Loyola adds Environmental Communication minor

Finisha O'Quinn, a student in the Digital Media and Storytelling graduate program, shoots video at a nature preserve in Puerto Rico.

With an increasing need for knowledge, understanding and communication about climate change, environmental sustainability, alternative energy and biodiversity, Loyola University Chicago is launching a new minor in Environmental Communication.

The minor will be available to Loyola students in Fall 2020 and will comprise a variety of courses offered by the Institute for Environmental Sustainability and the School of Communication.

The 18-credit-hour minor will provide students with a background in environmental science and policy, and training in how to communicate environmental issues to the world.

To understand science and policy, students can choose from courses such as Biodiversity & Biogeography, Energy and the Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability, and Environmental Justice.

To better share news and information about these issues, students will take classes such as Environmental Journalism, Video and Audio Production, Web Design, Environmental Advocacy, and Communication and Social Movements.  

The new Environmental Communication minor is the result of a partnership between Loyola’s Institute for Environmental Sustainability and School of Communication.

IES Dean Nancy Tuchman and SOC Dean Hong Cheng assembled a committee made up of faculty and administrators from both schools, who were charged with exploring the possibility of interdisciplinary collaboration.

A collaboration made sense because over the years, the IES and SOC worked to create several courses that were suited for students in both schools, including Environmental Journalism, Digital Media and the Environment, and Environmental Advocacy.

The demand for these courses was clear: with an increased global focus on climate change, environmental sustainability, alternative energy sources, biodiversity and other issues, students in both schools and other Loyola programs sought skills in how to better share these stories with the world.

“This new minor is a strategic response to some growing market needs and is built upon Loyola’s unique strengths,” said Hong Cheng, dean of the School of Communication. Excited about “this first step in the interdisciplinary partnership to address a global issue,” Cheng looks forward to “more collaboration between these two remarkable schools.”

Click here for the complete Environmental Communication minor course offerings and contact the academic advisers in either IES or SOC for additional information.