FAQs - Environmental Advocacy and Organizing - Environmental Studies - Antioch University New England

Frequently Asked Questions

Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program

When was this unique program started?
After a three-year period of extended research and development period, ANE gave the final “go-ahead” green light in December 2001 to launch the new master’s program in Environmental Advocacy and Organizing. In Fall 2002, we welcomed our first cohort of students to the program. If you want to be in email contact with some of our current students about the program, let me know.

What kind of masters program will this be?
Graduates from this 50 credit masters program are granted Masters of Science Degrees in Environmental Studies with a core concentration in Environmental Advocacy and Organizing. Now some people assume that an MS is a science degree and are a little scared off if they don’t see themselves becoming natural or social scientists. Yet, the distinction between a Masters of Science (MS) and a Masters of Arts (MA) is not between science degrees on the one hand and arts and humanities degrees on the other. An MS degree simply signifies an applied, practitioner-oriented professional degree as opposed to a more academic MA degree track. As a professional training program for environmental activists hoping to work for grassroots and nonprofit advocacy groups focused on environmental protection, social justice and the democratic control of corporations, our program only makes sense as an MS degree.

What were the inspirations for creating this program?
Download a short discussion of the of the activist training programs in history that have been key inspirations for the creation of the Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program. (PDF 44K)

Is the program offered as a on-line distance learning opportunity?
No. At this point, we are only offering a highly interactive, on-campus program for recent undergraduates and working adults. Students meet together for classes on Thursdays and Fridays (and sometimes on weekends) at Antioch University New England’s campus in Keene, New Hampshire. By and large, students will need to live in the New England area for most of the two years of the program and commute to the campus in order to make this program work for them.

How long does it take to complete the program?
The quickest the program could be completed is in five semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Spring). However, many ES students take a little longer so they can devote a whole semesters to their field practicum and not necessarily be tied to New England for their internship sites. Furthermore, some folks enter the ES Department on a slower, half-time, “extended plan” due to work or family constraints. We try to be as flexible as institutionally possible.

When could I come visit the school and check out the new program?
We can set up a visit by appointment, but you might enjoy coming to our campus to check out the new program during one of our scheduled Visiting Days. Please contact Laura Andrews from the Admissions Office if you want to attend a Visiting Day. If you want to visit campus some other time, please contact Steve Chase, the EAOP’s Director.

What are the key requirements for selection to this program?
We do not require GRE test scores as part of the admissions process because we don’t think they are that useful in predicting successful learning in our programs. We look instead at transcripts, samples of your written work, portfolios of past work experience, letters of recommendation. We also place a lot of emphasis in our personal interviews with prospective students. In this particular program, we are looking for people with a strong concern for the environment and social justice, who are drawn to social movement organizing and public interest advocacy as a long-term calling, and who have the capacity to become effective leaders in the field.

In order to be effective, organizers need to like people; build trust and friendships readily; have a sense of humor; listen well; help people believe in themselves; let others take credit; work hard; be cooperative, self-disciplined, and mature; set limits; not get discouraged too often; have a sense of ethics and vision; be flexible and open to new ideas; and be honest and steadfast even in the face of stress and fear. This is an ideal that none of us completely measures up to, but these are the types of personal qualities that we are looking for in our students.

What about science prerequisites?
As part of this program, you will become familiar with some key concepts of evolutionary biology, environmental science, field ecology, and global ecological change. However, we do not require people to have undergraduate degrees in these fields. Some students in this program will have focused their undergraduate work on liberal arts, communications, nonprofit management, political economy, anthropology, sociology, education, etc. Such diverse backgrounds will add a lot to the learning community of each cohort. However, having already had a few natural science courses will be a huge help to you as you participate in this program. Such classes will serve as a solid foundation for you as you deepen your scientific and ecological literacy in our program. If you have never taken such a science course—particularly a basic biology/life sciences course—before applying, we might ask you to take such a course before matriculating in the ES Department.

