Nature in Society

Fostering environmental sustainability requires working with people across many social, political, and economic boundaries. Yet, "nature" or "environment" means different things to people in different societies and even subcultures within a society. In order to critically assess contemporary environmental challenges and develop feasible solutions, students in this emphasis will study environmental issues through time and from diverse perspectives.

We will examine the values, norms, and behaviors that drive different societies’ environmental impacts, as well as efforts to intervene in and change them. In so doing, students will become versed in the research methods of social sciences and humanities and gain critical environmental communication skills.

We restructured our emphases. Check out the Environmental Justice emphasis, available to new ESE majors, for additional resources.

Degree Path

NIU Undergraduate Catalog

Related Research

Course Checklist (DOCX)