Graduate Academic Programs

Academic Designation in Global Sustainability
The Global Sustainability designation requires students to complete five upper-level courses (15 credits) designated as GS courses. The GS designation is not a concentration. Students must fit their GS courses within the requirements for the number of concentration and elective courses, and the distribution of breadth electives.

School of Law

Environmental Law
Environmental Law introduces students to the regulatory and rule-making process, the parameters of judicial review of agency decision-making, the basic structure of the major federal regulatory statutes (The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act, Superfund, The Resource Conservation Recovery Act, The Safe Drinking Water Act, Toxic Substances Control Act), their history, their shortcomings and some of the major legal controversies they have produced. In addition to the introductory course, specialized seminars explore particular statutes and regulatory programs in-depth, exploring international and domestic environmental issues, including how environmental justice in shaping new sustainability discourses in ethics, law, and policy for the twenty-first century.

Human Rights
The study of international human rights examines the international legal frameworks that both define countries' obligations to protect the human rights of their own citizens and provide for the enforcement of those rights. The courses in this area fall into two categories, depending upon their level of generality. The first category includes the survey course in International Human Rights that is designed to give students an overview of the basic sources of international human rights including the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among others. The second category of courses in international human rights includes the more specialized courses defined by geography or subtopic.

Civil Rights
Courses in the Civil Rights subject area address the complex doctrinal and theoretical questions that implicate some of the most important legal and political issues being debated today. The area of civil rights law covers both statutory and constitutional law that protects individual civil and political rights. The Law School's offerings explore a range of topics and sources of law, including the Reconstruction amendments to the Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, anti-discrimination protections in areas such as housing and employment, and civil rights claims under section 1983 of the U.S. Code.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Biological Sciences: Graduate Certificate in Conservation Biology
Global climate change, habitat destruction, invasive species, urbanization, and accelerated species extinctions are increasingly recognized as critical threats to the world’s ecosystems and human health. To meet this need, Fordham’s Department of Biological Sciences recently developed and implemented a Graduate Certificate in Conservation Biology. Students participating in this program will receive a broad background in the evolutionary and ecological processes affecting small populations, factors affecting global biodiversity, conservation of species and ecosystems, and fundamentals of environmental law and policy. The Graduate Certificate in Conservation Biology can be completed in one year and is awarded after completion of 15 graduate credits, including two core courses (Conservation Biology and Conservation Law & Policy), two elective courses from an approved list, and a practicum.

Calder Center – Graduate Opportunities
Ecology graduate students may pursue either an M.S. or Ph.D. in Biology and have opportunities to conduct their research through the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station. Course offerings are designed to ensure students have a solid education in ecological sciences while providing the opportunity for specialization in their chosen area. Research projects are an integral part of that training, and we provide excellent facilities and a broadly-based faculty to support many areas in ecology.

New York Botanical Gardens
The New York Botanical Garden and the Biology Department and Louis Calder Center of Fordham University enjoy a partnership to jointly train Ph.D. students in Biology. Students will have the opportunity to benefit from the strengths of both institutions and work on research projects that combine aspects of plant systematics, conservation biology, and ecology.

Bronx Zoo
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), headquarters for the Bronx Zoo, and the Fordham University Graduate School of Education (GSE) offers a joint program leading to a Master of Science degree in education and New York state initial teacher certification in adolescent science education.