Bachelors
The Bachelor’s Degree
To earn a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies, students must complete four core courses and seven elective courses (22 credit hours of electives) with a minimum of two courses from each focus area. Of the elective courses, a minimum of four must be at the 400 level; two of the remaining electives must be either 300 or 400 level. In addition, students must complete all general education requirements in the UIS undergraduate curriculum. Up to nine semester hours of lower-division courses may be transferred from an accredited institution; the decision to accept transferred hours will be made on an individual basis by the department. Students are expected to meet with an ENS advisor soon after declaring the major.
Degree Requirements
| Core Course Requirements | ||
| ENS 251 | Introduction to Environmental Sciences | 3 |
| ENS 271 | Introduction to Sustainability | 3 |
| ENS 451 | Undergraduate Capstone | 3 |
| ENS 476 | Environmental Ethics 1 | 3-4 |
| List of thematic categories and appropriate electives | ||
| The 100- to 300-level elective courses listed below are each three credit hours. Undergraduate students enrolling in 400-level courses listed as “three or four hours” must enroll in the three-credit hour section. 400-level courses counted toward an undergraduate degree cannot be taken again and counted for credit toward a graduate degree. | 22 | |
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Environmental Policy/Law/Planning
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| Environmental Justice in America | ||
| Mapping our Physical and Social World | ||
| Foundations of Environmental Policy | ||
| ECCE: Environmental Justice: Science, Policy, and Activism | ||
| Transportation: Problems and Planning Procedures | ||
| Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Key Concepts and Cases in Environmental Law | ||
| Population and Public Policy | ||
| Agricultural Politics & Policy | ||
| Introduction to Environmental Consulting | ||
| Environmental Policies: National Environmental Policy Act | ||
| Environmental Policies: Water Quality | ||
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Environmental Social Sciences/Humanities
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| Women and the Environment | ||
| Literature and the Environment | ||
| ECCE: Global Change in Local Places | ||
| ECCE: Evolution and Creationism | ||
| ECCE: Introduction to Environmental Education | ||
| World Environmental Thought | ||
| ECCE: American Environmental History | ||
| Environmental Economics | ||
| Environmental Sociology | ||
| Sustainable Food Systems | ||
| Geopolitics: Geographical Aspects of International Affairs | ||
| Culture and Conservation | ||
| Political Ecology AKA The Political Life of Trees, Trash, & Turtles | ||
| Writing and the Environment | ||
| Forest Policy & Management | ||
| China’s Environment and the World | ||
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Environmental Sciences
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| Principles Of Ecology | ||
| Global Greening for a Sustainable Future | ||
| Energy and the Environment | ||
| Earth Science | ||
| Environmental Physical Geography | ||
| Fundamentals of Remote Sensing | ||
| Ecological Issues | ||
| Aquatic Ecology | ||
| Biology Of Water Pollution | ||
| Environmental Chemistry | ||
| Our Changing Climate | ||
| Paleoecology | ||
| Water Resources and Society | ||
| Environmental Geology | ||
| Urban Environments | ||
| Renewable Energy | ||
| Total Hours | 34 | |
| 1 |
Students must enroll in the three-credit hour section. |
With approval of a Student Petition that specifies the elective category, students may count up to four hours of ENS 440 Topics in Environmental Studies.
The Department offers an Integrated BA/MS program in Environmental Studies. Students who complete a BA in Environmental Studies at UIS with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in ENS courses and a GPA of 3.5 in cumulative undergraduate course work can be accepted into our MS in Environmental Studies with 8 credit hours of course work waived. This requires approval by the Department Chair, College Dean, and campus Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Education.