Exploring humanity’s evolving relationship to the environment through various artistic lenses. Perspectives like philosophy, religion, literature, and history allow us to view the environment creatively.

Why study Environmental Arts and Humanities at Sewanee?

This major examines environmental issues by integrating the diverse perspectives offered by anthropology, history, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual studies. While you’ll be encouraged to pursue your own specific interests in environmental arts and humanities, the major includes three interrelated components of common study.

First, it offers a grounding in environmental science and policy. Second, it examines how the areas of environmental arts and humanities inform and are informed by the perspectives of environmental science and policy. Finally, as the defining core of the major, you will explore how the arts and humanities enrich our understanding of humanity's complex, evolving relation to the world we inhabit and inform our responses to the many dimensions of environmental issues.

First Destinations: Environmental Arts & Humanities Majors

Sewanee graduates secure positions in a variety of fields. Some you would expect, others, are a bit of a surprise. Sewanee prepares you for your profession and your passion. Below is a sampling of recent graduates' first job.

  • Research Editorial Staff in Marketing & Communications, Bonefish Tarpon Trust, Coral Gables, FL.
  • Outdoor Adventure Program Staff, City Kids Wilderness Project, Jackson, WY.
  • Logistics Analyst, Bellhops, Chattanooga, TN.
  • Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Episcopal Service Crops, Harrisburg, PA.
  • Future Leaders Program Associate for the Environmental Health Safety and Sustainability Program, GloxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC.
GRADUATE SCHOOL & PREPROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS: ENVIRONMENTAL ARTS & HUMANITIES MAJORS

Sewanee graduates enjoy extraordinary acceptance rates to top graduate and preprofessional programs–about 95 percent to law school and over 85 percent to medical school. Below is a sampling of where Sewanee grads continue their education.

  • Master of Environmental Science and Management, John Hopkins University.
  • M.S. in Environmental Policy, University of Cambridge.

A Sampling of Courses

The Lens and the Landscape: Documentary Studies and the Environment
Art

This course studies the human, ecological, and environmental histories of the region through the lens and practice of documentary production. In collaboration with historians, archaeologists, and biologists, students develop individual and group projects to create short documentaries about a range of topics focused on the past and present environmental conditions of the Domain and its surroundings.

ART 242
Environmental and Biological Nonfiction
Environmental Studies

An examination of contemporary intersections among literature, journalism, biological science, and the study of the environment, supplemented by readings of 19th- and 20th-century antecedents. Assignments allow students to develop their own writing abilities in these areas. Consideration is also given to the relationships among nonfiction, fiction, and other forms of creative expression.

ENST 250
Buddhism and the Environment
Religion

An investigation of Buddhist images, symbols, stories, doctrines, ethics, and practices as they relate to understanding the environment and humanity's relationship with it. Classical texts as well as modern commentaries by Buddhist teachers, writers, and activists will be examined.

RELG 353
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Environmental Arts & Humanities

Programs of Study & Related Programs

Requirements for the Major in Environmental Arts & Humanities

Requirements for the Minor in Archaeology | Website

Requirements for the Major in Environment & Sustainability | Website

Requirements for the Minor in Environmental Studies | Website

Requirements for the Major & Minor in Forestry | Website

Requirements for the Major & Minor in Geology | Website

Requirements for the Major in Natural Resources & the Environment | Website

Requirements for the Minor in Religion & Environment | Website

Meet some professors

Sid Brown
sbrown@sewanee.edu

Sid Brown teaches in the area of Asian Religions, specializing in Theravada Buddhism. Brown also focuses on religious responses to environmental issues and religious conceptions of relationships between human and other-than-human animals. She has been studying Buddhism since 1982. During her years earning her B.A. in philosophy and her M.A. and Ph.D. in religious studies, she researched and lived in India, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Thailand.

Professor and Chair of Religious studies
John Gatta
jogatta@sewanee.edu

John Gatta’s teaching and research have largely been concerned with American literary and cultural history before 1900—particularly Hawthorne, Whitman, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. He has also taught and written about topics related to American environmental literature, as well as the interplay between religious faith and literary imagination. He has published four books, in addition to more than 50 academic articles in book collections and journals.

William B. Kenan Jr. Professor of English
James R. Peters
jpeters@sewanee.edu

James Peters' interest in philosophy began when his family left the predictable suburbs of Chicago and moved out into the country. There, he fell in love with the rural landscape and began a life-long passionate interest in the natural world. Out of a love of natural things emerged a love of asking fundamental questions. It was during explorations of local woodlots and fields that Peters experienced his first sense of philosophical wonder. His interests are ancient and medieval philosophy, environmental ethics, and philosophical theology.

Professor of Philosophy & Coordinator of Environmental Arts and Humanities
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Contact

James R. Peters
Professor of Philosophy, Coordinator of Environmental Arts and Humanities

jpeters@sewanee.edu

Carnegie Hall 201A, Ext. 1581

The Domain: An Immersive Experience

Integrated Program in the Environment
6 Majors, 6 Minors, 13,000 Acres

Sewanee's Integrated Program in the Environment is one of the premier collections of environmental offerings in the country. A working farm, a 13,000-acre forest, and well-funded internships offer opportunities to apply your classroom learning. An expansive curriculum—including natural and social sciences as well as the humanities and fine arts—offers students multiple pathways for gaining an understanding of the ecological complexity and wonder of the earth we inhabit.

Explore Your Options
Sustainability & Stewardship
Hand-on Experience

The Office of Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability offers students a variety of opportunities to get involved with land management, sustainable practices, etc.

Get Involved
The University Farm
Where Growth Happens

The University Farm seeks to give you a transformative experience through the immersive and intimate practice of restorative agriculture. The Farm offers opportunities to enhance your education and connect with the history of agriculture—especially how these ideas affect the plateau. And if you’re lucky, there will be some baby goats around during finals.

Yes, I love baby goats