New grant will help set up environmental studies program at Misericoria

DALLAS TWP. — A new environmental studies program that blends science and the humanities is coming to Misericordia University thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for Humanities.

“It will lead to a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies,” Philosophy Chair Melanie Shepherd said. “But we are planning to offer the program as both a major and a minor.”

Shepherd said the arts and humanities department had been looking for a way to launch an interdisciplinary environmental program that would be heavy on science but keep the human factor in focus.

Misericordia applied for and received a grant totaling $33,964 from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It was part of $22.2 million in grants awarded to 224 humanities programs nation-wide. Established in 1965, NEH is a federal agency tasked with “promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans,” according to a Misericordia media release.

Shepherd said the grant period officially starts June 1 and goes through the following spring. As project director, she said the year will be spent developing the curriculum, bringing in faculty from different disciplines “to work on some team-taught courses that will pair the humanities with science and allow students to explore the scientific questions in robust ways.”

The region is particularly suited for such a program, she said, because of both the impact of past coal mining and the new industry of fracking for natural gas. The University is working to develop relationships with outside agencies and businesses to create service learning opportunities and internships.

Shepherd cited one community partner already in the pipeline, the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.

The curriculum will include, but is not limited to Environmental Studies 100: Environment and Society; Environmental Studies 200: Issues in Sustainability, and Environmental Studies 400: Environmental Research Design, according tot he media release. Environmental Studies 100 will be a course taught by one humanities and one science faculty member in order to allow for a collaborative and interdisciplinary introduction to the program and the team-teaching methods.

Part of developing the program is to determine what jobs graduates will be qualified for, but Shepherd foresees a wide range of options, including government and advocacy work.

“We’re excited about the program, we think it’s going to be a really unique opportunity for students,” she said. “Science will be a major part of it, but we are conceiving it around the idea that humanistic thinking is really crucial and central to approaching environmental issues.”