Environmental Studies: The Sky Is Not Falling

Abstract

For almost 30 years, detractors and defenders of undergraduate programs in environmental science and studies have debated the academic rigor, curricular structure, and lasting outcomes of these multidisciplinary, integrative educational initiatives. This sometimes heated conversation has been enriched over time by assessments of programs in place (e.g., NAEP 1987, 1992, Weis 1990, Nickerson 1992, Ruben 1993, Jenks-Jay 1995), explorations of the competencies and incompetencies these varied programs confer upon their students (e.g., Lemons 1991, Gough and Robottom 1993, Maniates 1993, O'Reily et al. 1996), and challenges to prevailing approaches to teaching and learning (e.g., Reichard 1993, Corcoran and Sievers 1994, Orr 1994, Cylke 1995, Mattingly 1997, Reeher and Cammarano 1997). Consensus on both the state and best design of environmental studies and science programs nevertheless remains elusive, even as the number and size of these programs grow (see Figure 1) and the disciplinary diversity of the faculty staffing them increases.