PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY ERNEST WILLIAMS, WHO SERVED AS THE FIRST chair of the Environmental Studies Program in 1990, when the College began the program as a minor, says the decision to title the program Environmental Studies rather than Environmental Sciences at the time was a considered one. "Environmental issues are broadly interdisciplinary, and to really consider them we need a multitude of perspectives," says Williams, also a member of the Sustainability Committee and an advisor to GGH.
In 2005, the growing demand for courses with an environmental focus led the College to begin offering environmental studies as a major. The concentration takes interdisciplinary course work a step further by emphasizing a balance of broad, practical groundwork and focused individual study in such disciplines as government, geosciences, economics, philosophy, biology, English, religious studies and women's studies. According to Onno Oerlemans, associate professor of English and a former chair of the Environmental Studies Program as well as a member of the Sustainability Committee and a GGH advisor, the interdisciplinary nature of the program is reflected in the committee that oversees it. "When we talk, we always talk across and between disciplines," Oerlemans says.
"At a small liberal arts college like Hamilton, it's really easy to be interdisciplinary," he adds. "I can phone up a friend in a science department if I have a question about evolution. Or if I have a technical question or need suggestions, I can have a biologist read over my papers. It's so easy to do here."
Kaitlin Bear '05, a GGH executive board member, says that breadth and collegiality have appeal and value for students. An art major, she ultimately found that her minor in environmental studies turned out to provide a better career fit. "I've always liked science, and I loved how the Environmental Studies Program combined classes from various departments," she says. "I liked discussing and approaching environmental issues from a scientific as well as sociological and historical perspective. I even studied environmentalism from a literary perspective!" Her study led to a career in teaching (see page 48).
