Course Listings
Sustainability
The major in sustainability includes two distinctive Goshen College offerings: the Sustainability Core sequence and the Sustainability Semester at Merry Lea. The minor can be completed in two ways, with 6 courses completed on campus, and the other by completing the Sustainability Semester plus one additional course.
Major in sustainability
44-45 credit hours
Sustainability Core (17 credit hours)
Sustainability Semester (15 credit hours)
Remaining requirements in the major (12-13 credits)
- Four of the following courses:12-13
- BIOL 115 Ecology and Evolution
- BIOL 235 Geographic Information Systems
- BUS 121 Entrepreneurship
- HIST 375 Topics
- POSC 210 Introduction to Public Policy
- SOC 320 Environmental Sociology
- SUST 298 Ecology & Sustainability in India
- SUST 335 Climate Ethics & Climate Policy
- SUST 345 Ecol Ethics & Environ Movements
- SUST 350 Sustainability & the Built Environ
Student Learning Outcomes
Graduates with a major in sustainability will:
- Apply systems thinking to describe complex socio-environmental-economic issues across a landscape, and to generate solutions to them.
- Articulate hope for the future in our growing adoption of sound land management solutions that store carbon in soils and contribute to the regeneration of our lands, waters, and societies.
- Cultivate a dynamic personal and communal “sustainability ethic,” based on tangible experiences within socio-ecological systems.
- Experience and reflect on practices that invigorate mind, body, and spirit through connections with food, landscapes, and people.
- Communicate, collaborate, and empathize with people holding multiple perspectives of sustainability toward the common good.
- Practice skills of critical questioning and interpretation to facilitate multi-disciplinary problem-solving.
- Envision bringing about a more just, regenerative, and equitable world through career, innovation, advocacy, and lifestyle.
Planning Guide
| First Year | Goshen Core Introduction to Sustainability Roots of Environmental Crisis |
| Second Year | Goshen Core SST language Sustainability Seminar Sustainability elective(s) |
| Third Year | Sustainability Semester (fall) SST (spring) |
| Fourth Year | Balance of Goshen Core Environmental Economics Sustainability Seminar Sustainability Capstone Internship |
Planning and Advising Notes
The sustainability major can be tailored to individual career goals, in consultation with the student’s academic advisor. Past students have found it valuable to pair sustainability with another major or minor(s). This program is very interdisciplinary, and another major with specific disciplinary skills is an excellent complement to its strengths.
Minor in Sustainability
18-20 credit hours
Immersive Option
Campus Option
At least 3 of the courses chosen for the campus minor must be 300-level or above.
- SUST 201 Intro to Sustainability3
- Foundations (choose two)6
- Applications (choose three)9-11
Planning and Advising Notes
Students may choose either the immersive or campus option. The immersive option includes a fall semester at Merry Lea. Courses other than SUST 201 may be counted for credit to complete the minor pending approval by the Biology Chair.
Sustainability Semester Program Description
The fall Sustainability Semester is a residential, interdisciplinary program focused on experiencing, understanding, and building sustainable, resilient and regenerative communities. A cohort of students spends the fall semester in full-time residence at Merry Lea’s Rieth Village, where they study the structures and functions of both societal and ecological systems in the surrounding watershed. The semester includes frequent opportunities to travel around the watershed and learn from professionals and others; a special highlight is an 8-day journey by canoe along the Elkhart and St. Joseph Rivers to Lake Michigan. At Reith Village, the cohort works together to evaluate their shared lifestyle decisions, try out new patterns of sustainable living, and simply have fun learning from each others’ experiences. Learning from the life of the Merry Lea teaching farm is also a central part of this experience, both through course work and enjoying the fruits of their work on the farm. Our interactions with a wide range of people and institutions across the region also help students engage in sustainability issues in new ways. The learning community provides an opportunity for students and faculty from diverse backgrounds and expertise from the arts and humanities, social sciences, sciences, and other backgrounds, to contribute to the process of understanding these problems and looking for points of involvement together. Students interact with people from the local watershed who are faced with real sustainability issues and grapple with the complexity of and interdisciplinary nature of possible solutions.
