Sustainability

An introductory course that examines fundamental principles related to the evolution of life on earth and the ecological relationships between living things and their environment. The course integrates ecological and evolutionary principles within field investigations that teach skills in research...

What are the roots of the current climate crisis? Can religious, economic, cultural, political, and/or biological worldviews help us understand the challenges? The course will introduce concepts in systems thinking, which emphasize an interdisciplinary approach to addressing climate change. The...

An earth science introductory course that examines the earth’s geological processes (earth’s interior, tectonic activity, and surface geology including soil formation and erosion processes), meteorological patterns (atmospheric formation, weather dynamics, and seasons), and climate dynamics (paleoclimate, anthropogenic influences, and future...

An applied introduction to the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, which allows analysis of complex data in spatial formats. During weekly labs, the course will emphasize hands-on projects that combine map-making with data analysis, to address questions in...

The best way to learn about entrepreneurship is to do entrepreneurship. This course combines stories of success and failure in entrepreneurship, exploration of each student’s aptitude for entrepreneurship, cultivation of new ideas, and practice with starting new ventures. Design thinking,...

Students will examine how businesses develop a competitive advantage through the integration of sustainability and strategy, insulating themselves from risks in an ever changing global environment. Prerequisite: SUST201 or BUS318.

In this course we consider how economic activity affects the environment and how environmental destruction can, in turn, harm the economy. We apply the concepts of externalities, public goods and open-access resources to topics such as air pollution, climate change...

Study on a selected topic in American or world history. Examples: History of the Southwest; Model United Nations. Students may be invited to help shape the topic.

Explores the nature of the policy-making process in the United States and, to a lesser extent, other pluralist polities. Topics will include constitutional and structural framework in which policies are shaped, interest articulation, policy formulation and the feedback process.

This course explores how diverse cultures understand nature and how religions engage environmental problems in an era of rapid environmental change. We examine how religious and philosophical systems interpret humanity’s relationship to the nonhuman world, consider how ideas of the...

A survey of environmental sociology including theories of human-environment interaction, a history of various environmental movements and other developments with significant ecological implications, cross cultural comparisons of human-environment relations, and questions of justice with relation to who decides about resource...

This course is designed to provide space for discussion and synthesis among interested students, whether their majors are sustainability or another field altogether. This will allow students to integrate learning in their various courses, and gain perspective from their peers...

Students will explore the nature of complex socio-ecological systems and patterns of problems and dynamics within those systems. The “triple bottom line” (people – planet – profit) will be a primary framework through which sustainability solutions will be explored. An...

This course focuses on the intense connection between ecological context and human society by studying across the steep elevation gradient between the North Indian Plains and the Himalaya Mountains. Students will examine the ways that social structures and practices contribute...

In this course, we immerse ourselves in the stories and ideas of people who have made a positive contribution to the sustainability of the planet. What kind of faith or worldview contributed to action? How does our understanding of right...

This course examines the physical, chemical and biological variables of freshwater lakes, streams and wetlands, as well as groundwaters, all of which influence living organisms in these aquatic ecosystems. Emphasis on how their interactions contribute to the environmental, economic and...

In this time of climate crisis and environmental degradation agriculture stands out as a major global force that can work towards further harm or usher in a regenerative future.This course focuses on the ecological approach to producing food and the...

This course develops an understanding of the potential for human management of ecosystems to rebuild rather than degrade health, through a focus on agroecosystems. Students practice skills and learn theory within organic, permaculture, biodynamic, and systems-based frameworks while participating in...

This course explores ways in which communities work together to achieve common sustainability goals. Working from an applied perspective, students will learn about many factors that can drive positive change, from political organizing and policy-making, to grassroots organizing and community...

Situates climate change responses as both a political and a complex moral challenge. The course will critically examine multiple climate policy proposals from various ethical perspectives. What forms of justice are at stake in climate change? What would climate justice...

This course introduces key debates in the field of environmental ethics by exploring how competing ideas about sustainability developed historically within movements to conserve, preserve, protect, and restore threatened environments. Students engage a series of cases centered around specific ecological...

This course will introduce students to the ways in which human design decisions – of landscapes, cities, and buildings – can promote a wide variety of sustainability goals. Through explorations of landscape architecture, urban design, and building certification standards, among...

Work experience in, or student observation of, a sustainability enterprise or problem. Each student’s project is individually arranged with the instructor and must be approved prior to enrolling in this course. The course is designed to integrate and apply theoretical...

A seminar course intended for a student’s final year of study. Will combine culminating reflection on the nature and role of sustainability in socio-ecological systems, as well as individual thesis project work (either topical analysis or applied community project). As...