Dec 05, 2025  
2025-2026 Pitzer College Catalog 
    
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2025-2026 Pitzer College Catalog

Environmental Analysis Major

Environmental Analysis

Environmental Analysis (EA) is an interdisciplinary major focusing on the interaction between human and non-human components of the biosphere. The major applies approaches in the social sciences, arts and humanities, and natural sciences to understanding and solving environmental problems. Environmental Analysis offers an integrated, unifying perspective on life, as well as a program for creating positive change. The major prepares students for graduate work and careers in teaching, public policy and administration, law, environmental sciences, international affairs, environmental design, and the non-profit sector. Developing sustainable ways of living is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The Environmental Analysis Program combines the strengths of the five Claremont Colleges to provide robust interdisciplinary training for students interested in environmental issues. Resources for field research, community-based research, internships, and service learning include the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, the Pitzer in Costa Rica Program, and the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology, the Pitzer in Ontario Program, the John R. Rodman Arboretum, the Bernard Biological Field Station, and numerous local partnerships.

The Environmental Analysis Program regards study abroad as a valuable, though not required, part of the curriculum, enabling students to secure deeper appreciation of the global dimensions of environmental challenges. Additionally, the Program encourages students to engage in internships and fieldwork that move them beyond the classroom and library to engage in research and action.

 

Pitzer Advisers: L. Neckar, S. Perdue-Johnson, S. Phillips, J. Wang

Learning Outcomes of the Program in Environmental Analysis

Student Learning Outcomes for All Tracks in Environmental Analysis:

  1. Understand and describe the complex natural science, social science and humanistic aspects of environmental issues.
  2. Understand and apply both disciplinary and interdisciplinary analysis to environmental issues.
  3. Critically analyze, evaluate, and interpret scholarly arguments.
  4. Present articulate, persuasive, and well-informed work.
  5. Craft well-written, well-researched, and informative scholarly work.
  6. Develop well-reasoned solutions to environmental predicaments, testing them against relevant criteria and standards.
  7. Demonstrate social responsibility by completing environmentally-related internships, social justice theory and social responsibility praxis courses, community-based research, and community engagement activities.

Environmental Internship Guidelines

Environmental Analysis majors must engage in one semester’s worth of intensive (70-100 hours, or 7-10 hours per week for 10 weeks) internship work with an organization. Students are encouraged to complete the internship requirement before their senior year. Options for completing this requirement are as follows:

Independent Study: Students may fulfill the internship requirement as an independent study, to be arranged with an appropriate professor. See the ‘Independent Study and Internships’ section of the catalog for more information.

Study Abroad: A student may petition to have work abroad in the Costa Rica program or another study abroad site count toward the requirement. Students must furnish evidence of hours and submit the final product (DISP, field notes, final paper, etc.) to their EA adviser for approval.

Ontario Program: Students may complete their internships through the Ontario Program. Internships and final papers must explicitly revolve around environmental issues. Students must work with an adviser from Environmental Analysis to ensure that their Ontario work is appropriate to the major.

LEEP: Participation in the Leadership in Environmental Education Partnership (LEEP) and enrolment in EA 146 PZ Environmental Education fulfills the internship requirement.

Non-credit Internship. Students may complete their internships outside of their academic coursework over the course of a semester or during the summer. Students are still required to complete all forms, training and requirements and are responsible for being in communication with their EA adviser.

Note: Most Pitzer courses with a social responsibility praxis component do not require enough hours to fulfill this requirement. Students should speak to their advisers to see if a course is eligible to fulfill the internship requirement.

Major Requirements

There are three tracks within the Environmental Analysis major:

All EA major Tracks consist of three sets of requirements:

  1. A Core set of Courses (EA 010 PZ -Intro to Environmental Analysis , EA 030L KS -Science and the Environment , EA 086 PZ -Environmental Justice , and an additional natural science course) and EA 150 PZ -Senior Sem in Environ Analysis  
  2. A Track with Course Plan
  3. An Environmental Internship for the Environment and Society, Environmental Policy, and Sustainability and the Built Environment Tracks

A minimum of 11 courses is required for the Environment and Society and Environmental Policy tracks, and 12 courses for the Sustainability and Built Environment track. Students in the Environment and Society, Environmental Policy, and Sustainability and the Built Environment tracks will find that their major has considerable structure but also allows for flexibility in the selection of courses within the track. It is essential that majors and prospective majors proactively work with their advisers to select courses, both within the major and outside the major, that will help meet the student’s educational, personal and professional goals.

