Environmental Thought and Practice

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253 Clark Hall
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400123
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4123
etp.virginia.edu

Requirements for the Major

The Environmental Thought and Practice interdisciplinary major requires four prerequisites, three core classes, and seven electives. Before enrolling in the major students must meet the College’s natural sciences and social sciences area requirements.

Prerequisites

All four prerequisite courses listed below are required for Environmental Thought and Practice majors. In order to apply for the major students must be enrolled in, or have already completed, at least two of the four prerequisite classes:

ECON 2010 Microeconomics
Any Environmental Sciences class other than those taken to meet the core or Natural Science area requirements
One of the following Statistics classes: STAT 2120, SOC 3110, ECON 3710 (requires MATH 1210 or equivalent), ECON 3720, EVSC 5030 (requires MATH 1110, STAT 2120, or equivalent), MATH 3120 (requires MATH 3100), or APMA 3120 (requires APMA 3100 or equivalent), or PSYC 3005/3006 (taken together)
PLAN 1030 Introduction to Community and Environmental Planning OR ARCH 5150 / COMM 3880 / ENGR 2595 / EVSC 2559 Global Sustainability.

Core courses

The following core courses are required of all majors.

EVSC 2300/ETP 2300/PLAP 2030 Politics, Science, and Values: Introduction to Environmental Policy (fall only)
Either *EVSC 2800/2801 (Physical Geology) or EVSC 3200/3201 (Fundamentals of Ecology) or EVSC 3600/3601 (Physical Hydrology) or EVSC 3300/3301 (Atmosphere and Weather). *EVSC 3200, 3600, and 3300 all require one semester of calculus; EVSC 2800 recommends one semester of chemistry; EVSC 3200 recommends one semester each of chemistry and biology; EVSC 3300 recommends one semester of physics with lab.
ETP 4010 Environmental decisions (majors only, taken in spring of 4th year) (spring only)

Electives

Each student must also choose seven (7) classes distributed across the three areas indicated below, with the restriction that at least two (2) classes must be taken in Area I (Values, Culture, and History) and at least one (1) class must be taken in each of Areas II and III (two classes are required in Area I because there are no such classes in the core curriculum).

We recommend checking SIS frequently for environmentally-themed courses, as courses often come and go. Students who wish to have classes not specified here counted against their ETP elective requirements must submit their request plus the full course syllabus to Professor Thomson. Please give this information to Professor Thomson during her office hours or leave it in her Clark Hall mailbox. ETP elective courses must be upper-level or graduate three- or four-credit classes and they must have environmental concerns as the central focus. Requests to count courses that do not meet these basic requirements will not be considered.

I. Values, Culture, and History

If approved by one of the ETP Program Directors, students may count one related 3000-, 4000-, or 5000-level class in History, Anthropology, Philosophy, English, Religious Studies, Landscape Architecture, or Science, Technology, and Society against the two-class requirement for this area.

AAS 3250 - MotherLands: Landscapes of Hunger, Futures of Plenty Credits: 3
or
ANTH 3340 - Ecology and Society: An Introduction to the New Ecological Anthropology Credits: 3
ANTH 5590 - The Nature of Nature Credits: 3
GDS 3112 - Ecology and Globalization in the Age of European Expansion Credits: 3
or
HIST 3112 - Ecology and Globalization in the Age of European Expansion Credits: 3
LAR 4120 - History of Landscape Design I Credits: 3
LAR 4130 - History of Landscape Design II Credits: 3
LAR 4140 - Theories of Modern Landscape Architecture Credits: 3
LAR 5230 Cultural Landscapes
LAW 9158 - Literature, Law and the Environment
or
ENSP 8559 - Literature, Law and the Environment
HIST 2559 - Global Environmental History
or
SEMS 3500 - Global Environmental History Credits: 3
IHGC 5559 - The Moral Ecology of Food Credits: 3
MDST 4559 - Global Environmental Media
PLAN 5840 - Environmental Ethics and Sustainability Credits: 3
RELG 3820 - Global Ethics & Climate Change Credits: 3

II. Policy, Planning, and Society

Students may fulfill their one-class requirement for this track by taking any one of the following specific classes (there are no prerequisites for these upper-level Planning classes):

If approved by one of the ETP Program Directors, students may take one related 3000-, 4000-, or 5000-level course in Economics, Government and Foreign Affairs, Sociology, the Law School, Darden, or Urban and Environmental Planning to meet the overall seven-course elective requirement, but not to meet the basic one-class requirement for this area.

The College allows students to count 18 credits of classes in other schools toward the 120-credit graduation requirement.

