Major/Minor
Environmental Studies
Environmental Studies majors/minors dig into the relationships between water, land, air, and life. You will think and create in multiple disciplines, learning about conservation, sustainability, and how to mitigate climate change. Explore sample courses and career areas, including conservation, sustainability, land use, and public policy.
Major/Minor
Exercise Physiology
As an Exercise Physiology major, you'll gain the knowledge and skills for the management of health and fitness programs (in corporate and clinical settings), for personal training and other related careers, and for graduate study in exercise physiology and public health.
Major/Minor
Film and Media Studies
The Film and Media Studies minor explores film and media's historical, political, social, economic, and cultural impact. Learn about classes and careers in this minor, and how you'll expand your video and film production and critical thinking.
Major/Minor
French
French majors/minors explore speaking, listening, reading, and writing in an immersive language environment with native French-speaking faculty in the Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department (MLLC). You'll study art and literature, discuss politics, colonization, and history, and grow your understanding of French-speaking cultures.
Major/Minor
Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies
As a GWSS major/minor you will examine gender and sexuality as cultural and social categories that organize and shape human experience. You will also explore how they intersect with other social differences such as race, class, ethnicity, nationality, religion, ability, and age. Sample courses and career paths here.
Major/Minor
Geography
Geography majors/minors draw on natural and social sciences to understand Earth’s environments and how humans respond to and transform them. You'll touch on sustainable land use, migration, globalization, climate change, urbanization, and environmental justice. You can also choose Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as an emphasis, gaining map-making skills.
Major/Minor
Geology
Gustavus Geology majors/minors study the history of Earth and its life forms, learn about our changing global systems, and discover and preserve natural resources. Field, laboratory, and analytical research are emphasized, and you'll work with a close-knit community of faculty and students as you study landscapes, climate, natural hazards, mountain building, and the evolution and extinction of life on field trips in Minnesota and beyond. It's rocks and fossils and so much more. You'll graduate with the skills for multiple career paths.
Major/Minor
Health and Physical Education
Health and Physical Education (HPE) majors prepare to work with people of all ages and in many movement-related settings. Those who complete a major in HPE with state teaching licensure are typically preparing for work in K-12 educational settings, such as in Physical Education (Phy Ed., P.E.), and coaching. Majors also pursue graduate study in kinesiology-related disciplines. See sample courses and careers here.
Major/Minor
History
History majors and minors learn how to ask good questions, use evidence to evaluate change and continuity, analyze cause and effect, put information in context, condense data into logic, and apply relevant information to understand the past and present. You will be a strong writer, researcher, and interpreter of information.
Major/Minor
Japanese Studies
Majors/minors in Japanese Studies become open to opportunities with and related to a global economic power. Japanese Studies goes far beyond language skills. Check out these sample courses and careers.
Major/Minor
Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies
Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies (LALACS) majors/minors discover the rewards of crossing borders. Discover more about LALACS, including sample courses, careers, and features.
Major/Minor
Mathematics
As a Mathematics major/minor, you'll learn to ask challenging questions, make valuable connections, collaborate, explain complex problems, and use evidence-based reasoning. You'll explore patterns, the tools to understand them, and extrapolate ideas in an abstract setting. See sample classes and careers (including data, analysis, and actuarial science) here.