If you are an undergraduate student interested in environmental issues, UCSB's nationally recognized faculty are ready to work with you!
The Environmental Humanities Minor allows you to explore issues such as sea level rise, environmental justice, or species extinction through the lens of the humanities. Imagine taking classes in Film and Media Studies, Environmental Studies, English, Geography, Anthropology, and Art History that all relate to how culture intersects with ecological concerns.
This minor gives you a unique opportunity to take courses from faculty with very different perspectives, who are all working towards better understanding interdisciplinary approaches to the relationship between human beings and their environments, including nonhuman and human animals.
Questions about the Environmental Humanities Minor? Email envhumanities@ucsb.edu for more information, advising inquiries, petition information, questions about the requirements, additional advising materials, or to make an appointment with an undergraduate advisor through the Office of Undergraduate Education.
Featured Courses
Students in the minor select from a wide variety of interdisciplinary electives.
Minor Requirements
Choose one required gateway course from:
- English 22: Introduction to the Environmental Humanities
- English 23: The Climate Crisis: What It Is And What Each of Us Can Do About It
- Environmental Studies 3: Introduction to the Social and Cultural Environment
- Environmental Studies 70: Introduction to Environmental Ethics
Then complete 20 upper-division units from the approved course lists. Upper-division units must be taken from at least three different departments, with at least three courses from Area A: Humanities Department Courses.
Electives include courses from departments such as:
- Anthropology: courses on Food (111), Water and Society (147)
- Chicana/o Studies: Environmental Justice in Central America (191J)
- East Asian Cultural Studies: Anthropology of Japan (103B), additional approved courses numbered 128, 141, and 179
- English: Cultural Representations: Nature and the Environment (122NE), Global Environmental Literature (141)
- Environmental Studies: Nature Spirituality (103), Animals, Food, and the Environment (160)
- Film and Media Studies: Green Games (166GG), Oil Cultures (187OC)
- Geography: World Agriculture, Food, and Population (161)
- History: American Environmental History (173T), Food in World History (193F)
- History of Art and Architecture: Landscape of Colonialism (136J), Sustainable Architecture (136O)
- Religious Studies: Nature Spirituality (103), Environmental Ethics (156EE)
- Sociology: Environmental Sociology (105E), Consumption, Waste, and the Environment (118CW)
- Writing: Science Writing for the Public (105SW), Writing for Environmental Professions (107EP)
View the full list of approved courses and minor requirements in the expandable section below.
The Environmental Humanities Minor includes one required gateway course and upper-division coursework selected from approved Area A and Area B courses.
Preparation and Upper-Division Requirements
All courses to be applied to the minor must be completed on a letter-grade basis.
PREPARATION (4–5 Units)
Choose one required gateway course from:
- English 22: Introduction to the Environmental Humanities
- English 23: The Climate Crisis: What It Is And What Each of Us Can Do About It
- Environmental Studies 3: Introduction to the Social and Cultural Environment
- Environmental Studies 70: Introduction to Environmental Ethics
UPPER DIVISION (20 Units)
20 upper-division units from the approved course lists, taken from at least three different departments, with at least three courses taken from Area A: Humanities Department Courses.
Area A: Humanities Department Courses
*Courses may be applicable by petition depending on instructor and content. See advisor for details.
- Art History: 109C, 109I, 136I, 136J, 136O, 142D
- East Asian Cultural Studies: 103B, 128, 141, 179
- English: 122AP-CS-NE-WE, 139AA-ZZ, 141AA-ZZ, 142AA-ZZ, 143AA-ZZ, 162, 165EM* (by petition), 192AA-ZZ* (by petition), 197* (by petition)
- Film and Media Studies: 166GG, 187CN, 187OC
- History: 117E, 173T, 193F
- Religious Studies: 103, 156EE
- Writing: 105S, 105SW, 107EP
Area B: Social Sciences and Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences Department Courses
- Anthropology: 111, 115, 147, 148
- Chicana/o Studies: 191J
- Environmental Studies: 103, 108W, 109, 129, 146, 160, 181, 183, 184, 188, 193TK
- Geography: 108, 130, 141A, 161
- Sociology: 105E, 118CW, 126
Minor Regulations and Conditions
Substitutions and waivers are subject to approval by the Environmental Humanities Faculty Advisory Committee and the Office of Undergraduate Education. Students must consult the General Catalog for prerequisites to required courses.
The following conditions must also be met for official recognition of the minor:
- The minor coordinator reports completion of the minor prior to the posting of the degree.
- At least 18 upper-division quarter units are completed for the minor. Waivers cannot reduce the requirement below this number.
- The UC grade-point average in all applied upper-division courses is 2.0 or higher.
- No more than 5 upper-division units overlap between this minor and the upper-division portion of the major(s) or other minor(s). If overlap is greater with the major(s), completion of the minor will not be formally recognized; if overlap with other minor(s) is greater, only the first minor reported will be recognized.
Student pathways
Who is this minor for?
Humanities and arts students
Connect creativity, interpretation, and critical thinking to urgent environmental questions.
STEM and environmental studies students
Add cultural, ethical, historical, and justice-centered perspectives to scientific study.
Future advocates and communicators
Build skills for climate communication, public engagement, education, and community work.
Campus connections
Beyond the Classroom
The Environmental Humanities Minor invites students to connect coursework with the landscapes, communities, creative practices, and public questions that shape environmental life in California and beyond.
Place
Study environmental questions from a campus shaped by coastlines, wetlands, and marine ecosystems.
Creativity
Explore how art, performance, literature, and media shape environmental imagination.
Inquiry
Connect environmental questions with humanities research, historical analysis, and cultural interpretation.
Community
Explore how environmental questions shape public life, creative practice, and community engagement.