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Sustainability (Minor)

The Sustainability minor consists of 20 credits. 

The selection of elective courses within the minor should be undertaken in consultation with the student’s major advisor or another faculty member with an interest in issues of sustainability. The courses should form a cohesive and thematic thread of courses that complement the major.

The minor is anchored in the Environmental Forum (ENVI 201 offered every spring) and Environmental Ethics (PHIL 139), providing a common experience for all students electing this minor. The Environmental Forum is a required two-credit course that focuses on topics related to sustainability and the environment, encourages an active dialog between students and invited expert speakers, and provides an integrative thread to the minor. In addition, this course has a service-learning component that connects sustainability to the community. Environmental Ethics, two semesters of the Environmental Forum, and a total of twenty credits, are required for the minor, with one course from each group below. Note: CHEM 221 (Cultural Ecology and Sustainability: Lessons from Iceland ) can be used in place of one the Environmental Forum courses.

Required Courses

Complete the following three courses:

The Environmental Forum (ENVI 201) is a required two-credit course (taken in the fall and again in the spring, for a total of four credits) focusing on topics related to sustainability and the environment, encouraging an active dialog between students and invited expert speakers, and providing an integrative thread to the minor. In addition, this course has a service-learning component that connects sustainability to the community.  Note: CHEM 221 (Cultural Ecology and Sustainability: Lessons from Iceland, May 2022) can be used in place of one the Environmental Forum courses.

PHIL 129 Environmental Ethics (4 credits, offered each spring).

Electives for the Minor in Sustainability

Select one course from each elective discipline outlined below.

Scientific Issues

BIOL 104Introduction to Environmental Science

4
BIOL 243Evironmental Sustainability

3
BIOL 245Principles of Ecology

4
CHEM 227Energy & Global Warming

4

Economic and Political Issues

ECON 145Economics of Sustainability and Resource Use

4
ECON 235From Farm to Table: The Political Economy of Food Systems

3
ECON 247Environmental Economics

4
POLS 217American Public Policy

4

ECON 235/HON 335 – not open to first year students.

Social Issues

BUS 224Social Action Leaders

4
BUS 229Corporate Social Responsibility: Managing People, Planet, & Profit

4
HIST 205/HON 205Global Environmental History

4
SOCI 220Working for Social Justice

4
SOCI 222Organizing for Social Change

4
SOCI 245Global Health

4
SOCI 249Inequalities

4
SOCI 321Sociology of Food

4

BUS 229: part of LC – open to sophomores

BUS 224: open to sophomores

 

BIOL 104, CHEM 227, ECON 145, BUS 229, HIST 205, BIS 224, SOCI 220, SOCI 222, SOCI 245: These courses do not have prerequisites.