Degree Requirements

All entering students take this interdisciplinary, seminar-style course. The course helps build a community of learners to explore the questions of human ecology from the perspectives of the arts, humanities and sciences, both in and outside the classroom. 

Three multi-disciplinary areas organize the curriculum.  A distribution of courses from each area helps a student become familiar with a range of methodologies, perspectives, and practices and to incorporate these into her or his own work. Students must take at least two courses in each resource area, each from a different faculty member.

• Arts & Design (AD). Includes almost all classes in the visual and performing arts, as well as music. Art and music history classes meet the AD requirement, too, but at least one of your AD classes must be a studio course.
• Environmental Sciences (ES). Includes courses in biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. Almost all science classes meet the ES requirement.
• Human Studies (HS). Includes the humanities and social sciences: literature, philosophy, history, economics, law, politics, psychology, business, and so on. Almost all human studies classes meet the HS requirement.

There are two parts to the writing requirement.

1. Coursework: The purpose of writing courses is to support students’ continued literacy development to prepare them for academic and professional writing and critical engagement with texts and ideas. As such, all entering students must take a writing course in their first year. Course offerings can be found here. Note that this requirement cannot be waived.
2. Portfolio: The purpose of the portfolio is to assess students’ literacy development. Students will submit their portfolio no later than the third term after they have completed 18 credits. For most students, this is the third week of the Fall term of their junior year. If students need additional support, they will work with a tutor, or in some cases, take another writing course. Additional information and submission guidelines can be found here. [Back to top]

All students must take at least one quantitative reasoning (QR) class.  All math and physics courses meet this requirement, as do many classes in chemistry and economics. There are QR classes taught at all levels, so you’ll be able find a good course for you, whatever your math background.

Students must take at least one history (HY) class. Historical study is the sustained enquiry of human experience from a range of perspectives that takes into account primary sources such as oral narratives, textual discourses, art forms, and material culture originating in specific places and periods. It is through the broader field of vision present through a human ecological enquiry that the study of history transforms our understanding of the past, present, and helps to fathom what could or needs to happen next.

All COA students must complete either a 440-hour or a 320-hour off-campus internship.

The Human Ecology Essay is a work of exposition, argumentation, extended description, or narration in which a student chooses and develops a subject of personal or social significance and explores her or his perspective on human ecology. The form and content of Human Ecology Essays vary widely. The Human Ecology Essay must be approved by the student’s advisor and one other faculty reader.

All students must complete at least 40 hours of community service prior to their last term of enrollment. There are opportunities for community service projects on campus and off.

The senior project is a three-credit independent effort required for the human ecology degree. A significant intellectual endeavor, experiment, research project, or original work, the senior project both expands understanding in a particular academic area and brings together the skills and knowledge acquired during the student’s college career. Earning three credits, the senior project is a major work at an advanced level, occupying at least a full term. All students design their own senior project, so you can come up with a senior project that is the perfect finale for your personalized human ecology degree.