On Sept. 16, students were invited to an information session regarding Loyola’s Environmental and Sustainability Studies minor. The meeting, held via Zoom and hosted by associate professor of biology, Dr. Bernadette Roche, allowed students to ask questions about the coursework involved in the minor. 

“The minor is a great compliment to any number of majors at Loyola,” Roche said. “The minor requires seven courses that are taken from a variety of areas, such as the social sciences, humanities, sciences, and business.” 

Students pursuing the minor are only allowed to take one introductory course and can choose from five electives. Within those electives, only three courses can be taken from one area, such as the humanities. 

The final requirement within the minor is the capstone course. While the capstone course normally consists of an internship or a research project, there are other options for completing this requirement.

“Some students have chosen to take a regular course and count it as their capstone course,” Roche said. 

Those in the program can also find ways to overlap their graduation requirements at Loyola. 

“One benefit of this minor is that courses can be double counted with the core or another minor, ” Roche said. “Students can double count two courses towards the core, and one course towards the major or another minor.” 

Unlike other departments, this minor will allow students to take courses abroad and have them approved for Loyola credit. Roche recommends that students who are interested in studying abroad should search for sustainability programs at big universities. She says that these programs are not usually advertised because they are not as big as other departments, but they are a good way to fulfill minor requirements. 

“The only study abroad courses that won’t be approved are introductory 100 level courses, because these classes are too similar to 100-level biology at Loyola,” Roche said. 

Students in this minor need to be mindful that only one 100-level course is acceptable for credit, but that is usually not a problem since not many courses are offered at that level. 

Loyola also plans on offering a Maymester course related to environmental studies and sustainability. Another less commonly utilized resource is the Baltimore Student Exchange Program, which allows students to take classes at participating schools like Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College, and others. Finally, the Environmental Action Club is a great resource for students who are looking to get involved outside of the classroom and meet other people within their minor. 

For more information about environmental and sustainability studies at Loyola, visit their website here.

Featured Image courtesy of Bruno Pinto Bessa via Flickr Creative Commons