Program Mission

Nora Traviss Widespread public acknowledgment of and frustration about environmental problems have increased the demand for environmental leadership. How can we be fully prepared to deal with the magnitude of global environmental change? Where are the citizens and professionals who will have the skills, vision, and motivation to solve environmental problems? What must these people know? How should they make decisions? What training do they require?

Numerous scientific groups and organizations have addressed these questions. Studies and papers from organizations such as the National Council for Science and the Environment, the International Social Science Council, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the National Academy of Science Committee on Environmental Research, and The Conservation Fund emphasize the importance of an interdisciplinary, innovative, leadership-oriented approach to dealing with global environmental issues. These studies encourage the development of such an approach in higher education. They cite their concern that traditional, unidisciplinary academic programs are incapable of preparing people to solve and understand complex environmental problems.

The Antioch University New England Doctoral Program in Environmental Studies offers a curriculum that addresses systems-based analyses and solutions for contemporary and future environmental problems, a delivery model that meets the needs of the experienced environmental professional, and an integrated emphasis on the ethical, moral, and leadership questions that surround environmental issues. The program is broad enough to provide a rigorous foundation of environmental knowledge, and flexible enough to facilitate individualized, action-oriented research and scholarship.

The requirements of advanced environmental training are unique. We emphasize that environmental professionals integrate scholarship and practice, acknowledging that the skills and discipline of theory and research demand real world application, given the urgency of ecological problems. It is crucial to develop frames of reference, language, research skills, and processes of anticipatory and collaborative problem solving, understanding that ecological problems have characteristics that require multiple solutions. Finally, we stress the wisdom of experience, the importance of understanding human diversity, the complexity of organizational life, and the challenges of social and political behavior. Environmental practitioners need patience, skill, and foresight as they integrate their environmental values with their professional identities.

Last Updated: 3/4/10