Environmental sociology teaches you how to address contemporary issues and why that matters at multiple scales – from individuals, to communities, to nations. Our students develop tools to better understand the sources of and create systems-based solutions to vital social and environmental problems. Our faculty teach courses that address issues like environmental inequalities, natural resource conservation, and food justice. Moreover, our undergraduate program provides students with a strong theoretical foundation in sociology, research methods, data collection, and analysis. These are all essential skills for a wide variety of careers associated with environment, natural resources, policy, justice, or advocacy—as well as strong preparation for graduate or law school. Our unique mentoring program models how to transfer students’ sociological skill sets to meaningful employment after graduation. We can’t wait to guide you through a life-changing major 

A photo listing the areas of interest for an Environmental Sociology major: water, social justice, climate change, agricultural systems, politics, food justice, etc.

Effective Fall 2022

Each course used to satisfy requirements of the concentration requires a minimum grade of C (2.000), i.e. all SOC courses, STAT 2**, and each course taken to satisfy the Social and Behavioral Sciences electives or the Environmental Sociology electives.

Freshman
AUCCCredits
CO 150College Composition (GT-CO2)1A3
Select one from the following: 3
Introduction to Sociology (GT-SS3)3C 
Social Problems (GT-SS3)3C 
Arts and Humanities3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences3A4
Quantitative Reasoning1B3
Social and Behavioral Sciences Elective (see list below)1 3
Electives 11
 Total Credits 30
Sophomore
 
SOC 220Environment, Food, and Social Justice (GT-SS3)1C3
Advanced Writing23
Arts and Humanities3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences3A3
Historical Perspectives3D3
Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives (see list below)1 6
Environmental Sociology Electives2 3
Elective 6
 Total Credits 30
Junior
 
Select one from the following:3 3
The Power of Numbers--Statistics in Sociology  
STAT 2** Statistics4
  
Select one from the following: 3
Development of Sociological Thought  
Contemporary Sociological Theory  
Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives (see list below)1 12
Environmental Sociology Electives2 3
Electives 9
 Total Credits 30
Senior
 
SOC 311Sociological Research Methods4A,4B3
Select one course from the following: 3
Applications of Quantitative Research  
Applications of Qualitative Research  
Select one group from the following: 3-4
Group A:
  
Capstone Seminar4C 
Group B:
  
Community Dynamics and Development4C 
Group C:
  
Internship4C 
Seminar4C 
Environmental Sociology Electives2 6
Electives5 14-15
 Total Credits 29-31
 Program Total Credits: 120

Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives - 21 credits

Students may also take up to six credits of additional SOC courses not counted elsewhere in the program.
AGED 210History of Agriculture in the United States3
AGRI 116/IE 116Plants and Civilizations (GT-SS3)3
AGRI 270/IE 270World Interdependence-Population and Food (GT-SS3)3
AM 250Clothing, Adornment and Human Behavior (GT-SS3)3
AMST 100Self/Community in American Culture, 1600-1877 (GT-HI1)3
AMST 101Self/Community in American Culture Since 1877 (GT-HI1)3
ANTH 100Introductory Cultural Anthropology (GT-SS3)3
ANTH 140Introduction to Archaeology (GT-HI1)3
ANTH 200Cultures and the Global System (GT-SS3)3
ANTH 232/MU 232Soundscapes-Music as Human Practice3
ANTH 310Peoples and Cultures of Africa3
ANTH 312Modern Indian Culture and Society3
ANTH 322The Anthropology of Religion3
ANTH 330Human Ecology3
ANTH 333Anthropology of Sex and Reproduction3
ANTH 334Narrative Traditions and Social Experience4
ANTH 335Language and Culture3
ANTH 338Gender and Anthropology3
ANTH 340Medical Anthropology3
ANTH 359Colorado Prehistory3
ANTH 360Archaeological Investigation3
ANTH 400/GR 400History of Theory-Anthropology and Geography3
ANTH 412Indians of North America3
ANTH 413Indigenous Peoples Today3
ANTH 414/ETST 414Development in Indian Country3
ANTH 440Theory in Cultural Anthropology3
ANTH 441Method in Cultural Anthropology3
ANTH 450Hunter-Gatherer Ecology3
ANTH 451Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory3
ANTH 478/HIST 478Heritage Resource Management3
AREC 202Agricultural and Resource Economics (GT-SS1)3
AREC 240/ECON 240Issues in Environmental Economics (GT-SS1)3
BUS 205Legal and Ethical Issues in Business3
BUS 260Social-Ethical-Regulatory Issues in Business3
E 142Reading Without Borders (GT-AH2)3
E 238Contemporary Global Fiction (GT-AH2)3
E 245World Drama (GT-AH2)3
ECON ***
EDUC 275Schooling in the United States (GT-SS3)3
ETST ***
GR 100Introduction to Geography (GT-SS2)3
GR 102Geography of Europe and the Americas (GT-SS2)3
GR 320Cultural Geography3
HDFS 101Individual and Family Development (GT-SS3)3
HDFS 310Infant and Child Development in Context3
HDFS 311Adolescent/Early Adult Development in Context3
HDFS 312Adult Development-Middle Age and Aging3
HDFS 332Death, Dying, and Grief3
HDFS 334Family and Parenthood Across the Lifespan3
HDFS 402Couple and Family Studies3
HDFS 403Families in the Legal Environment3
HIST ***
HONR 292CHonors Seminar: Knowing Across Cultures (GT-SS3)3
HONR 492Honors Senior Seminar3
HORT 171/SOCR 171Environmental Issues in Agriculture (GT-SS3)3
IE 179Globalization: Exploring Our Global Village (GT-SS3)3
INST 200Interdisciplinary Approaches to Globalization3
JTC 100Media in Society (GT-SS3)3
JTC 311History of Media3
JTC 316Multiculturalism and the Media3
JTC 411Media Ethics and Issues3
JTC 412International Mass Communication3
JTC 413New Media Trends and Society3
JTC 414Media Effects3
JTC 456/LB 456Documentary Film as a Liberal Art3
LB 173Encountering the Global (GT-AH2)3
LB 393Seminar in Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences3
LEAP 200Advocacy in the Visual and Performing Arts3
MU 132Exploring World Music3
PHIL 103Moral and Social Problems (GT-AH3)3
PHIL 170World Philosophies (GT-AH3)3
POLS ***
PSY 100General Psychology (GT-SS3)3
PSY 152Science of Learning3
PSY 260Child Psychology3
PSY 296Group Study1-3
PSY 315Social Psychology3
PSY 316Environmental Psychology3
PSY 317Social Psychology Laboratory2
PSY 320Psychopathology3
PSY 325Psychology of Personality3
PSY 327Psychology of Women3
PSY 340Organizational Psychology3
PSY 341Organizational Psychology Laboratory1
PSY 401History and Systems of Psychology3
PSY 437Psychology of Gender3
PSY 452Cognitive Psychology3
PSY 465Adolescent Psychology3
SOC ***
SOWK 110Contemporary Social Welfare3
SOWK 352/ETST 352Indigenous Women, Children, and Tribes3
SPCM 130Relational and Organizational Communication (GT-SS3)3
WS ***

