The University of Illinois

Human Dimensions of Environmental Systems

Human Dimensions of Environmental Systems

 

The mission of Human Dimensions of Environmental Systems (HDES) is to enhance scholarship on the mutual interdependence of humans and their physical and social environments.   Built on the understanding that the best insights are not limited to the perspective of a single discipline, we emphasize cross disciplinary study and understanding that examines how we affect our environments, how our environments affect us, and how  both can thrive.  We recognize no disciplinary superiority or paradigm, but seek to develop new understanding.

With proper understanding, humans and their environment both can thrive.

About HDES.

Human Dimensions of Environmental Systems (HDES) is an interdisciplinary program comprised of faculty from six colleges at Illinois and, at times, graduate students from every college on campus. We are united in the study of connections between humans and the environment. We consider all dimensions of both, and we allow that we influence our environments and that environments influence us. We are built on the premise that the best insights are not limited to the domain of a single discipline, and thus we are highly interdisciplinary in all things we do.

Our primary effort is that of graduate education. We solicit applicants from all disciplines for the HDES Scholars program. HDES Scholars spend at least one year in a graduate seminar (Currently HDES 595: Research Seminar in the Human Dimensions of Environmental Systems). The seminar has two major components: the public seminar and the small group workshop.

In the public seminar speakers are invited to present their in-progress work that examines the interrelations of people and their environment. We emphasize that the work should be in-progress. We want the students to hear about the work itself and the process of doing the research. We also want to expose our speakers to an interdisciplinary audience. The most frequent feedback I receive from speakers is about how helpful the input from HDES has been in their research efforts. The public seminars are open to all, and speakers have included faculty from campus, other universities, public officials, practitioners, environmental experts, and citizens with a relevant interest or expertise.

In the small group workshops the students work on their own research (typically their master’s or doctoral research) in interdisciplinary groups consisting of four to five students grouped around a common research topic or method but from different departments and colleges. A faculty member typically also works with each small group.

HDES receives support from the Colleges of ACES, AHS, FAA, and LAS, and from the Departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and Recreation, Sport and Tourism. Over 90% of the funds committed to HDES are used to support students through academic year fellowships, summer travel and research support, and conference travel support for graduate students. Students also participate in the annual Environmental Horizons Conference (HDES underwrites the cost of posters, etc. for students), and they serve in a small number of outreach activities.

HDES provides the only locus on campus for faculty and students interested in the interdisciplinary study of people and their environments. We offer a way for faculty to discover and contact one another, and we offer support to graduate students doing such research. All of our faculty volunteer their time and services. Faculty teaching HDES 595 receive neither compensation nor release time for their effort, our chair’s time is over and above regular faculty duties, and all other participants similarly receive neither compensation nor recognition for their work. This demonstrates the level of commitment by faculty to this effort. As Chancellor, Professor Nancy Cantor noted that HDES was the single most effective user of university money; having almost no overhead costs, HDES uses over 90 cents of each dollar received to support graduate education.

NEW COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT: The Human Place in Nature.

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