The Fallacy of Environmental Studies? Critiques of Canadian Interdisciplinary Programs‪.‬

This essay examines the evolving trends in Canada's academic "environmental studies" programs as a means for questioning the nature of interdisciplinarity in curriculum and research. In bringing together a survey of forty-four English-language program websites, program documents and critical research on academic environmental education and interdisciplinarity, I highlight some significant patterns that echo the concerns John Livingston raised three decades ago about the narrowing of environmental thought in his seminal analysis The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation. This is not to say the issues are exactly the same, for in the academic context of this essay the dominant concern is with the influence of disciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary ways of coming to knowledge. A number of trends are highlighted that suggest environmental studies curricula can be challenged by the influence of disciplinary traditions, the university's institutional predispositions and broader political economic forces. After considering these trends and their potential challenges, the essay concludes with an analysis of some common visions on the nature of a broad interdisciplinary curriculum for environmental studies. Resume