The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Carleton College a grant of almost $300,000 in support of new initiatives in the Environmental and Technology Studies (ENTS) program.
The grant will fund the development of new approaches for teaching and learning in interdisciplinary environmental studies. New initiatives supported by the grant include new interdisciplinary core courses, faculty development and a new fifth-year intern position to provide research support for students in the program.
The ENTS program at Carleton began in 1974, growing out of the College’s commitment to prepare students to understand and respond to complex issues involving environmental change, particularly those caused by current and emerging patterns of global economic development. ENTS is one of several interdisciplinary concentrations at the college, and is currently the most popular.
The Mellon grant will fund the development of student and faculty research at off-campus sites, including urban areas and Southwestern desert areas. The grant will fund further collaboration of faculty from the sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts. The sequence of ENTS core courses—the Gateway Course, Junior Colloquium, and Senior Capstone Project—also will be redesigned.
Carleton president Robert A. Oden Jr. says the initiative is “not only a maturing of faculty involvement in ENTS, but also an opportunity for advancing student learning.”
Ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts institutions, Carleton is a private, co-educational college of 1,900 students located 40 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul. High academic standards, an excellent teaching faculty and a diverse student body contribute to Carleton’s outstanding reputation.