For more information about the Sustainability Semester, see www.goshen.edu/academics/sustainability-semester.
BIOL 115 Ecology and Evolution
BIOL 115 Ecology and Evolution at Goshen College covers how life evolved and how living things interact with their environment, through field research.
BIOL 207 Roots of Environmental Crisis
BIOL 207 Roots of Environmental Crisis at Goshen College uses systems thinking across religion, economics, culture and biology to understand climate change.
BIOL 208 Geology, Meteorology & Climate Sci
BIOL 208 Geology, Meteorology and Climate Science at Goshen College introduces earth processes, weather patterns and climate dynamics, past and future.
BIOL 235 Geographic Information Systems
BIOL 235 Geographic Information Systems at Goshen College is a hands-on intro to GIS software, combining map-making and spatial data analysis.
BUS 121 Entrepreneurship
BUS 121 Entrepreneurship at Goshen College teaches by doing: design thinking, customer discovery and practice starting new ventures.
BUS 325 Bus Strategies for Sustainability
BUS 325 Business Strategies for Sustainability is the undergraduate Goshen College course on building competitive advantage through sustainable strategy.
ECON 309 Environmental Economics
ECON 309 Environmental Economics at Goshen College explores how the economy harms the environment and how environmental damage harms the economy.
HIST 375 Topics
HIST 375 Topics at Goshen College studies a selected topic in American or world history, such as the Southwest or Model United Nations.
POSC 210 Introduction to Public Policy
POSC 210 Introduction to Public Policy at Goshen College explores how U.S. policy is made, from constitutional framework and interest groups to feedback.
REL 214 Sustainability and the Sacred
REL 214 Sustainability and the Sacred at Goshen College explores how cultures understand nature and how religions respond to environmental problems.
SOC 320 Environmental Sociology
SOC 320 Environmental Sociology at Goshen College surveys theories of human-environment interaction, environmental movements and resource justice.
SUST 155 Topics: Sustainability Seminar
SUST 155 Sustainability Seminar at Goshen College is a discussion space where students from any major connect sustainability learning across courses.
SUST 201 Intro to Sustainability
SUST 201 Intro to Sustainability at Goshen College explores complex socio-ecological systems through the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.
SUST 298 Ecology & Sustainability in India
SUST 298 Ecology and Sustainability in India at Goshen College studies how society and ecology connect from the North Indian Plains to the Himalayas.
SUST 309 Sustainability, Spirituality Ethics
SUST 309 Sustainability, Spirituality and Ethics at Goshen College explores the faith and values of people who have helped sustain the planet.
SUST 313 Freshwater Resources
SUST 313 Freshwater Resources at Goshen College studies the physical, chemical and biological variables of lakes, streams, wetlands and groundwater.
SUST 318 Agroecology
SUST 318 Agroecology at Goshen College studies ecological approaches to food production and regenerative agriculture practiced around the world.
SUST 323 Regenerative Agricultural Practices
SUST 323 Regenerative Agricultural Practices at Goshen College teaches organic, permaculture and biodynamic methods that rebuild ecosystem health.
SUST 328 Organizing Communities for Change
SUST 328 Organizing Communities for Change at Goshen College explores how communities reach sustainability goals, from organizing to policy-making.
SUST 335 Climate Ethics & Climate Policy
SUST 335 Climate Ethics and Climate Policy at Goshen College examines climate policy from ethical perspectives and asks what climate justice means.
SUST 345 Ecol Ethics & Environ Movements
SUST 345 at Goshen College introduces environmental ethics debates by tracing how ideas of sustainability grew within conservation movements.
SUST 350 Sustainability & the Built Environ
SUST 350 at Goshen College explores how landscapes, cities and buildings can advance sustainability, with field trips, guest experts and community projects.
SUST 409 Sustainability Internship
SUST 409 Sustainability Internship at Goshen College is work experience with a sustainability enterprise or problem, arranged and approved in advance.
SUST 410 Sustainability Capstone
SUST 410 Sustainability Capstone is a final-year seminar at Goshen College combining reflection, a thesis or community project, and campus programming.