Environmental Studies

Environmental Studies: Major, Minor

Environmental Studies explores contemporary and past environmental issues, including a hands-on examination of their causes, mechanisms and effects. The program investigates local, national and global issues through a multi-disciplinary study of culture, art, economics, history, biology, and the physical sciences.

Courses across 11 departments allow students to discover the links between the scientific, social and cultural elements that contribute to national and global environmental issues. With the help of faculty perspectives and expertise, students come to areas of focus including the natural and human causes and effects of climate change, the influence of urbanization on the environment, the role of policy and economics in solving environmental problems, and the ethical and social justice issues related to the environment. Working directly with faculty and community partners, students go beyond the classroom to address current issues facing the local Worcester community such as sustaining a healthy urban ecosystem and preserving the local watershed. 

Environmental Studies Statement on Environmental Racism and Justice

Read the full statement »

Program Highlights

  • An integrative understanding of the cultural, economic, political, social, and scientific elements of environmental issues
  • Ethical and social justice issues relating to the environment
  • Role of economic and social policy to address our environmental crisis
  • Natural and human causes and effects of climate change
  • Influence of urbanization on the environment 
students pointing at a computer monitor
Research

Conduct research and fieldwork with program faculty whose work spans numerous disciplines.

Image
Semester Away and Study Abroad

Take part in a semester or year abroad experience focused on the environment — on land or at sea.

Image
Internship and Volunteer Opportunities

Numerous hands-on learning opportunities are available at area environmental non-profit agencies.

Environmental Studies News

Image
Eight Holy Cross Faculty Members Promoted to Rank of Professor

They’ve spent years teaching at College of the Holy Cross and advancing research in their respective fields. Now, eight faculty members have....

Abby Connolly '22 and Grace Acquilano '22 stand and laugh in their dorm room
Roommate Confidential: Q&A with Two First-Year Holy Cross Students
First-year roommates share more than four walls — they experience navigating the leap into college together. To get a peek at the ins and outs of the first semester on The Hill, we went right to the source — to …
Matthew Cummings '20 works with a scanning tunneling microscope in the physical chemistry lab of Gaby Avila-Bront, assistant professor of chemistry.
Over 100 Students Spend Their Summer Conducting Research Around the World
For 113 Holy Cross students, summer has been a time to dive deep into innovative research through the Weiss Summer Research Program. Sixty-eight students conducted research in the natural sciences; 37 in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts; and …