Outdoor Studies Minor Requirements

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To complete a minor in outdoor studies, students may choose between the on-campus track or the Adirondack Semester intensive off-campus track. Either track requires a minimum of 5.5 units. Both tracks require the acquisition of certain elementary outdoor skills.

On-Campus Track

Students must take courses from three categories of courses: Outdoor Education, Science w/field lab and the Philosophy/Environmental Studies/Art categories.

  1. ODST 100 or ODST 251.
  2. One additional 0.5-1.0 credit course from the Outdoor Education category.
  3. Two courses from the Philosophy /Environmental Studies/Art category, preferably from different disciplines
  4. One course from the sciences with field lab category.
  5. One additional 1.0 credit course form any category or a relevant FYP or FYS course.

*Courses in these required categories include but are not limited to the list below; refer questions to the director.

Outdoor Education

100.       Outdoor Studies Core Course
101.       Modern Outdoor Recreation Ethics (0.5 units)
115.       Introduction to Snow Science and Avalanches.
249.       Introduction to River Dynamics and Safety
251.       Advanced Topics of Outdoor Leadership.

Science with Field Lab

Biology

121.        The Natural World
209.        Vertebrate Natural History
215.        Invertebrate Biology
218.        Ornithology
221.        General Ecology*
227.        Mammalogy
224.        Biology of Plants
258.        Ethnobotany
325.        Mycology
330.        Ecology of Lakes and Rivers
335.        Winter Ecology
360.        Marine Ecology
380.        Tropical Ecology*
440.        Conservation Biology
4001.       Medicinal Plant Ecology

Geology

103.        The Dynamic Earth
211.        Geomorphology
216.        Sedimentology
320.        Regional Field Studies
350.        Structural Geology

Physics

102.    Introduction to Astronomy

English /Philosophy/Environmental Studies/Religious Studies/Sociology/Arts/

English

231.         Adirondack Literature
243.         Creative Non-Fiction Writing+
282.         Going Locavore*
293.         Literary Harvest*
295.         Nature and Environmental Writing*
308.        Advanced Creative Non-Fiction Writing+
328.        English Romanticism
334.        Reading the Land: Pastoral and Georgic Literature*
346.        American Literature and the Environment*
352.        Contemporary Literature and the Environment*

Philosophy

310.        Philosophy of the Environment

Environmental Studies

235.         Foundations of Environmental Thought
249.        Outdoor Recreation and Public Land
263.         Global Change and Sustainability
326.        Once and Future Forests
333.        Climate Change Politics and Advocacy
343.        Ecology and Political Thought
371.        Landscape Ecology

Religious Studies

103.        Religion & Ecology

Sociology

187.       Environment and Society *

Art

256.        Art and Nature

*Dual-listed with Environmental Studies
+Only sections including experiences in nature satisfy this requirement.

Intensive Off-Campus Track

  1. Four and a half units taken during the Adirondack Semester.
  2. One 1 unit elective from the Outdoor Education (other than ODST 111), Field Science or Philosophy/Literature/Environmental Studies/Arts categories, or a relevant FYP or FYS