Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the Environmental Studies (ES) major, students will have developed the key skills and knowledge required for successful completion of the major in their home department (biology, chemistry, economics, history, or political science) as well as a range of analytical skills to study environmental issues from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

For the learning outcomes for the home departments, see:

Additional ES learning outcomes:

Understand and execute interdisciplinary work, that is, work that borrows perspectives, techniques or methods from different disciplines
Work collaboratively with students from various disciplinary backgrounds on a significant interdisciplinary research project, including multidisciplinary literature background and the development and pursuit of an interdisciplinary methodology.

The primary assessment tool at Reed College for learning and the level of student achievement in the major area is the senior thesis; the junior qualifying examination, which assesses a student's readiness for thesis, provides a second assessment tool. ES majors take their home department junior qualifying examination, and complete an interdisciplinary junior seminar course (ES300) as their environmental studies qualifying exam. For more information on the ES junior qualifying examination, see Requirements for the Major, and for examples of environmental research projects, see the models under Research Opportunities.