Creating Undergraduate Majors in Environment, Sustainability and Health Equity

FAIN: AKA-285784-22

Regents of the University of California, Riverside (Riverside, CA 92521-0001)
Dana Simmons (Project Director: September 2021 to present)
Chikako Takeshita (Co Project Director: January 2022 to present)
Ellen Reese (Co Project Director: January 2022 to present)
Juliann Emmons Allison (Co Project Director: January 2022 to present)
Catherine Gudis (Co Project Director: January 2022 to present)

Implementation of two majors in a new Department of Environment, Sustainability, and Health Equity.

At the University of California, Riverside (UCR), in collaboration with community partners in Inland Southern California and units across our campus, a multidisciplinary group of faculty is planning two new undergraduate majors in a new Department of Environment, Sustainability and Health Equity (ESHQ). Our goal for the NEH Planning Grant will be to develop humanities educational strategies as a basis for compelling and accessible narratives of environmental sustainability and health equity.

Associated Products

Department of Society, Environment and Health Equity (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Department of Society, Environment and Health Equity
Author: Dana Simmons
Author: Ellen Reese
Author: Chikako Takeshita
Author: Juliann Emmons Allison
Author: Ann Cheney
Author: Kim Yi Dionne
Author: Tanya Nieri
Author: Jade Sasser
Author: Catherine Gudis
Abstract: Environment, sustainability, and health equity are at the center of UCR’s vision for its future role in scholarship and public service. The Department of Society, Environment and Health Equity (SEHE) will offer a curriculum and research program grounded in the tools and concepts of the arts, humanities and social sciences. The department’s interdisciplinary orientation and focus on local environmental and health equity needs encourage faculty and students to address complex social, medical, and environmental problems, and to prepare undergraduate students to serve the complex and diverse needs of the Inland Southern California region. SEHE undergraduate degrees will prepare students for high-demand careers and post-graduate study in areas such as health care, health policy, sustainability, and “green” jobs. The program integrates theoretical rigor, civic and social engagement, community service, and the methodological tools of community-engaged and community-driven research. By placing equity and justice at the center of sustainability and environmental practices, the SEHE Department will prepare students to address cascading factors associated with deteriorating health and quality of life among impacted communities. Our graduates will receive training that will prepare them to reimagine solutions for overcoming barriers to sustainability and health equity.
Year: 2023
Audience: Undergraduate

B.A. degree program in Environmental Studies (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: B.A. degree program in Environmental Studies
Author: Takeshita, Chikako
Author: Emmons Allison, Juliann
Author: Sasser, Jade
Author: Reese, Ellen
Author: Simmons, Dana
Author: Leebaw, Bronwyn
Author: Gudis, Catherine
Author: Raheja, Michelle
Abstract: The goal of the Environmental Studies B.A. program is to utilize humanities and social sciences approaches to equip students with vital knowledge, theory, and skills for engaging and contributing to a world in which environmental degradation occupies an increasingly important place in society as it intersects with health and well-being, economics, politics, ethics, and human values. Historically, ecological degradations have been closely tied to colonialism, racial discrimination, dispossession from native lands, and most significantly to global capitalism. Recently, the U.S. government has announced a more aggressive plan to counter climate change while acknowledging the importance of incorporating social and environmental justice into its ongoing policy and planning. The Environmental Studies major exposes students to the complex relations between broader issues such as economic growth and globalization, planning and governance, hunger and poverty, structural racism and gender inequality, health equity, community organizing and resilience, and human/non-human coexistence and a range of environmental challenges, including climate change and extreme weather events, air and water pollution, toxic contamination, energy demands, deforestation and desertification, conservation of biodiversity and food and water security. Graduates can apply their knowledge and skills to developing, organizing, communicating, and overseeing socially conscious and culturally sensitive projects aimed at improving environmental conditions in various occupations, including public service, urban and environmental planning, policy advocacy, health care, green industry and B-corporations, outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, international development, higher education, and non-profit organizations.
Year: 2024
Primary URL: http://sehe.ucr.edu
Audience: Undergraduate

