One part of Stanford’s General Education Requirements is a set of courses that provides an Introduction to the Humanities, referred to as I-Hum. For many years, and on many campuses, knowledge of the humanities has been considered to be an essential part of education.  There is growing enthusiasm on this campus to create I-Earth – a set of courses to provide an introduction to planet earth.  The current vision is a structure similar to I-Hum, with a set of courses, either currently taught or newly developed, that are designed to explore how Earth works; to grapple with the complex interconnectedness of human systems and natural systems; to think in new ways about sustainability, management of resources and protection of our environment.  Our hope/vision is that Stanford recognizes that knowledge in this area is essential to education and decides to require all students to take at least one course in I-Earth.  At the start of the 21st century, what can be more essential to education than an understanding of the planet on which we live?