Courses will be offered in the three Areas of Expertise: Economics, Environment, and Society. The requirement is that 24 credits must be taken, with 15 credits in one area, 6 credits in a second area and 3 credits in a third area. This corresponds to the “5:2:1 Rule” of five courses, two courses, and one course in each of the three areas. The College of Arts & Sciences B.A. requires a minimum of 42 major credits with 24 credits at the 300-level or above. Overall, 39 credits must be completed at the 300-level and above.
For the full list of elective courses that can count toward the ENS, consult the UK Undergraduate Bulletin or your degree audit in myUK. If you know of a potential elective class that is not these lists, one that you would like to take, please contact the ENS faculty advisor. The UK Course Catalog will inform you as to which specific electives are presently available for you to register for. Before each semester starts, check this webpage (see below) to see a listing of the upcoming elective courses to be offered. Spring 2023 courses are forthcoming - look for them after the Fall 2022 midterm.
The Areas of Expertise are designed to be general in order to ensure that the topics incorporate aspects of traditional disciplinary subjects, while not being restricted by such boundaries. The course listings are sufficiently extensive to maximize the students’ ability to craft a B.A. degree according to their interests and career goals, while remaining within a structured program. In time, thematic concentrations may be identified and developed based on the clusters of courses selected by the students (see https://ens.as.uky.edu/thematic-concentrations-0).
1. Economics Area of Expertise
A sustainable balance must be made between economic gain and protection of natural resources. Governments must determine policy and institute laws to provide the necessary protection of natural resources, and provide the guidelines for any development. This Area will provide the students with training in the interconnectedness of economics, policy and development. The students will have the freedom to select clusters of courses suited to their career goals. For example, students anticipating careers in business may select courses related to economics and those planning to go to Law School may focus on policy courses.
2. Environment Area of Expertise
This area will build upon the fundamental natural science knowledge obtained in ENS 202 and the subjects taken to fulfill the A&S requirements. Students will be able to select from courses spanning a wide range of environmental subjects in order to focus on a subject of their specific interest. For example, this Area could be used to observe how societies have influenced the natural world from historic to modern times, the impact of development on ecology, and how climate change today compares to changes that occurred in the past.
3. Society Area of Expertise
This Area explores the way human society interacts with the environment. “Coupled human-natural systems” (as labeled by the NSF) are a primary driver of environmental change, and also a key source of solutions to environmental problems. This Area will build students’ knowledge of the mutually influencing human-environment dynamic.
