Course Description
Focuses on the intersection of people (human culture), planet (natural environment), and profit (business community) in our global efforts to create a more sustainable and progressive society. Case examples of some of the world’s wicked problems are addressed.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate credit requires both of the following: (1) the quality of the presentations, written exam material, and project assignments will be of a higher quality than at the undergraduate level (accordingly, written material and project assignments will receive more rigorous grading than at the undergraduate level); and (2) an integrative essay on the meaning of progress that clearly demonstrates an ability to synthesize course concepts and material using real-world scenarios and local (i.e., country-specific) research.
Athena Title
People Planet and Profit
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in FANR 4271, FANR 4271E, ANTH 4271, ANTH 4271E, ECOL 4271, ECOL 4271E, GEOG 4271, GEOG 4271E, INTL 4271, INTL 4271E or FANR 6271, FANR 6271E, ANTH 6271, ANTH 6271E, ECOL 6271, ECOL 6271E, GEOG 6271, GEOG 6271E, INTL 6271, INTL 6271E
Non-Traditional Format
This course will involve field experience in parallel with lecture experience, including seminars, topical discussions, field modules, and faculty from host institutions. Students will have two hours of instructional field experience for every equivalent one hour of classroom lecture; thus a 3-credit course will be comprised of approximately 22.5 lecture hours and 45 field hours. This version of the course will be taught as writing intensive, which means that the course will include substantial and ongoing writing assignments that a) relate clearly to course learning; b) teach the communication values of a discipline—for example, its practices of argument, evidence, credibility, and format; and c) prepare students for further writing in their academic work, in graduate school, and in professional life. The written assignments will result in a significant and diverse body of written work (the equivalent of 6000 words or 25 pages) and the instructor (and/or the teaching assistant assigned to the course) will be closely involved in student writing, providing opportunities for feedback and substantive revision.
Undergraduate Prerequisite
Permission of school
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of school
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall, spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Topical Outline
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Critical ThinkingThe ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.