The Department of Geography
& Environmental Studies is happy to have been offered this
opportunity
to explain in advance its current challenge to Earth Science's proposed B.A.
in Environmental GeoScience.
We have put together several documents, most in .pdf format. The one-page
document which best summarizes our position is the first one. It
is also appended to
the
bottom
of this
web
page:
SUMMARY OF G&ES POSITION
An earlier document, which responds to the ESCI table titled "DIFFERENCE?
OR OVERLAP?" is below. ESCI had attempted to show that there is not much
similarity between the proposed degree and the existing Environmental Studies
degree
in G&ES. We quote their document to show inconsistencies in that
argument.
RESPONSE TO "DIFFERENCE? or OVERLAP?"
Here is our original Challenge -- some of these issues were clarified in
the two meetings which followed.
ORIGINAL CHALLENGE
Here's a list of G&ES students working in the field. This substantiates
that our students are already working in the same sorts of diverse fields
the proposed ESCI program claims to prepare students for.
G&ES STUDENTS IN THE FIELD
Next is a list of institutions with degrees in Environmental GeoSciences.
This resulted from our own search and includes the one such program which
is on the ESCI list of 61 B.A.s in Geology or related fields. The table lists
cognate field requirements, and shows shows that Universities
with this
degree do not also have a degree in Environmental Studies.
INSTITUTIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL GEOSCIENCES
And finally, here is a link to the ESCI web site: the 61 institutions
which have a B.S. and B.A. in geology or related fields. This shows that
40 of the 61 degrees are either called "Geology" or "Earth
Science." Only
one is "Environmental GeoScience."
ESCI's LIST OF RELEVANT DEGREES
Thank you for your consideration.
G&ES
For your convenience, we have reproduced
the summary of our current problems with the proposal, below.
SUMMARY OF G&ES CHALLENGE to ESCI proposed B.A. in
Environmental Geosciences 4/19/2005
The department of Geography
& Environmental Studies appreciated the opportunity to meet with ESCI and
the dean, and we have gained a better understanding of the proposed
program. We had objected to the degree
altogether on the grounds that it significantly overlapped the Env. Stud. degree in
G&ES, but now we can better appreciate the differences.
There are no new courses
needed for the B.A.; requirements are simply a subset of those required for the
B.S.. The
proposal suggests that students with this degree will be prepared for a wide
variety of careers, but yet the courses are all in geology. In fact, because of fewer requirements, it’s
the minor which students could then
afford to take which may prepare them for the diverse careers mentioned.
By offering a subset of a
B.S. as a B.A. suggests that a bachelor of arts is a lesser degree. This is an
important point which merits discussion, but we here we would like to address
the name, which is misleading and would also be extraordinarily confusing.
CONTEXT
Since the beginning of the Environmental Movement about 1970, G&ES has built
a reputation in the Chicago Metropolitan area through its Environmental Studies
program, as the list of students in the field will show. G&ES uses “Environment”
in the same sense as in "Environmental Movement," “Environmental
Organizations,” and “Environmental Issues.”
It’s the standard dictionary definition, (“the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which
one is surrounded”) which includes
both the natural environment and the human environment fully. Environmental policy, environmental interpretation,
resource management, legislation, environmental education, land use issues, etc.
all require an understanding of both nature and people. This is what NEIU
has a reputation for.
PROBLEM
ESCI proposes using "Environmental"
in a different, narrow, and very non-standard way. With just its slate of geology courses, not
only does their “environmental” program” exclude the human environment, it also
excludes all floura and fauna. Their “environmental” will certainly be
confused for our “environmental,” as if Environmental Studies and Earth Science
weren’t confusing enough, for some! Please notice that while the
ESCI proposal promises to prepare students for diverse careers (similar to
careers of our students) it does so only in combination with a minor. A
geo-journalist, for example, would need to study writing elsewhere. The major
is still geology.
Geography
& Env.
Studies also objects to the use of "GeoScience" in the proposed name. According to dictionary definitions, this
refers to “any one of the sciences that deals with the earth.” Geographers study and map activities and objects
on or near the Earth’s surface, and we find this overreaching. Moreover, recall that the proposed
B.A.’s requirements are just a
subset of the ESCI’s B.S. – why should a broader term
be used for a smaller degree?
SOLUTION
ESCI provided a list of 61 B.A.
programs from “Institutions Offering Both a B.S. and B.A. in Geology or Related
Fields.” It’s worth noting that in this
and our own investigation, we found that no institution offering an
Environmental GeoScience degree also had another
Environmental Program. Here, the names
of the B.A programs listed by ESCI suggest a reasonable solution.
|
NAME OF B.A. PROGRAM
|
#
|
|
NAME OF PROGRAM
|
#
|
|
Geology
|
28
|
|
Earth and Space/Planetary
Sciences
|
2
|
|
Earth Science
|
12
|
|
Geosciences
|
2
|
|
Geological Sciences
|
5
|
|
Earth and Environmental
Sciences
|
2
|
|
Environmental Geology
|
5
|
|
Environmental Geosciences
|
1
|
|
Earth Sci
Ed./Secondary Education
|
3
|
|
|
|
We recommend that if the ESCI’s
proposed B.A. is approved in its present form neither GeoScience nor Environmental be a part of the
name. The name should match what
departments nearly everywhere would call it, and what it very clearly is: a B.A. in Geology, or if they prefer, a B.A.
in Earth Science.