written and oral form. Understanding the Content and Context of ES Students will be able to appreciate the history and key concepts of environmental studies as a field linking disciplines together and tying scholarship to activism and the resolution of environmental problems. Students will be able to understand the relationship between environmental studies research and field/application settings, and to document and reflect on one's individual fieldwork and/or civic engagement as related to environmental studies concepts and goals. Research Skills Students will be able to access and assess a complex literature base on a specific environmental studies topic, and to evaluate the usefulness and limitations of individual sources for that specific topic. Students will be able to design and complete a research project that illuminates an environmental studies topic in a fresh way and includes original interpretation of data collected.

Graduates are prepared to work in a number of industries both in and outside of manufacturing, such as in industrial waste treatment, water and wastewater management, agribusiness, environmental consulting, ecological evaluations and biotechnology sectors. Engineering technology program students can gain research experience at UWO through the Environmental Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), the physics department, and the UW Oshkosh biodigester.

The minor in sustainable management aims to give you (in your life as citizens, consumers, future managers and leaders) an understanding of the holistic and systemic aspects of environmental, social and economic issues (the Triple Bottom Line or TBL). We will also provide you with concrete elements of management intended to develop and spread innovative, ambitious and realistic strategies within organizations while utilizing whatever your major course of study is. The main objectives of the minor are: to develop the understanding of the economic, environmental and social issues; to contribute to understanding the issues of sustainable development for the strategic development of a company; to provide appropriate understanding of the tools necessary for the development of a strategy of sustainable development and of its daily implementation within the company; to underline the progress made and opportunities that exist in terms of environmental, social innovation and clean technologies; to stimulate student’s critical thinking about their role as individuals, consumers and future managers in the context of sustainable development We also now offer a sustainable management master’s degree.

The Social Justice Minor gives students an opportunity to develop a secondary field of knowledge and expertise that will enable them to critically examine the values that constitute social justice in theory and practice, understand the principles of effective social activism, and formulate and evaluate policies that seek to address issues such as racism, violence, literacy, human rights, gender equity, gender expression, poverty, hunger, and conservation of the environment.

Our program gives students a broad interdisciplinary liberal arts education in environmental issues that students combine with specialized study that fits their interests and goals. We stress engagement, with students and faculty active in a variety of efforts and applying academic learning to real world problems and possibilities. We are also a community that seeks to foster a deep appreciation of nature and active engagement in conserving the earth and solving environmental problems. Students not only gain knowledge and skills but also develop their own ethic of sustainability that motivates them to care for the natural world and work for its well-being.