THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES by Tehreem Nawaz

Literature review
The article emphases in a wonderful form of debate, on the basic importance of a discipline “the curricular” and its prerequisite, the curricular of any discipline which should be recognized universally and must have same core topics to be studied round the world. Then Environment Studies would be called discipline.
Until 1960s Environmental studies programs in various institutions at different levels had been studied with all the courses of environmental study offered by each educational institution without pre requisite requirement as free-standing programs. Latterly the environmental programs evolved in to desperate fields within forestry and natural resources, to defined environmental studies and the clear statements about its curricular content and educational objectives have remained difficult to describe. For the environmental studies a specific curricular is to be given, has more important and significant. After more than a quarter century old Environment Studies now is in a new phase of growing and expansion, the need for its distinct identity is being more felt. Because of that it is needed to set its curricular with consciences, lest environmental education should not go in some political interests. Present trend is tending to bring environmental studies into a undefined able discipline.
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Debate in this article took start from evolution of environmental studies from more than a century back with the definition by Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946)1, and John Wesley Powell (1834-1902)2, that ( “ Conservation originally meant pragmatic husbanding of natural resources, using the best science of the day and the mechanisms of government (legislation, management, and enforcement) to achieve these ends.” ) This definition of conservation was firstly by part of their sort of gift was to e the character of an institution school of forestry, fisheries, and wildlife management in most land grant colleges
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(Williams 1989), and their views dominated higher education in natural resources and the environment until the 1960s. The vision of John Muir (1838-1914)3 and Robert Marshall (1901-1939)4, was reserved advanced lands in national parks, securing them forever from commercial
1Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946), the first chief of the US Forest Service,
2John Wesley Powell (1834-1902), the first director of the US Geological Survey; 3John Muir (1838-1914), of the Sierra Club; 4Robert Marshall (1901-1939), of the Wilderness Society

------------------------------------------------- exploitation. Later, Aldo Leopold (1887- 1948) attempted to bridge the conservationist and preservationist philosophies by advocating a more comprehensive definition of resources and a more ecological system of values until relatively recently, environmental education continued to focus on exercising good judgment on common sense use of natural resources.New environmental studies programs like physical and life scientists concerned with toxicological and epidemiological effects of pesticides and other pollutants, social scientists who were concerned with the emerging fields of environmental policy, policy analysis, and law, resource base sustainable economic, afterwards Environmental studies was become less science or of a concern about the proper management of forests and fisheries than of a concern about health, nature, and the quality of life a social movement anchored in academia. Attention of professors and students jointly stepped in academic new era emphasis only on the basics and background of environmental problems but also directed the attention of students to issues of lifestyle and consumption, as per reflection of society and nature. The political implications of these programs focused on the need for social change distinguished them from their management oriented predecessors (e.g., Callicott 1980)5.
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Sears 1964, Shepard and McKinley 1969, were the first in academic experimentation in Environmental studies programs they were pioneers in academic experimentation, and ecology the "subversive science" (Sears 1964, Shepard and McKinley 1969)- was often the centerpiece of the environmental studies curriculum. Text-books and major sources included works by Eugene Odum (1971), George Woodwell (1970), Paul and Anne Ehrlich and John Holdren (1970), and Garret Hardin (1968). By the 1970s, the courses listed in most institutions for environmental studies curricula has depended on which faculty could do, at the end of this early phase in environmental studies program building saw most schools relying on one or more of areas like environmental science , physical or life sciences applied science focus on sanitation, pollution, land use, and chemical hazards.
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Environmental policy and planning (including economics, political science, and policy analysis and cultural studies with varying emphasis on American nature literature, environmental philosophy, cultural geography, and development studies.Emerging themes, problems, and conflicts a revival from the mid-1980s and onward publicly announced the current situation.
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Another theme that emerged was the solutions to environmental problems that may be appropriate at the local scale, might be inappropriate at a national or international scale, or in another culture. Such themes have provided some identity to environmental studies programs, the

5Callicott JB. 1980. “Animal liberation” A tri- angular affair. Environmental Ethics 2: 311-338.

