The College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
The University of Cincinnati (UC) will now offer an environmental studies Bachelor of Arts program to add to its current Bachelor of Science degree, the College of Arts & Sciencesannounced.
The program will take a humanities-based approach, focusing on environmental history, philosophy, literature, writing, culture and policy. The degree will fill holes that environmental studies students have wanted in the curriculum, said David Stradling, professor of history and chair of the committee for the environmental studies B.A. program.
We came up with a curriculum that represented the kind of diversity of the field and the diversity of approaches that one can take to studying the environment, he said in a UC news release.
The program will begin recruitment in the fall 2022 semester, and the first group of students will arrive in fall 2023.
Environmental studies is a growing discipline as students look to create solutions to the ever-worsening state of climate change. Jobs in the industry are expected to grow by 8% through 2030, which is the average growth rate for all occupations, according to theU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Theres an urgency in solving environmental programs, and talking about them, examining them and writing about them is absolutely essential, said Stradling.
UC hopes the B.A. degree option will appeal to incoming students who want to take a less science-based approach to solve environmental problems. Students in the program can pursue careers in politics, activism, writing and more, said Eduardo Martinez, a philosophy professor on the committee.
Many existing classes at UC will be used to satisfy the requirements for the degree, like environmental policy, global environmental history and race, and the environment in American history.
So far, UC has no formal internships or co-ops planned for the B.A. program. However, the news release notes that the B.S. degree option recently launched a co-op track that may inspire and inform the newer program.
