General Information | The Program | Requirements | Courses | PDF File

The Major Program

Admission to the undergraduate major in Nature and Culture has been suspended and the major will be discontinued effective June 30, 2011.

The Nature and Culture major is a coherent interdisciplinary set of studies that offers exploration of the complex relationships existing between human cultures and the natural world.

The Program. This program is the first of its kind in the country, providing a rigorous curriculum that interweaves courses in the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences, supplemented by elective course work in these and other fields of study. There are at present three required core courses in Nature and Culture itself, a principal function of which is to tie together knowledge and experience gained in the various disciplines that students will work in as they progress through their studies.

Career Alternatives. Students completing an A.B. degree in Nature and Culture will be qualified to enter most professional schools, such as medicine and law, and many graduate programs in science and the humanities, especially those with an emphasis on interdisciplinary study. Students expecting to apply for highly specialized fields will need to plan their elective work carefully. The degree program provides excellent preparation for careers in business and government, as well as for the credential program for K-12 teaching. When combined with courses in non-fiction writing, the Nature and Culture curriculum will prepare students for the burgeoning fields of environmental writing and environmental journalism.