Minor in Environmental Studies (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Minor in Environmental Studies
Author: Takeshita, Chikako
Author: Emmons Allison, Juliann
Author: Sasser, Jade
Author: Simmons, Dana
Author: Reese, Ellen
Author: Leebaw, Bronwyn
Author: Raheja, Michelle
Author: Gudis, Catherine
Abstract: The goal of the Environmental Studies minor is to utilize humanities and social sciences approaches to equip students with vital knowledge, theory, and skills for engaging and contributing to a world in which environmental degradation occupies an increasingly important place in society as it intersects with health and well-being, economics, politics, ethics, and human values. Historically, ecological degradations have been closely tied to colonialism, racial discrimination, dispossession from native lands, and most significantly to global capitalism. Recently, the U.S. government has announced a more aggressive plan to counter climate change while acknowledging the importance of incorporating social and environmental justice into its ongoing policy and planning. The Environmental Studies minor exposes students to the complex relations between broader issues such as economic growth and globalization, planning and governance, hunger and poverty, structural racism and gender inequality, health equity, community organizing and resilience, and human/non-human coexistence and a range of environmental challenges, including climate change and extreme weather events, air and water pollution, toxic contamination, energy demands, deforestation and desertification, conservation of biodiversity and food and water security. Graduates can apply their knowledge and skills to developing, organizing, communicating, and overseeing socially conscious and culturally sensitive projects aimed at improving environmental conditions in various occupations, including public service, urban and environmental planning, policy advocacy, health care, green industry and B-corporations, outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, international development, higher education, and non-profit organizations.
Year: 2024
Primary URL: http://sehe.ucr.edu
Audience: Undergraduate

B.A. degree program in Global and Community Health (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: B.A. degree program in Global and Community Health
Author: Reese, Ellen
Author: Simmons, Dana
Author: Syvertsen, Jennifer
Author: Nieri, Tanya
Author: Dionne, Kim Yi
Author: Takeshita, Chikako
Author: Sasser, Jade
Author: Lee, Chioun
Abstract: The B.A. degree in Global and Community Health addresses “social, interpersonal, community, and cultural influences on health, development, and well-being across the life span” (NIH). GCH courses will offer students the opportunity to study social inequities and health -- issues that deeply matter to them -- in theoretically grounded scholarly literature that transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Majors will be exposed to innovative and community-engaged approaches that prepare them to create and communicate evidence-based ideas and solutions to overcome these inequities. Majors will come to understand how to read statistical data and how to communicate it to broader audiences, how to analyze relationships between the local, national and global scales, and how to identify structural causes of individual outcomes. Topics include reproductive health, occupational health, environmental health, mental health, aging, interpersonal violence, food and nourishment, drugs and addiction, global health and legacies of colonialism, and the impacts of racism, ableism, and gender discrimination. The GCH major will provide an academic space in which students can understand their own and others’ lived experiences of health disparities, using arts, humanities and social sciences methodologies, while building knowledge and skills that empower them to promote change.
Year: 2024
Primary URL: http://sehe.ucr.edu
Audience: Undergraduate

Minor in Global and Community Health (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Minor in Global and Community Health
Author: Simmons, Dana
Author: Reese, Ellen
Author: Syvertsen, Jennifer
Author: Takeshita, Chikako
Author: Sasser, Jade
Author: Dionne, Kim Yi
Author: Nieri, Tanya
Author: Lee, Chioun
Abstract: The minor in Global and Community Health addresses “social, interpersonal, community, and cultural influences on health, development, and well-being across the life span” (NIH). GCH courses will offer students the opportunity to study social inequities and health -- issues that deeply matter to them -- in theoretically grounded scholarly literature that transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Minors will be exposed to innovative and community-engaged approaches that prepare them to create and communicate evidence-based ideas and solutions to overcome these inequities. Minors will come to understand how to read statistical data and how to communicate it to broader audiences, how to analyze relationships between the local, national and global scales, and how to identify structural causes of individual outcomes. Topics include reproductive health, occupational health, environmental health, mental health, aging, interpersonal violence, food and nourishment, drugs and addiction, global health and legacies of colonialism, and the impacts of racism, ableism, and gender discrimination. The GCH minor will provide an academic space in which students can understand their own and others’ lived experiences of health disparities, using arts, humanities and social sciences methodologies, while building knowledge and skills that empower them to promote change.
Year: 2024
Primary URL: http://sehe.ucr.edu
Audience: Undergraduate

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