Endowed Professorship in Environmental Studies

In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, 
and we will understand only what we are taught.

Baba Dioum, Senegalese environmentalist

The creation of a permanent endowed professorship in environmental studies at The College of Wooster will propel forward the teaching, research, course development and advising that are important to our students and to the future of the Environmental Studies Program.  

Environmental studies is an exciting and expanding field that tackles fundamental and global issues which can be fully understood through the combined lenses of the humanities and the social and natural sciences. Wooster’s Environmental Studies Program explores the nature of environmental processes and the environmental challenges we face at local, national, and global levels. Students develop an understanding for the way ecosystems function, how technological advances and human behavior affect fundamental ecological processes, and what political and psychological tactics may be harnessed to address problems. Environmental studies has been offered as a minor since the 2008-09 and is an inter-and-multidisciplinary program – currently encompassing faculty from 13 departments, including chemistry, philosophy, geology, and English. Since its inception, the number of environmental studies minors has increased from 12 in 2008-09 to 24 in 2009-10 to 42 in 2010-11.  

Many courses that can be applied towards a minor in environmental studies are offered by departments that have faculty with interests in environmental issues. These faculty members have primary duties in their home department and can only teach environmental studies-related courses as their departmental duties allow. Without a faculty member who is specifically devoted to environmental studies, the program runs the risk of becoming too diffuse, without a core curriculum on which our students may depend.  

A gift of $2 million would fully endow a professorship in environmental studies, which is crucial to the continued growth of Wooster’s Environmental Studies Program. The talented teacher-scholar that will fill this chair will help develop new courses and teach existing courses that our students must complete for their environmental studies minor. This individual will also provide outreach and support to environmental student groups on campus and make connections with members of the local community. He or she will advise or co-advise environmentally-focused Independent Study projects, and also continue to support current environmental studies projects such as the campus garden.