Global climate change and environmental destruction offer both new challenges and opportunities as governments, businesses, and the public look for solutions. The students and faculty of colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to help understand and respond to these complicated issues and to lead the way in the creation of a sustainable future.
The focus on sustainability, generally characterized as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” requires the integration of natural scientific understanding of the threat of environmental degradation, with social and behavioral scientific understanding of the social, economic, cultural and political factors driving the human contributions to the problem, as well as to its solution. It also draws upon the historical perspective, ethical sensibility, and creative imagination of the arts and humanities to help understand what led us to this point and to map out alternative futures.
The Minor in Sustainability Studies provides an interdisciplinary framework within which students can study the foundations of sustainability, and learn how to apply this knowledge to the development and implementation of sustainable values, practices, technologies, and strategies in our homes, on campus, in the workplace, and in our communities. It emphasizes interconnections between environment, economy, and society, and builds a community of faculty and students committed to tackling the complex socio-environmental problems confronting our communities and the world. In addition to classroom study, experiential, project-based and service learning will be encouraged. The Minor in Sustainability Studies is designed to complement any major area of study.
A Minor in Sustainability Studies Advising Form is available in the Sustainability Studies office.
