Cornell seeks to offer new environment and sustainability major

ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell University is looking to offer a new major in environment and sustainability in the fall of 2018.

Students would take their course work through Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).

The school’s Faculty Senate has approved the new major, and approval by the New York State Education Department is “pending,” the school said in a news release posted on its website.

The cross-college major is a “modified and broader” version of the existing environmental and sustainability sciences (ESS) major in CALS, per the Cornell release.

It has been expanded to include a humanities concentration, while retaining the existing social science and science concentrations.

The major will offer students “additional ways” to combine the study of physical and biological sciences with social science and humanities fields and to explore the social, ethical, and public-policy dimensions of environmental issues.

“We’re very excited to partner with CALS in this new major, which will prepare students to be the next generation of leaders in environment and sustainability and equip them with the interdisciplinary skills to address complex environmental issues like climate change,” Gretchen Ritter, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said in the Cornell release.

“CALS and Arts and Sciences are partnering to do what’s in the best interest of students in both colleges. Not only are students interested in environment and sustainability, but also there is a strong, growing need for students who can understand environmental issues from different disciplinary vantage points,” Kathryn Boor, dean of CALS, added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com