The Wilderness Institute in the School of Forestry offers educational opportunities and special presentations, and coordinates research related to wilderness and wildlands management. In addition to the Wilderness Issues Lecture Series and a summer educational program, the Wilderness Institute offers the interdisciplinary undergraduate program Wilderness and Civilization.
The Wilderness and Civilization program is designed to provide students, at or beyond the sophomore level, with a broad interdisciplinary introduction to the subject of wilderness, focusing on the multi-faceted values that wild lands hold for civilized society. The intent is to produce informed citizens, better able to participate in processes for public involvement concerning wilderness issues; the program is not intended as a professional land management qualification, although many students supplement their professional education through this program. A special feature is that students develop a sense of community by participating as a group in the intensive package of courses and field experiences required. Students who complete the Wilderness and Civilization program become eligible for the wilderness studies minor.
Requirements for a Minor
To earn a minor in wilderness studies the student must participate in the Wilderness and Civilization two-semester program and fulfill the course requirements shown below (about 24 credits). The program's course offerings may vary from year to year, but will include sufficient courses from the A and B lists:
Credits
| Two semesters of: For 272 Wilderness and Civilization and at least four courses from Section A literature, philosophy and culture: | 3 |
| Dram 200A Wilderness and Expression | 1-4 |
| Enlt 221L History of American Literature | 3 |
| Evst 301E Ethics, Beauty and the Environment | 3 |
| LS 302 American Indian Literature | 3 |
| NAS 303E Ecological Perspectives in Native American Traditions | 3 |
| Phil 327E Environmental Ethics RS 347 Nature and Cosmology and at least two courses from Section B science and social science: | 3 |
| Econ 345S Economics of Wildland Preservation | 3 |
| Evst 101N Environmental Science | 4 |
| For 130N Introduction to Ecology | 3 |
| For 271 Wilderness Ecology | 3 |
| For 304 Conservation of Natural and Human Resources in Montana | 3 |
| Recm 370S Conservation of Wilderness, Wild Rivers and National Parks | 3 |