COMM 4821 - Managing Sustainable Development Credits: 3
COMM 4822 - Invest in Sustainable Future Credits: 3
ECON 4430 - Environmental Economics Credits: 3
ETP 4810 - Class Race & the Environment Credits: 3
or
PLAP 4810 - Class, Race, and the Environment Credits: 3
ETP 4800 - Politics of the Environment Credits: 3
or
PLAP 4800 - Politics of the Environment Credits: 3
EVSC 4030 - Environmental Policymaking in the United States Credits: 3
PLAN 3030 - Neighborhoods, Community and Regions Credits: 3
PLAN 3060 - Law, Land and the Environment Credits: 3
PLAN 3860 - Cities + Nature Credits: 3
PLAN 4040 - Planning in Government Credits: 3
PLAN 5620 - Sustainability and Adaptive Infrastructure Credits: 3
PLAN 5810 - Sustainable Communities Credits: 3
PLAN 5830 - Environmental Policy and Planning Credits: 3
PPOL 3280 - Urban Environmental Policy Credits: 3
STS 2500 - Science and Technology in Social and Global Context Credits: 3

III. Natural Science

Any 3000- or 4000-level EVSC course. If approved by one of the ETP Program Directors, students may take one related 3000-, 4000-, or 5000-level class in Biology, Chemistry, or Environmental Engineering (e.g., MAE 4140, CE 2000) to meet the overall seven-class elective requirement, but not to meet the basic one-class requirement for this area. (Upper level EVSC classes build on the classes listed above under “Core Classes.” Upper-level Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Engineering classes can have several prerequisites.)

Pre-approved Non-EVSC or 2000-level courses include:

BIOL 3450 - Biodiversity and Conservation Credits: 3
CE 3100 - Water for the World Credits: 3
CE 2100 - Introduction to Environmental Engineering Credits: 3
EVAT 5300 Environmental Climatology
EVSC 2800 - Fundamentals of Geology Credits: 3
EVSC 4559 - Human Impact on the Environment
ANTH 4559 - Human Impact on the Environment
LAR 5370 - Natural Systems and Plant Ecology
PLAN 5120 - Geographic Information Systems
or
EVSC 3020 - GIS Methods Credits: 4

Distinguished Majors Project (DMP)

Majors with a minimum 3.6 GPA in the major (and 3.4 GPA overall) are eligible for a distinguished majors program (DMP) for their fourth year. DMPs take a year-long independent study with a faculty advisor, with the goal of producing a thesis that is evaluated by outside readers. To participate in the ETP distinguished majors program, set up an appointment with Professor Thomson during the spring semester of your third year.

Credit/No Credit Grades

Please note that the ETP program adheres strictly to the College of Arts and Science’s policy regarding classes taken for CR (credit) or NC (no credit). Courses counting towards the ETP prerequisites, area requirements, and core courses may NOT be taken on a CR/NC basis.

The College does not permit students to take courses on a CR/NC basis in interdisciplinary programs, nor does it permit students to count courses taken on a CR/NC basis towards a major, minor, or College area requirements.

Double Majors/Minors

Many ETP majors pursue double majors and minors in a variety of other subjects. Please read the requirements about double majoring and minoring set forth by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Study Abroad

The ETP program does not have any official positions on overseas programs. In the past, several ETP students have done Semester at Sea, an interdisciplinary global comparative program sponsored by UVa. We also recommend that ETP students interested in studying abroad go to other universities’ websites for ETP-like majors and see if there are recommended programs through those universities.    In the course approval process, students must go to the UVa departments for which they seek credit. For example, if you would like credit for a civil engineering class taken abroad, you must go to the Engineering Department to file for this credit. Unless it is an ETP course, we cannot approve it for credit.

Admission

Students should apply in the spring of their second year.

Students interested in becoming ETP majors should submit:

a completed ETP application form;
a letter of recommendation from a faculty member (other than the ETP Director and Associate Director; and,
a 300-400 word essay that addresses why you are interested in becoming a ETP major.
an official transcript

The above materials should be sent to the Administrator of the ETP program by the date announced on the website. Candidates will hear from the committee by mid-March.

The Administrator and Director, are available to answer any questions about admission procedure and program requirements. Students may also obtain this information from the ETP website at etp.virginia.edu.

Additional Information

For more information contact:

Hallie Miller, ETP Administrator, hem5nv@virginia.edu

Vivian Thomson, Clark Hall, P.O. Box 400123, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4123, (434) 924-3964, vet4y@virginia.edu

Course Descriptions

ETP 2030 - Politics, Science, and Values: An Introduction to Environmental Policy Credits: 3
ETP 3220 - Uranium and the American West Credits: 3