Dear Jim,
For this week’s installment you asked me to give you some feedback on the environmental studies program at our school. The following are my rambley thoughts infused with ideas from environmental theory and beyond!
Freshman year, students are still trying to figure out what exactly they want to do. First semester is filled with pre-requisites and fun and not always serious thought about your future at Lewis & Clark let alone after college. If you so happen to decide you want to be an environmental studies major, your first taste is ENVS 160. ENVS 160 is scary, overwhelming, and frustrating. Not because of the workload but because of the material covered. It’s when the unsuspecting liberal arts student get’s their first taste of “all that is wrong” with the world. The material covered (although I haven’t taken the class is quite a while), is necessary but that does not mean it’s necessarily manageable. In retrospect, I wish there was more time to talk about what we were learning instead of just learning it. Here is where a WHOLE WEEK spent on digesting topics would be amazing. If you’re lucky, during second semester you take Philosophy and the Environment or Environmental Sociology and have some time to process and start to understand what you are learning. I always suggest talking to professors a lot. A lot a lot. Then there’s SGE or DS or the next new thing. You see other ENVS majors’ work and wonder how they have accomplished all that they have. You wonder if you’ll ever accomplish things and know that you really want to.
By sophomore year, majors, minors, and double majors have made a commitment. The fall is filled with anguish. ENVS 220 is good for a lot of reasons but it’s the best at two things: building comradery and weeding people out. In 220 the technical stuff begins. You do every assignment and complete every task but you’re not necessarily left feeling accomplished, just tired (things may have changed for those students who completed research projects during 220, you’ll have to ask them). Here, again, is where the breadth courses come to save you. People start to specialize, find things that they like, relate. The breadth courses are really what you hold onto.
Take a breath, go to Africa, or South America, or Asia. Try to actually experience what you have been talking about for the last two years. Cry and be frustrated by the state of the world. Smile and be happy to be a part of it all. Hug lots of people.
Junior year arrives and along with it comes ENVS 330. It’s everyone’s least favorite class because you know what to expect. This year as I complete it though, there is hope. I finally have enough background to make it enjoyable and productive, a sort of escape from my exact directed path, from my concentration. I think many people feel that way. Or at least a few. Theory has helped me to think more, but not necessarily in 330. There’s not enough time to really think in 330. Only time to do. I wish there was more time to think! To bring it all together. Maybe the praxis project will do that. I am jealous of philosophy majors; they know how to think. I am just learning, even now.
Thesis prep and thesis writing and graduation and then it’s over. I guess thinking is for grad school. And ENVS 350, at least a little bit.
What are my take home points? (they may or may not have been addressed here already)
- There needs to be more time for thinking and digesting
- Students should be taught difficult concepts earlier on so they have time to fully understand them before they leave
- There should be no such thing as an ENVS minor, you loose the best parts and just struggle through the worst (or it should be changed up quite a bit)
- Positive encouragement is really important
I really love being an environmental studies major. I am proud of my work. I think I am learning a lot. About a lot. In a lot of different ways. I think the connections between students and professors are strong and the friendships between majors are even stronger.
I feel lucky to be a part of what’s going on here.
Sincerely,
Kelsey
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