Program Review Environmental Studies

Mission Statement

The study of language and literature offers practice in the discipline of paying attention to the beauty and brokenness of the created order as students learn to read carefully, think critically, and write with rhetorical sensitivity.

As our students explore various genres across various centuries, they will investigate the interplay of form and content as well as the interaction of text and historical context. As they wrestle with the ethical questions implicit in texts, they will examine their own assumptions, even as they witness an expansion of their sympathies. As they gain new knowledge of the understanding and use of the English language, our students will view the expressive capacity of English, in all its complexity, as an invaluable gift of which they are to be faithful stewards.

Program Learning Outcomes

The links below lead to information about the department's most recent assessment of student learning relative to our program learning outcomes.

  1. Core knowledge. Students will demonstrate an interdisciplinary knowledge of the environment and complex environmental issues.
  2. Faith Integration. Students will be able to identify and articulate theological and ethical approaches to environmental issues.
  3. Career Development. Students will develop skills and strategies for pursuing future educational and employment opportunities.

Key Questions

  1. How is the Westmont Garden currently serving the academic program, and how can its impact be expanded in a range of disciplines?
  2. How are sustainability initiatives (involving the physical plant, dining commons, physical infrastructure, etc.) at Westmont currently serving the academic program, and how can their impact be expanded in a range of disciplines?

Program Review Resources

  1. Curriculum Map
    A curriculum map is a visual representation of the structure of program curriculum. The map charts program courses, syllabi, and assessments as they relate to the intended program learning outcomes. In other words, a curriculum map is the intellectual linkage that presents twenty plus courses as a story of learning.

  2. Multi-year Assessment Plan
    A multi-year assessment plan shows what program learning outcomes will be assessed in what years. 

    2026