------------------------------------------------- growth of knowledge and the rapid spreading of new fields have make troublesome the lack of logical connection in many curricula, sometimes causing a rapid growth, confused menu of unrelated courses. From last 15 years those subjects added to the environmental studies curriculum, are the new fields of conservation biology, ecological economics, sustainable agriculture, development studies, conflict resolution, environmental justice, and environmental ethics. Whereas the need to understand global biophysical processes and global commerce and their environmental and social impacts has stimulated curricular growth
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Environmental studies are virtually limitless. On human’s every step economy and many aspects of culture affect the environment are affected by it. And in the absence of a consensus about the environmental studies curricular remain being bulldozed against logical basis for excluding course areas. Environmental studies programs are bombarded with requests and demands by both students and the faculty for new courses and curricular emphases. These earnest requests, when considered individually, often appear to be reasonable. And even if the merits of particular proposals are questionable, faculty may be reluctant to objections, given their fear of offending some group or being labeled as to belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources or who do not believe in favoring social equality.
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Considering whether environmental studies are a discipline, multidiscipline, interdisciplinary or environmental studies may not be a discipline. A discipline is a field that is either "vertical" or “horizontal”. Vertical fields include science, economics, and math. In which there is a consensus on the sequence of subjects (prerequisites) that build competence in a linear or hierarchical fashion, until students can clutch with "higher" topics.
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And horizontal fields, such as history or sociology, are less rigid in topics and subject areas that are often taught under the heading of environmental studies “Agroecology Animal rights Anthropology (nature and culture) Atmospheric sciences Bioregionalism Cartography/global information systems Conflict management and resolution Conservation biology Cultural ecology Development studies Ecofeminism Ecological economics Ecological engineering Ecology Economics Energy resources assessment Environmental economics Environmental education Environmental ethics and philosophy Environmental history Environmental interpretation Environmental justice and racism Environmental law Environmental literature Environmental politics and policy Environmental psychology Environmental regulation Environmental toxicology Environmental writing Ethnobiology Fisheries science Forestry Geographic information systems Globalization and the environment Hazard mitigation Human demography Hydrology Integrated pest management International environmental law and policies Interview and survey methods Landscape architecture Landscape ecology Natural history Planning Pollution chemistry Range management Recycling Religion and the environment Restoration ecology Risk assessment Rural sociology Soil ecology Sustainable agriculture Sustainable economic development Sustainable exploitation of natural resources Water policy Watershed management Wildlife biology Wildlife management the sequencing of prerequisites and courses required for the major” does not take environmental studies to a recognized discipline and to having universally recognized curriculum.
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Discussion
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Firstly as given on page 399 a lists of 60 subjects areas that are often taught under the various topics of environmental studies might be appropriate in particular environmental curricula certainly leave impact about the volume of curricula nearly 60 times greater than any discipline. This impact may be the cause that till now consciences has not been developed between the intellectual those are responsible for selecting a curricula, as they look and judge on the base of their own perspective develop in their mind after long study of their own field. They might look with the spectacle of their subject and with showing leniency and compromising attitude on the forming curricula table they accept each other’s views, resulting volume of curricula of environment is being inflated and remain thirsty and still confronted by a spectrum of ideologies that promote conflicting problem for definitions, analyses, and favored solutions.
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Secondly the core curriculum has always resisted definition and to make it systemized. A common solution has been to put together a set of courses according to the faculty's diversity of experience, training, values, and worldviews. This opportunistic approach usually produces an unstable and short solution which cannot live long and is replaced or needs other topics to make it clear and understand able. The list of core essential topics those are believed will equip students to understand, analyze, and help solve environmental problems in an effective manner includes ecology, political science, ecological and natural resource economics, environmental history, environmental policy, energy, pollution chemistry, environmental law, and environmental philosophy etc. These particular topics have been chosen to provide students with a common language and a sufficient depth of knowledge as grounding for further education and to be a good citizenship.
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Thirdly taking various topics from more than 100 disciplines and combining together in the form
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of a curricular under a new name ‘environmental studies’ does not maintain its existence and homogeneity due to dependency upon lot of discipline due to their vertical and horizontal fields
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remain changing by the passage of time for the requirements of developments within each discipline.
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Though my point of view is if we look in to each disciple deeply we will find facts and will reach to a result that every discipline is studied for the welfare and betterment of human being, also applications of study of each discipline is for the ease of human being.
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Within their perimeter each discipline has lot of up and down, for example within the perimeter of physics if light sound x-ray directly give ease to human being, atomic bomb apparently a destructive device is a big source energy that give ease indirectly but study of both opposite topic remain in the perimeter of physic. Similarly pesticides helps in boosting food yield is a poison for living organism; its development and production remain in the perimeter of discipline of chemistry. We observed change of political era of one Govt. changed in to another; if one gives relief then other may not govern well but political ups and down remain in the perimeter of political science discipline.
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So there must be a discipline say “environmental studies” of which studies provide tools and techniques to coordinate and to put a harness on all disciplines when the produce of a applications of a discipline come out from their own perimeter (finished goods ready to use) and interact with the application of resultant of another discipline causing unease for human being. Taking example of pesticide (a finished goods of chemistry), the role of environmental studies should remain in between but outside the perimeters of chemistry and agricultural sciences and act for the betterment of human, by identifying measures taking to mitigate danger of pesticide from its production to its application on crops and on agriculture side protecting contamination and yield of crop, without stepping in both the perimeters of disciplines of chemistry and agriculture. Here it does not require interfering discipline of chemistry or agriculture so need not to study their topics of discipline, the knowledge required from environmental studies should be such as handling, usefulness, harmfulness, validity etc. which are always given on the finished products when the product leave parent discipline (here chemistry and agriculture)
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Mediation and coordination in between the usage of the product of different discipline at one place is not being seen, no discipline is ready to take this responsibility nor can held accountable out of their discipline, resulting betterment of human being ignore and a seat for discipline is vacant.
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So running on these lines Environment studies can become discipline having balanced curricula
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of vertical fields, and will be placed interdisciplinary position.
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