Environmental Humanities
Environmental Humanities scholarship responds to the long history of environmental exploitation of colonized peoples, and the economic, ecological, racial, and gendered dimensions of such exploitation. It is interested in understanding current resource wars, food shortages, the rise of epidemics, the importance of multispecies imaginaries, and the place of nation-state politics at a time of climate breakdown. It argues that to better understand and respond to the climate crisis, both scientific and humanities perspectives are equally crucial.
Environmental Humanities Initiative
The Environmental Humanities Initiative brings together a broad range of research strengths and interests in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts. HFA highlights the following courses related to the Environmental Humanities and Social Justice. Courses and programs being offered each semester integrate content from a diverse range of perspectives; they foster critical thinking, research, and writing skills, and provide a wide range of perspectives to analyze what we commonly term as environmental.
Specialization in English
In addition, the Department of English offers a Specialization in Environmental Humanities for students majoring in English. Students who earn this specialization have a comprehensive understanding of the roles of capital, culture, and politics at a time of rapid climate change. They engage with literature and other arts from across the globe, and also gain a firm understanding of the socio-cultural and environmental dimensions of the climate crisis.
If you are not an English major but would like to pursue this specialization, please reach out to msen [at] umass [dot] edu (msen[at]umass[dot]edu).
Sustainability Initiatives
HFA faculty are involved in a number of key sustainability initiatives on campus such as the Sustainability Strategy Working Group, Sustainable Ewe Mass, Carbon Zero, and Paperbark magazine. They regularly take part in campus-wide interdisciplinary research collectives such as the Climate Research Group of the Institute for Diversity Sciences and the Anthropocene Lab, and campus-wide transdisciplinary projects and exhibitions such as The Futuring Lab and The Renaissance of the Earth.
Each year, the English Department works closely with the School of Earth and Sustainability to host the much-admired Art Sustainability Activism series of events.
Related Scholarships
Allen Davis and Nancy Mainor Social Justice Activism Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to students with demonstrated interest in and activities that address social and economic justice, with a preference for those addressing institutional racism. Students can apply via AcademicWorks.
Evans Family Environmental Conservation Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to students entering their senior year from any school or college at UMass Amherst in recognition of exemplary work on any aspect of the environment completed as part of his or her studies. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.7 or above and a recommendation of the professor for whom the work was completed. Students can apply via AcademicWorks.
Environmental Justice Fund
This scholarship supports undergraduate students with a demonstrated commitment to creating change in the context of environmental racism and related social justice issues. Rising juniors and seniors must have an existing commitment to activism through writing for a public audience and other ways of raising awareness, including through academic, campus, or community involvement. Preference will be for a student in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts with a GPA of 3.5 or more. Students can apply via AcademicWorks.
Upcoming Events
View the Environmental Humanities calendar.
Learn More
For more about this exciting area of research, please visit the Environmental Humanities website and the Environmental Humanities English Department page.