Global Environmental Studies Major

Five Core Courses

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Environmental problems and solutions result from the interplay of knowledge systems, economic systems, governments, international institutions, cultures, social movements and ecologies. Core courses emphasize the basic concepts of the Global Environmental Studies Major and ways of creating knowledge. Core courses help students build frameworks for understanding the world. We strongly encourage students to take the core courses early in the program, as they are often prerequisites for 200-level courses.

Majors must take a total of 5 core courses from the areas noted below.  One course must be from the GES State of the Earth list and one course must be from the GES Natural Science list. The remaining three courses can be chosen from the remaining breadth fields (more than one course can be taken in the same area).

Two Skills Courses

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Skills courses develop research, literacy, numeracy, and mapping skills for generating and interpreting knowledge of society environment relations. Students’ selection of skills courses should be made with a strong consideration of how these skills relate to their GES specialization. Students are highly encouraged to discuss this connection between the skills selection and specialization with their GES advisor.

Recommendations are made for particular GES specializations in the GES Program Guide, found on the GES website.

GEOG 141  is strongly recommended for GES majors. It is advised that students complete this course before taking specialization courses, preferably during their sophomore year (particularly if they plan to study abroad). Research Methods is offered at least once per year, typically in the spring semester, and can satisfy one of the Skills course requirements for the major.

Four Specialization Courses

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Specialization courses are designed to develop a skill set within a particular set of skills relating to society-environment relations. There are three specializations within the GES major:

• Political Ecology
• Climate Change and Sustainability
• Land and Resources

Students should recognize that these specializations are not discrete, but rather they are intertwined. If certain courses appear relevant to their specialization, they are encouraged to discuss the possibility of incorporating other GES classes into their particular major specialization.

An important rationale behind the specializations within the GES major are the potential vocational and political arenas that our majors might move into. Specialization classes should therefore be selected in dialogue with skills classes. In general, specialization courses should be taken after the relevant core courses have been completed.

Capstone Requirement in Global Environmental Studies

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One Capstone credit is required for the GES major. At the university level, a capstone is defined as an experience - a course in the major or an independent project - through which students apply integrative learning. A capstone requires a complex individual or group project that is substantially defined and carried forward by the student and demonstrates accomplishment of Clark’s Liberal Education goals, especially a capacity to practice within an academic or professional field effectively.

To meet the Capstone requirement in the GES major, the student must earn a 200 or 300 level credit that relates to the student’s specialization. Consistent with the diversity of topics and methods in the three areas of specialization, GES students may choose from multiple paths to earning the capstone credit, subject to the approval of their capstone advisor. The student’s capstone advisor will help determine how any particular credit satisfies the capstone criteria. The advisor will make this determination based on the purpose of the capstone, which is for the student to integrate content and skills in GES, as applied to a particular topic.

Capstone Types

1. A project completed in a specialization course (200/300 level)
2. Research experience (GES 299)
   • Directed Study with a faculty advisor (GES 299)
   • Research conducted through the Human Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) program, Forest Ecology Research Lab (FERL) work, Biogeosciences Research Group, Extractive Industries Research Group, or the Polar Science Research Laboratory
3. Internship (GES 298)
4. Honors thesis (GES 297)

Additionally, Geography 141, strongly recommended of all majors, trains students in the fundamentals of Research Design and Methods and proposal writing, which broadly prepares students to conceptualize, design and conduct original research relevant to a capstone experience across all three specialization areas.

1. A specialization course (200/300 level)

A number of courses at the 200/300 level fulfill our capstone requirement across our specializations in Political Ecology, Climate Change and Sustainability, and Land and Resource Management. Several of these courses have pre-requisites within the respective specialization areas, in which students are expected to have developed relevant topical and methodological knowledge upon which they can build their capstone project.

2. Research experience (GES 299)

Students may enroll in directed study for a research experience during the course of the semester. They may do so via two main avenues:

• An individual/independent research project conducted under the supervision of a faculty member. Student typically enroll in GES 299 during the completion of the work.
• Work done in collaboration with a research group or team, for instance, in which students may contribute as a research assistant. Examples of such projects and research teams include (but are not limited to): Human Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) program; Forest Ecology Research Lab (FERL); Biogeosciences Research Group; Extractive Industries Research Group; and the Polar Science Research Laboratory. Most such research opportunities have a separate, competitive application process. Students accepted into these research teams/groups will be advised on how to register for academic (and capstone) credit.

3. Internship (GES 298)

Students completing an on/off campus internship or LEEP project related to their GES major are encouraged to consider developing a capstone through that planned work. To do so, they must identify a faculty sponsor and apply to the Career Connections Center for academic credit the semester before the internship commences. The internship must directly contribute to the student’s experiential learning relevant to their chosen specialization field. Once the internship is completed, the student should submit a synopsis of their internship experience or other materials as agreed on with their faculty sponsor and the Career Connections Center .

4. Honors thesis (GES 297)

The honors program in GES provides eligible students with the opportunity to conduct a major independent research project. For further information about the honors program and eligibility criteria, please refer to the “Honors in GES” section below.

 

Capstone Form and process: Each student proposing a capstone needs identify a faculty advisor for the capstone, Before registration for the 200-level credit and beginning the qualifying activity, the student must complete and submit the Capstone Form under their advisor’s guidance. The student and their capstone faculty sponsor sign the form, obtain the GES program advisor’s signature, and submit the completed form to the Program Administrator. Towards the end of the semester or upon completion of the capstone work, the form is then updated, signed by all parties and then resubmitted. It is the student’s responsibility to coordinate all processes necessary outside of the departmental requirements (i.e. internship registration, any other Clark forms needed, etc.).

 

All students completing capstones are strongly encouraged to present their work (e.g., as a poster or presentation) during Academic Spree Day or Fall Fest. They are also required to complete the capstone survey following the completion of their capstone, and before graduation.