Environmental Justice & Sustainability
"Earth is reaching a tipping point."
“For centuries, natural resources were exploited without much concern for the consequences. It is a sad fact that the worst effects of environmental change – polluted air, depleted aquifers, collapsing ecosystems, rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and more frequent floods – fall predominantly on those least responsible for the damages and least capable of bearing their costs. Through the lenses of philosophy, sociology, literature, and economics, the environmental justice and sustainability program considers questions of social justice associated with our exploitation of the environment and its degradation.” - Professor of Philosophy James White
Why choose a major in environmental justice and sustainability at Cornell College?
As an environmental justice and sustainability major your studies will focus on the environment. Cornell College’s environmental justice and sustainability major is a social science and humanities-based curriculum grounded in understanding the societal ramifications of and solutions to environmental issues. This major prepares you for work in fields such as sustainability coordination, environmental law, and environmental policy. The major stands alone but also nicely serves to provide breadth to a second major in a single discipline (anthropology and sociology, English, politics, philosophy, or economics and business).
Cornell College enables you to dive in and immerse yourself in a subject without distraction. You’ll have the opportunity to experience aspects of environmental justice and sustainability that are outside the reach of most undergraduates thanks to Cornell's Ingenuity curriculum.
You’ll work with faculty steeped in the sciences and the humanities to get a holistic understanding of the environmental degradation taking place.
With your degree in environmental justice and sustainability, backed by a strong foundation in the liberal arts, you’ll have the knowledge, communication, and critical-thinking abilities to excel in the profession of your choice.
The Department of Environmental Studies Environmental Science and Sustainability MajorSustainability at CornellEnvironmental Studies Awards
Environmental justice and sustainability courses
As an environmental justice and sustainability major, you will take a total of nine courses and a capstone.
View our environmental justice and sustainability courses to get the most up-to-date information on the major degree requirements as well as information on the courses necessary for a minor.
Environmental justice and sustainability capstone
Your capstone is a project that provides you with real-world experience in your area of interest. Capstones can be projects overseen by a faculty member, an internship, or a fellowship. Honors in the major require a particularly in-depth capstone project and public presentation.
“Sustainability is the idea that we can’t just keep pulling an enormous amount of fish out of the ocean every year and expect there to always be more,” Professor of Geology Rhawn Denniston said. “We can’t continue to pump aquifers like crazy and expect that there will always be plenty of groundwater. We can’t burn coal and oil and just hope that the climate doesn’t change. We need to view the world as one with finite, not infinite, resources.”
Travel within the environmental justice and sustainability major
As part of your environmental justice and sustainability major, you might take an off-campus course where you will work with your professor and your classmates to explore environmental questions. Such trips provide hands-on experiences that are invaluable exposure to real-world issues in a growing field.
One example is the course Wilderness and the Arts, which considers conventional concepts of the wilderness in our culture. This course operates out of a wilderness field station in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota. Students canoe, make art, write wilderness journals, read and discuss literature, contemplate paintings--from the Pictographs on the cliffs within the Boundary Waters to vibrant forest paintings and journals of Emily Carr.
Example of one of the environmental justice and sustainability courses you might take:
SOC 320 – Sociology of the Environment
Explores the interactions of human interactions with ecosystems. Investigates how human consumption and production, along with technology, population, health, and inequalities are interwoven with environmental conditions. Contemplates ways people may act, individually or collectively, to bring about a more ecological society.
Research within the environmental justice and sustainability major
You’ll have ample opportunities to build up your research skills within this major, a highly desirable skill-set to employers. You’ll conduct research projects within some courses, and may have the opportunity to work with faculty within their research projects or develop your own. Alternatively, faculty and the coaches at the Berry Career Institute can help you obtain internships with governmental or private firms working in your area of interest.
What you can do with an environmental justice and sustainability major
The employment rate for environmental scientists is predicted to grow by 8% between 2020 and 2030, with most entry-level positions available to bachelor’s degree holders. The median annual pay for 2020 was listed at $73,230.*
*The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Potential careers include:
- Environmental lawyers
- Environmental health specialists
- Sustainability coordinators
- Educators
Our faculty consists of climate change scientists, sociologists, writers, and honored academics. They all share your passion for environmental justice and sustainability and are committed to teaching you, mentoring you, and making sure you are prepared for a successful career.
Meet your evnvironmental justice and sustainability professors.