learn about applying to the program 

We welcome applications throughout the year, though we encourage students to apply by the January deadline for admission the following Fall. Students are also welcome to contact Jacob Hamblin, Director of Environmental Arts and Humanities, to talk in more detail about the program (jacob.hamblin@oregonstate.edu). Click here for application instructions.

What are the environmental arts and humanities?

The arts and humanities (philosophy, history, religious studies, literature, music, theater, etc.) are conceptual discourses that work in the world of creative imagination, conceptual analysis, and historical and moral reasoning. In contrast, the sciences, natural resource sciences, and social sciences (zoology, chemistry, fisheries, sociology, anthropology, etc.) are empirical discourses that work in the world of experimental and observational data, models, and the scientific method. The M.A. in Environmental Arts and Humanities builds upon, and adds to, the collaborative nature of faculty and student engagement across these disciplines at OSU.

Students in the program deepen their understanding of the cultural, moral, historical, spiritual, creative, and communication dimensions of environmental issues. Students also have the opportunity to learn arts/humanities-based skills and understandings of the natural environment and to create transdisciplinary discourse among environmental arts and humanities and the sciences.

What can I do with a degree in Environmental Arts and humanities? 

During their graduate studies, students form an understanding of transdisciplinary work that can be the foundation of new forms of cultural and ecological thriving on a chaotic, increasingly crowded planet. Students will graduate prepared for good, wise work in such positions as environmental non-profit organizations, government and land agencies, advocacy groups, corporations, green business, journalism, conservation and stewardship, formal and informal education, and other environmental positions that require strong, creative communication and reasoning skill sets and humanistic understanding.

 

What Academic programs does OSU offer in Environmental arts and humanities?   

OSU offers four options for students to study Environmental Arts and Humanities at the graduate level. 

  1. The MA in Environmental Arts and Humanities is designed for students with undergraduate degrees in the arts/humanities or the environmental/natural resource sciences and a deep interest in broadening their education to include arts/humanities-based perspectives and skills. In its foundation courses, the M.A. will provide students a reciprocal understanding of the working methods of environmental science and environmental arts/humanities.  Then it invites students to focus on one of three graduate areas of concentration: environmental imagination (arts, communication, creative writing, moral imagination), environmental action (community leadership, movement building, media power, cultural diversity, social justice, the history of structural change), or environmental thinking (moral reasoning, critical thinking about environmental issues, conceptual analysis of complex problems, reasoning with facts and values).  Students in the M.A. program will learn these skills in the context of work in a particular area of concern, work that will include courses, collaborative field experience, and the thesis or project. 
  2. The Graduate Minor in Environmental Arts and Humanities allows students to complement a MA, MS, or PhD at Oregon State University. The EAH Graduate Minor will provide students with an in-depth understanding of conceptual discourses (e.g., philosophy, history, religious studies, literature, music, theater, etc.) that work in the world of creative imagination, conceptual analysis, and historical and moral reasoning.
  3. Environmental Arts and Humanities can serve as a field of study within the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) degree. The MAIS degree program provides an opportunity for motivated students to bring together three disciplines in a course of study that leads to an integration of all three fields. The purpose of integrating the three fields is to provide a new, more holistic insight into an issue, question, or problem in which the student has a passion or interest.
  4. The Environmental Arts and Humanities master program is partnering with the Sustainability Double Degree undergraduate program to offer students an opportunity to earn an accelerated Master of Arts in Environmental Arts and Humanities. Students in the Accelerated Master’s Program can fulfill their undergraduate elective class requirements by taking graduate classes in the Environmental Arts and Humanities. These elective classes will count toward both an undergraduate and graduate degree. Students in the Accelerated Master’s Program will have completed 12-15 graduate credits toward the MA in Environmental Arts and Humanities when they finish their undergraduate program.