A senior thesis is not required for the Environment and Society, Environmental Policy, and Sustainability and the Built Environment tracks. For those who choose to undertake a senior project, sometimes referred to as a “capstone” project, a senior project is a substantial work, such as an exhibition, website, blog, film/video, performance, curriculum, design project, or other hands-on or creative endeavor is required. The process and outcome of the project should be digitally documented in an appropriate format (audio, video, pdf, web url, and so forth). Normally students will write a 20-30 page paper that describes the work and that anchors it in scholarly literature in order to build a critical framework around the project. Projects are usually undertaken over the course of one semester and are assigned a course number (EA 199 or EA 999). Some can be undertaken as part of EA 197 PZ -Senior Thesis Seminar . All senior theses and senior projects require two readers with, at least, one reader from the Pitzer Environmental Analysis Field Group. Please consult with your adviser to see what is appropriate for you.

Environment and Society Track

Learning Outcomes 

1. Understand and describe different cultural perspectives on the meaning and use of the “environment,” including those shaped by race, ethnicity, and gender.
2. Understand, describe, and conduct research on where social justice and environmental issues intersect.

Requirements 

Five Core Courses and One Internship
Track Requirements (Six Courses)
  • One environmental policy course
  • Five Environment and Society courses from the following options such as these:

Environmental Policy Track

Learning Outcomes 

  1. Acquire a working knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of environmental policy, law, and politics.
  2. Develop a critical understanding and analysis of issues in the field of environmental policy and politics.
  3. Be able to conduct policy related research on environmental issues and challenges.

Requirements 

Five Core Courses and One Internship
Track Requirements (Six Courses)

Sustainability and the Built Environment Track

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand and analyze sustainable design in a holistic manner
2. Develop conceptual frameworks for critical inquiry and environmental problem solving
3. Apply design concepts and skills for sustainability and resilience
4. Integrate scholarship and analyses to test spatial concepts
 

Requirements 

Seven Core Courses and One Internship
Track Requirements (Five Track Courses)
One course in Representation

*Courses have prerequisites

Four electives, generally no more than two from each group, from options such as:
  1. History, theory and ecology of the built environment
  2. Design  Policy/Planning

 

Environmental Analysis Honors

In order to be a candidate for Honors, students must meet three criteria. Students must (1) have a minimum GPA of 3.6, and (2) engage in a thesis or senior project, which receives a minimum grade of A-. The Field Group members will confer Honors to students who have met these two baseline requirements, and who have (3) displayed (as determined by the members of the Pitzer EA Field Group) an exemplary commitment to Pitzer’s core values of environmental sustainability and social responsibility, as manifest through service, internships, and other relevant experience.

Students who wish to write a senior thesis or complete a senior project must enroll in an additional course.  Students writing a senior thesis will normally take 197 PZ EA Senior Thesis Seminar. A senior project is a substantial work, such as an exhibition, website, blog, film/video, performance, curriculum, design project, or other hands-on or creative endeavor. The process and outcome of the project should be digitally documented in an appropriate format (audio, video, pdf, web url, and so forth). Normally students will write a 20-30 page paper that describes the project’s contribution to the field and that anchors it in scholarly literature in order to build a critical framework around the project. Projects are usually undertaken over the course of one semester and are assigned a course number (EA 199 or EA 999). Some can be undertaken as part of EA 197, the senior thesis class. All senior theses and senior projects require two readers with, at least, one reader from the Pitzer Environmental Analysis Field Group. Please consult with your adviser to see what is appropriate for you.

Environmental Anaysis Courses

Anthropology

Art History

Astronomy

Biology

Chemistry

Climate & Environmental Science

Critical Action + Social Advocacy

Economics

Environmental Analysis

Geology

History

Interdisciplinary Studies

Media Studies

Philosophy

Political Studies

Religious Studies

Sociology

Pitzer Study Abroad

Other Courses