Psst..hey are you an Environmental Studies major? Follow me.

On behalf of all my colleagues in the program, we are excited to welcome you into the major.

If you are like my friend Roger here, you are probably chosen Environmental Studies because you care deeply about the future and you are concerned that if we continually undermine the planets ability to sustain us, humanitys future is really in question.

At the moment, with the world around us feeling a little dark and unsettled, there is actually great opportunity to be imagining alternate futures.

This is the crux of Environmental Studies education at USF - imagining, exploring, experimenting, and then actively working to bring into existence a future that is more equitable, just and more sustainable.

As an Environmental Studies major, you will be doing this through courses that take you from the urban nature of Golden Gate Park to the wild nature of Yosemite National Park. You can learn to make fire with a bow drill or learn indigenous uses of California native plants on Mt. Tam. You can learn equitable models of urban based agriculture in USFês community garden or you can learn more about food security in a course across the Golden Gate in the rural town of Bolinas. Or, you might learn about the various ways gender, race and environmental inequality intersect. Or, how the greening of cities drives gentrification and displacement right here in San Francisco.

Outside of class, you might join the EcoSystem Restoration Club, and work on USFês Lone Mountain Native Plant Preserve. Or, you might work with black indigenous people of color students for the Environmental to expand the diversity of voices and leadership in the Environmental movement.

Whatever your path through the major, we look forward to supporting you and creating your vision form a more equitable, just and sustainable future.

Hi and welcome to USF. Before we talk about selecting classes, you should know that as an Environmental Studies major you will be taking a combination of foundational required courses and electives chosen from a wide range of environmental topics. The goal is to give you a strong interdisciplinary grounding that integrates environmental thinking from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, while nurturing the practical and analytical skills vital to collaboratively addressing environmental challenges.
An important question might be what kind of job you can get once you complete your degree at USF. A BA in Environmental Studies can take you almost anywhere you want to go. Environmental Studies majors graduate with the breadth of knowledge needed to enter a range of environment-related careers in government agencies, environmental organizations, and in the private sector. The major also prepares you to enter graduate school in a variety of environmental fields. As important, the major will give you a lens for seeing the interrelatedness of humans and non-humans and nature and society. This perspective on the world has wide ranging value, even outside traditional environmental careers.

Where you choose to work or study after completing your degree is really up to you and your interests. We define environment broadly and our unique and innovative major gives you the opportunity to develop and pursue your own interests within that broad definition.

In order to get a sense of the range of topics and perspectives within the Environmental Studies field, all Environmental Studies majors take the same sequence of classes in their first year. A typical student registers for 16-18 credits per semester. This would consist of 4 separate four credit courses and perhaps 1 or 2 credits of extracurricular activities.

Of these 4 classes, it is important that you sign up for:

ENVA 109 Environment & Society and ENVS 110 Introduction to Environmental Science. Because ENVS 110 is a laboratory class, make sure you also enroll in one of the corequisite lab sections, denoted as ENVS 110L.

ENVA 109 and ENVS 110 are two foundational courses for the degree. ENVA 109 fulfills your Core E Social Science requirement and is the majors foundational social science course while ENVS 110 fulfills your Core B2 science requirement and is the majors foundational science course. In other words, in each case a single four-unit class fulfills two requirements. These two-for-one courses will benefit you in terms of completing your requirements efficiently so that you have the freedom to explore free electives and possibly add a minor.

If you have placed out of ENVS 110 or received credit for an equivalent course, this requirement will be waived.
For your third class, we strongly recommend that you register for the appropriate Composition course. Developing good writing skills is essential to your success in all the classes you will take at USF. You should already know which of these classes to register for. If you do not, please review the tutorial by clicking on the Tab Rhetoric and Composition.

There are several options for your fourth class. Here are some suggestions:

We highly recommend that you consider enrolling in a First Year Seminar course or a Student in Transition Seminar. These are small classes intended for students new to USF. These seminars serve as a great introduction to the academic environment at USF and to the city of San Francisco. Also, First Year Seminars can be applied to one of the Core area requirements.

Some students like to complete their Core B1 Math requirement early. If you intend to take a Math class in your first semester, please consult with your summer advisor about the appropriate Math class. We generally recommend that Environmental Studies majors take MATH 101 Elementary Statistics or another CORE B1 Math class with Statistics in the title. Otherwise, wait until your second semester to take Math.

As an Environmental Studies Major, you are required to complete a third semester level course in a foreign language, so an appropriate language class is another option for your fourth class.

If you have still not selected a fourth course to take, you may elect a course in any of the core areas. But we would suggest holding off on your Ethics and Theology core requirements because these can be fulfilled with Environmental Ethics and Religion and Environment, two more two-for-one courses that can also count towards your major.

The Environmental Studies major also requires completion of the two-unit Nature Immersion course (ENVA 285). This course is not part of a sequence and there are multiple sections offered every semester so you can take it whenever you like.
There are also many other 1-2 credit extracurricular activities that you may like to consider.
Here are some ideas:

A College success course
A Physical activity course
A Computer Science course
Get involved in play production
Join a choir or vocal group

Once you have selected your classes, your schedule should resemble this.

ENVA 109 Environment and Society
ENVS 110 Introduction to Environmental Science
Rhetoric and Composition course or core course
Core or Seminar or Language course

If you are a transfer student, you may have completed some of the courses already mentioned. It is important for you to review your degree evaluation to determine which courses you need to complete. 

Spend some time navigating the Schedule of Classes to familiarize yourself with the layout of the website. Look for courses that you would enjoy taking, including specific sections. Spend some time doing this to find a schedule that works for you. For example, try to spread your courses out evenly across the week. You should also keep a list of alternate courses or sections in case some classes are closed.

If you have any questions, please contact us.
environmental.studies@usfca.edu
415.422.6543

At the end of this tutorial you will be asked to complete a quiz. Once you have completed the quiz, you will be eligible to sign-up for classes when registration opens. After you register we will review the classes you have selected and if necessary we will recommend course adjustments.

We look forward to meeting you during our Orientation to your Major workshop where we will further review the major and you will have the opportunity to meet faculty and fellow students.

Welcome to USF!