Major Classes and Requirements

What is a Specialization?

A specialization is a collection of three courses, 300 level or above, that majors choose based on their particular interests. These courses, chosen in consultation with a PitE advisor, allow students to go from an interdisciplinary perspective to a more focused examination of a topic with an environmental focus.  Our most popular specializations are Conservation of Biological Diversity, Urban Planning, Environmental Politics and Policy, Natural Resource Management, Public Health, and Environmental Education

Here are several examples of approved specializations. These are merely illustrations and are not a comprehensive of possibilities. The range of Specialization options is as diverse as our students' interests.

Specialization courses are in addition to the core, they can not overlap.

What is a Practical Experience?

The practical experience requirement is, at minimum, a three-credit engaged learning opportunity that students complete outside of the traditional classroom setting. Students participate in skills development and learning experiences that are facilitated through interactions with a range of individuals and groups. Every practical experience opportunity includes a research component that pushes students to engage with the larger arena of environmental issues through question formulation, data collection, analysis, and discussion. 

Students can fulfill this requirement in one of these ways:

1. Partake in an on-campus course during the fall or winter that fulfills practical experience. (Review current course guides below to see which classes qualify).
2. Take a class at a residential field station.
3. Participate in the internship program.
4. Complete a qualifying study abroad course or program.

An advisor must approve practical experience requirements BEFORE starting. 

While practical experience is a requirement of the Environment major, the six minors in PitE may also complete this requirement. Both PitE majors and minors may be eligible for limited funding to help defray the costs of the practical experience.