Environmental Studies Major: Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students graduating from this program will:

• understand the relations among God, humanity, and the nonhuman creation as revealed in the scriptures, in theology in general, and Reformed theology in particular;
• differentiate various schools of environmental philosophy and ethics and articulate a differentiated Christian environmental ethic;
• understand the interdependent structure and functioning of physical-ecological systems at a variety of scales and their dynamic character even apart from human influence;
• understand the interdependence and interconnectedness of environmental and societal change as well as the history of domestic and international responses to environmental degradation;
• know the interplay of factors that result in human-induced environmental change, including human population, poverty, affluence, and resource consumption;
• understand the spatial patterns of human-environmental interactions;
• know the basic structures of environmental policy and law that pertain to specific environmental issues (water quality, climate change, biodiversity protection, etc.);
• be able to prioritize environmental issues in terms of their threats/impacts on social and environmental sustainability.