GENDER,
JUSTICE and ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (GJEC) is a graduate
specialization available as an elective for students who are enrolled
in master's and doctoral degree programs at Michigan State University.
The specialization is sponsored jointly by the College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources and the College of Social Science. This
program, first offered in Fall 2000, is the first of its kind
in the nation explicitly focusing on the intersection of gender,
environmental change, and social and environmental justice. The
program is designed in particular to examine these issues and
processes from both local and global perspectives, challenging
traditional dichotomies between the First and Third Worlds, the
North and the South.
The Issues
Researchers, policy-makers, and activists have increasingly recognized
the critical importance of these interlocking dimensions for understanding
the social relations underlying many environmental problems, from
Love Canal in New York to the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. Examples
of emerging scholarship in this field include how gender, class,
race, and ethnicity intersect in:
- the environmental politics of international issues such as
biotechnology and globalization
- grassroots environmental justice movements' use and management
of natural resources
- feminist environmental economics/human-environment relations
in history and in literature
The Program
The GJEC program offers graduate students a supportive and rigorous
academic environment for exploring these issues, as well as credentials
demonstrating specialized training in the field. The certification
of the specialization will appear on the student's transcript.
The specialization is intended to:
-
provide graduate students from different disciplinary backgrounds
with the analytical and methodological tools to address environmental
issues from gender relations and social justice perspectives
-
provide students with a global perspective on environmental
issues by drawing out local-global linkages
-
foster the growth of research, service, and interdisciplinary
collaboration in the fields of gender and environmental studies
-
increase awareness among faculty, students, and the public
of the linkages between gender and the environment, both domestically
and internationally
The program is flexible and multidisciplinary in design and
faculty and student participation. Students in natural science
fields can use the specialization to integrate gender and justice
concerns with their regular program. Students in social sciences
will be exposed to the background, concepts, and methods of environmental
studies necessary to communicate with natural scientists and policy
makers. The GJEC Coordinator will assist the student in planning
a program of study that is related to the student's interests,
capabilities, and professional goals. With the approval of the
department and college that administer the student's degree program,
the courses that are used to satisfy the requirements for the
specialization may also be used to satisfy the requirements for
the master's or doctoral degree.
GJEC Program Flyer (pdf format)
GJEC Fellowships
Program
GJEC Internship
Program
Women
and International Development Program (WID)