The Environmental Thought and Practice interdisciplinary major requires five core classes and six electives for a total of 33 credits. At least 12 credits (4 courses of at least 3 credits) must be at the 3000 level or higher.
Core classes
The introductory and final shared course are common to all majors. The introductory course is EVSC 2030/ETP 2030/PLAP 2030 Politics, Science, and Values: Introduction to Environmental Policy. We recommend that you take this class before you declare the major. It also counts toward your Science and Society requirement. The final course, ETP 4010 Environmental decisions, is offered to majors only and taken in spring of the 4th year.
Several options exist to fulfill the three other core requirements.
I. Values, Culture, and History
Students must take either ANTH Culture and the Environment, HIST 2150 Global Environmental History, or RELG 2210 Religion, Ethics, & Global Environment.
II. Policy, Planning, and Society
Students must take either AAS 2559 Intro to Race, Class, Politics & the Environment, ECON 2010 Microeconomics, or GSVS 2150 Global Sustainability.
III. Natural Science
Students must take either EVSC 1010 Introduction to Environmental Science, EVSC 1080 Resources and the Environment, EVSC 1450 Climate, You and CO2, EVSC 2200 Plants, People and Culture, or EVSC 2220 Conservation Ecology: Biodiversity and Beyond.
Electives
Each student must also choose six (6) classes distributed across three areas. At least one (1) class must be taken in Values, Culture, and History and at least one (1) class must be taken in Policy, Planning and Society. At least two (2) classes must be taken in Natural Sciences.
Declaring the Major
To declare the major, please check out your course options here to fill out this worksheet. Once you have filled out the worksheet, email it to Prof. Freedman and set up a meeting with him to complete the process. More information on the major declaration process can be found here.
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) in their fourth year.
Double Majors/Minors
Many ETP majors pursue double majors and minors in a variety of other subjects such as Environmental Science, Politics, Economics, Philosophy, and Religious Studies among others. We encourage you to consider adding a deeper dive into one of the disciplines. Doing so can be relatively easy because ETP requirements overlap with requirements of the new curriculum and with some requirements of specific disciplinary majors. Please read the requirements about double majoring and minoring set forth by the College of Arts and Sciences.
Study Abroad
We encourage students to seek opportunities for study abroad. As with all majors, students must seek approval from specific departments at UVa for credit.
For more information, contact Prof. Paul Freedman.