Career Paths in Environmental Humanities
Seeing the Bigger Picture

Do you love literature, history, anthropology, art, writing, philosophy? Do you like to ask big questions about nature, morality, the range of ways humans can live, patterns of history, truth and beauty? If you do, you may have a future in the humanities.

Environmental Humanities students take this one step further. They love nature, and they’re convinced that small-minded thinking has resulted in many of today’s environmental problems. In response, they commit themselves to living thoughtfully and seeing the bigger picture so that they can play a responsible role in shaping the future of the planet.

College Programming

Most colleges offer degrees in the humanities , and some make it possible to combine several of the humanities into one major. At this time only a few schools offer specially designed degrees that bring together environmental sciences, communication skills, and the humanities, though it is sometimes possible to create one’s own by combining a major program with a strong minor in a very different field.
Environmental humanists typically begin with a thorough grounding in the environmental sciences. They’ve taken classes such as field-based biology, ecology, and climate change science, so they know about energy flow, acid rain, global warming, and native wildlife species.  It’s important to have learning experiences “on the ground” and in the outdoors, such as field classes, trips abroad, or internships.
 Beyond that, they learn how to give science a public voice through classes in topics like  journalism, painting, debate, and communications.  Writing and literature courses are particularly important  in developing clear thinking and powerful expression of ideas.  Some students also choose training in environmental policy, political organizing, and advocacy.

As a third part of their education, Environmental Humanities students  apply insights from courses in history, philosophy, literature and the arts, realizing that we can discover answers to our modern environmental problems through “conversations” with Socrates, Shakespeare, Rembrandt, the texts of world religions, medieval poets and Chinese philosophers. Again, the emphasis is on asking the big questions about humanity and its place on the Earth, questions that sometimes get lost in a misguided rush toward immediate action. Environmental Humanities students ask them, and they aren’t afraid of the answers.

Possible Career Paths

The environmental humanities reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual, and intellectual sense of a world whose environmental problems sometimes lead to despair and cynicism. A career focusing on this communication couldn’t be more important in these times.

Environmental humanists go on to become environmental and ethical consultants, educators, artist-advocates, public relations managers for nonprofit organizations, social advocacy workers, authors, essayists, and graduate students in literature and environmental law. Graduate schools and environmental organizations favor environmental humanists because they bring a combination of a solid background in the environmental sciences with the ability to think deeply, express their ideas clearly, and get us to look freshly at the real issues facing our planet.

More specifically, environmental humanities majors can have careers in public relations, education or outreach for myriad state and federal agencies including the Department of Environmental Protection and Departments of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.  They can also be writers (columnists, journalists, etc.) for outdoor and environmental magazines such as Outdoors, Sierra, and ON Nature magazine.  They also go on to become middle and high school teachers in history, English and the arts.

The bottom line is, in this field the world is truly your oyster. You can push yourself to become the next Wendell Berry or Winona LaDuke.  You can work for a federal, state or non-profit organization.  You can be an artist.  They key is demonstrating to future employers your big-picture thinking, problem solving skills and communication skills.

Editorial provided by Chris Marshall, Professor of Anthropology and Alisa Johnson, Dean of Enrollment Management of Unity College.