It provides an understanding of the material world as well as the ecological, social, and cultural processes and problems that bind that world together. Through the study of politics, biology, literature, chemistry, social work, economics, and history, environmental studies students focus on the most pressing local, regional, national, and global issues of our day.

Augsburg College?s location in the city offers a particular opportunity for the close study of complex urban environments. Although many equate environmental issues with rural areas, most people live in cities. Urban residents shape nature in innumerable ways, including through energy, food, and water consumption, transportation, and industrial production. In turn, cities often serve as the settings in which environmental injustice flourishes. With that in mind, Augsburg?s environmental studies program fosters the simultaneous study of ecological quality and social justice.