Environmental Sociology Electives – 12 credits

Sociology Courses6-12
Population-Natural Resources and Environment
Environmental Justice
Soc. of Environmental Cooperation & Conflict
Food Justice
Green Criminology
Political Sociology
Social Change
Food, Agriculture and Global Society
Environmental and Natural Resource Sociology
Water and Social Justice
Applied Social Change
Sociology of Disaster
Environmental Justice
Out-of-Department Courses0-6
Indigenous Ecologies and the Modern World
New Orleans and the Caribbean
Environmental Health
Human Disease and the Environment
American Environmental History
World Environmental History, 1500-Present
Natural Resources History and Policy
Human Dimensions in Natural Resources
Natural Resource Policy and Sustainability
Environmental Ethics
U.S. Environmental Politics and Policy
Global Environmental Politics
Environmental Psychology
1

No courses used to satisfy AUCC requirements may be used to satisfy the Social and Behavioral Sciences requirement.

2

Select 12 credits from the Environmental Sociology electives list of eligible upper-division sociology courses. A total of 6 credits may come from outside sociology. Students can also petition the department for program credit when >25% of course material and grading are related to environment and society.

3

A statistics course is required if STAT 201 or STAT 204 was not taken to satisfy the AUCC 1B requirement. SOC 210 is recommended.

4

Select STAT 201 General Statistics (GT-MA1) or any Statistics course 200-level or above.

5

Select enough elective credits to bring program total to minimum of 120 credits, of which at least 42 must be upper-division (300- to 400-level).

Each course used to satisfy requirements of the concentration requires a minimum grade of C (2.000), i.e. all SOC courses, STAT 2**, and each course taken to satisfy the Social and Behavioral Sciences electives or the Environmental Sociology electives.

Freshman
Semester 1CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
CO 150College Composition (GT-CO2)  1A3
Arts and Humanities  3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences  3A4
Social and Behavioral Sciences Elective (see list on Concentration Requirements tab)   3
Elective   3
 Total Credits   16
Semester 2CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Select one course from the following: X 3
Introduction to Sociology (GT-SS3)  3C 
Social Problems (GT-SS3)  3C 
Quantitative ReasoningX 1B3
Electives   8
CO 150 must be completed by the end of Semester 2.X   
 Total Credits   14
Sophomore
Semester 3CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Arts and Humanities  3B3
Biological and Physical Sciences  3A3
Historical Perspectives  3D3
Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives (see list on Concentration Requirements tab)   6
 Total Credits   15
Semester 4CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
SOC 220Environment, Food, and Social Justice (GT-SS3)  1C3
Advanced Writing  23
Environmental Sociology Elective (see list on Concentration Requirements Tab)   3
Elective   6
 Total Credits   15
Junior
Semester 5CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Select one course from the following:X  3
The Power of Numbers--Statistics in Sociology    
STAT 2**
X   
Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives (see list on Concentration Requirements tab)   6
Environmental Sociology Elective (see list on Concentration Requirements tab)   3
Elective   3
 Total Credits   15
Semester 6CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Select one course from the following:X  3
Development of Sociological Thought    
Contemporary Sociological Theory    
Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives (see list on Concentration Requirements tab)   6
Electives   6
 Total Credits   15
Senior
Semester 7CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
SOC 311Sociological Research MethodsX 4A,4B3
Select one course from the following:X  3
Applications of Quantitative Research    
Applications of Qualitative Research    
Environmental Sociology Electives (see list on Concentration Requirements tab)   6
Electives   3
 Total Credits   15
Semester 8CriticalRecommendedAUCCCredits
Select one group from the following:X  3-4
Group A:    
Capstone Seminar  4C 
Group B:    
Community Dynamics and Development  4C 
Group C:    
Internship  4C 
Seminar  4C 
ElectivesX  11-12
The benchmark courses for the 8th semester are the remaining courses in the entire program of study.X   
 Total Credits   14-16
 Program Total Credits:   120