David Barnhill
ES 490: Senior Seminar
ES 490: Senior Seminar is the capstone course for ES majors and minors. This version of the seminar is geared to your interests and goals by having students write a senior thesis on a subject of their choice. The course challenges you in thinking, writing, and speaking to help you to as effective as you can be.
We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.
--Preamble to the Earth Charter
Course Description and Objectives
This course is designed as the capstone in Environmental Studies. Capstone courses are often Janus-faced, looking two ways at once, both back at your training in Environmental Studies and forward to your work after graduation. As a result, the course will provide two different opportunities. The first, drawing on your studies, is to apply with considerable depth your interdisciplinary background to an environmental issue. A second, looking ahead, is to develop career skills that will enable you to enter the type of work that will be fulfilling to you and beneficial to the environment. A third opportunity is to look out to the community by participating in a community service project that applies your expertise and values in a practical and productive way.
Bringing it all together and applying it to the real world
At this point you should understand why Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary endeavor: the relationships between humans and nature are complex, and to understand them, one must understand their ecological, socio-cultural, and moral dimensions. You have learned how to evaluate scientific data (both natural and social scientific) and to analyze the social and ethical aspects involved. You are acquainted with many perspectives that have been advanced to explain environmental deterioration and prescribe remedies to it. In short, you have received a good overview of the critical perspectives that make up Environmental Studies.
Looking ahead: developing career skills
This seminar also will be a time to build specific skills such as writing a resume and interviewing. They skills are a form of empowerment that will help you be able to be effective in whatever you do after graduation.
Learning outcomes
UW Oshkosh is primarily focused on our students. So what do our students learn? Click on the links below to find out what they are:
Learning outcomes for all UWO students
Learning outcomes of the Environmental Studies Program
Learning outcomes of ES 490: Senior Seminar
Click on links below to get detailed information about the course.
Critical thinking in Environmental Studies
Research in environmental studies