When is the best time to apply to the program?
Applications for people who want to be considered to join the program in the following Fall will usually be accepted up until July 30. However, students are accepted on a rolling admissions basis until we reach our cap of eighteen matriculated students. You will increase your chances to join the program the earlier you send in your application. This also gives you extra time to apply for internal and external scholarship funds.

What can Antioch offer as financial aid?
Our goal is to fundraise over the next several years to create some ongoing internal scholarships for students who would not otherwise be able to afford to participate in our program. This is a social justice issue for us. As you likely know, young people from families within the top fifth of income and wealth in this country, have a 76% change of attending and completing college, whereas young people in the bottom fifth of income and wealth only have a 4% chance—this number is down from 27% in 1979. We want to push against this deplorable national trend.

Still, we are an under-endowed, alternative graduate school with little corporate or public funding. Our resources are thus limited. Currently, ANE can only offer access to federal and state loans, workstudy money, diversity scholarships, and advice and resources on securing additional scholarships and grants from outside sources. One good resource for students interested in the Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program is Mirriam Weinstein’s Making A Difference Scholarships For A Better World!

How racially diverse will the learning community be at Antioch University New England?
Given that we need a diverse, multi-racial environmental movement that joins in coalition with other broad-based movements, it is both educationally important and a social justice imperative for the Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program at Antioch to be as racially diverse as possible. We will actively work to create a racially diverse faculty and student body in the years ahead. Happily, we are already hearing expressions of interest from prospective students of color and we pulled at least ten percent people of color participation in the first two years. Still, given the location of the school, the economics of the higher education, and the predominantly white organizational culture that has developed at Antioch University New England over the last thirty years, it will take a concerted effort to achieve our educational and social justice goals. Students and faculty of color will, at least for the next several years, be part of a larger graduate school community that is predominantly white. Such an environment has its challenges, particularly in a school in some of the earliest phases of an institutional transition toward a more intentionally multicultural, anti-racist community. As a program, we will work hard on addressing peoples’ immediate support needs as well as push for significant institutional change over time.

Some good resources already exist at ANE, however. For example, besides the new Diversity Scholarships, ANE has an on-going Social Justice Committee trying to build a strong human rights culture at the school that respects and supports diversity and justice for people of color, women, religious minorities, different ethnicities and nationalities, as well as gay men and lesbians. There is also an on-going support group for ANE students and faculty of color and one for gays, lesbians, and allies. Furthermore, ANE has just launched the Antioch University New England Multicultural Center for Research and Practice. The Center is aimed at improving education, training, research, and human services within the region by addressing concerns of social justice. For all the inevitable bumps ahead, ANE is becoming a more dynamic, supportive, and culturally-sensitive institution.

The Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program sounds great, but how do I know if I’m really cut out to be a “professional activist” and if this program would make sense for me?
If this is a question for you, you probably need to do two things. One is to get a better sense of the nature of the public interest advocacy field as well as the work opportunities within it. If you like, we could send you a copy of our own internal report on “Advocacy Job Opportunities and Salary Levels.” Furthermore, it might be helpful to read Harley Jebens’ book called 100 Jobs in Social Change. Secondly, you need to assess whether this kind of long-term engagement in the world of social activism is the contribution you most want to make in life. We are all citizens and should be active on that level, but that doesn’t mean that all of us are best suited to be paid advocates and organizers working for grassroots organizations and nonprofit public interest groups. To help you reflect on whether such a calling is really right for you, I encourage you to read Paul Rogat Loeb’s The Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time. It is a great book that may help you with any soul searching you need to do about whether this program is the right next step for you.

What if I have other questions and concerns?
Contact us! You are not going to get a hard sell from us. We’ll answer your questions and tell you about our strengths and weaknesses honestly. I’m happy to talk with you by phone, set up a face-to-face meeting, or exchange emails to answer your questions and get your input about how you think the program could be structured better.