I was just curious based on what I want to do which would be a more appropriate major in the conjunction with Environmental Studies.
I really want to be a professor that studies the intersection of race, class and the environment. Basically think of what happened in Flint, Michigan. I want to evaluate why that happens, how it happens, and how to solve it. I’m not sure if Sociology or Anthropology better suits this as a double major with Environmental Studies! Please help! Thank you so much!
It will depend somewhat on the college. Read the course offerings listed on department websites. Both of those majors are broad fields and different faculty will emphasize different aspects.
Yeah Cultural Anthropology seems very similar to what I want to do; so does Sociology. Both Environmental Sociology and Environmental Anthropology are things I am very interested in.
Considering I am also interested in History and the History of humans, Socio-Cultural Anthropology and some Archaeology is best with Environmental Studies.
I’d say that sociology would fit better with that.
But I did some research and found this:
https://webapp4.asu.edu/programs/t5/majorinfo/ASU00/LAESSURPHD/graduate/false
at ASU. This is a description of the program:
The PhD program in environmental social science is one of the few doctoral degree programs in the U.S. that draws on the premise that reducing human impacts and developing more sustainable environmental practices will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve without a focus on the social dynamics of environmental issues using critical social science perspectives.
So you might not need to get a double major - you could wait to consider the sociological aspect in grad school. Since the ASU description said “is one of the few…in the U.S”, there must be a few more PhD programs that have the social emphasis.
Here is a list of the top ES grad programs (ASU is 7):
Thank you so much!
Yes I’ve heard of some schools combining disciplines; there are a few Environmental Sociology PhD’s and Yale has a combined PhD in Anthropology and Environmental Studies that I am VERY interested in.
On a broad level, anthropology and sociology address similar questions/areas. Anthropology is the general study of humans; so while you’ll probably focus primarily on cultural anthropology (the study of human culture and cultural variation), you’ll probably also take classes in physical/biological anthropology (the study of the biology of humans and other primates), linguistic anthropology (human communication), and archaeology.
Sociology is the study of social relationships and interaction. Culture is a focus as well, but primarily for how it influences social interactions and relationships. Sociologists usually concern themselves with social stratification, social class (especially race, socioeconomic class, and gender), social mobility, and deviance, among other subject areas.
A major difference between the two are methods used. Cultural anthropologists use almost exclusive qualitative methods in their approach to answering questions. Ethnography is a key method of the field, but interviewing, participant-observation, naturalistic observation and other qualitative methods are commonly used by anthropologists. Sociologists use a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Some sociologists use ethnography; sociologists also use interviews, focus groups, case studies, social surveys (small and large-scale), longitudinal studies (studies conducted over time) and occasionally even experiments.
My guess is that sociology may be a (slightly) better fit based upon your interests. However, what I would recommend is that when you get to college, you sit in on the intro class for anthropology majors and the intro class for sociology majors. I had a similar struggle when choosing between sociology and psychology; I ultimately chose psychology after taking the intro class in both fields.
Also, many schools have majors that allow people to study the intersection between the environment and human behavior. Majors in (human) geography do this (such as [this one](BA in Geography | Geography, Environment & Society | College of Liberal Arts) at the University of Minnesota). So do environmental studies majors at many colleges (like [this one](http://www.es.ucsb.edu/academics/es-major) at UC-Santa Barbara). Many community and/or public health (sometimes also called health, culture, and society or something similar) programs also explore such issues, as environmental public health is one of the five main fields of public health.
Wow @juillet thank you so much! That was extremely helpful. When I could I applied to my schools as African American Studies (race, Sociology, and anthropology) and Environmental STUDIES. Is that the right track?
Typically, yes - environmental STUDIES is about the interactions between humans and the environment and is more of a social science; environmental SCIENCE is about the actual natural/physical science of the environment. But double check at each school to be sure, as some schools vary naming conventions and such.
And African American studies is another good major - if you are specifically interested in race and class through an African American lens, an interdisciplinary major like that will indeed include both sociology and anthropology (along with, likely, some history, political science, economics, and a sprinkling of psychology). You’ll get a smorgasbord of social sciences 
Same with environmental studies, actually.
“Basically think of what happened in Flint, Michigan.”
Based just off of that, it sounds like you are leaning towards sociology and environmental.
I think I’m gonna end up with some combination of Environmental Science and Sociology @Dancer14