Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies

The Australian National University

The environment is a major discourse and force in society. It is an entity that is simultaneously responsive to and independent of social action, and that transcends human cultures and sovereign borders. It is a point of continuity and shared structure for all living things, and all forms of life are dependent on its vital energies and natural assets. And yet, human and non-human social agents are located in, experience and respond to different environments. Its changing form and localised manifestations make the environment an essential topic of social scientific study, especially in an age of climate transformation. The major in Environmental Social Science exposes students to the complex and dynamic relationships between social and environmental systems, processes and change. Students undertaking the major will be taught about environmental matters from a diverse range of disciplines and perspectives, such as sociology, biological anthropology, history, development studies, indigenous studies, policy studies, geography, human ecology, and sustainability science. A focal point for analysis is the interactivity between humans and the non-human environment in various contexts, as well as the impacts and implications of global and everyday events on environmental processes, and vice versa. Students will be provided with the inter-disciplinary knowledge and research skills necessary to engage with the wicked environmental issues confronting societies of today and of the future, and with the opportunity to translate these attributes into various outputs and interventions.

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