Course Description
Recognize and explain sustainability’s ecological, social, and economic dimensions; analyze how humans use natural resources and evaluate the sustainability implications; design and apply transformative solutions; use critical and creative thinking and established frameworks; collaborate across disciplines; evaluate and propose actions to address global challenges as they are reflected in local contexts.
Athena Title
Fundamentals of Sustainability
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will compare and contrast the historical understandings of sustainability across various perspectives.
- Students will analyze how the many dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social, economic) interact, highlighting instances where they are in harmony or in tension globally and locally.
- Students will explain the role of natural resources, including their management, use, and conservation, in creating sustainable production and consumption practices.
- Students will distinguish between various approaches to engaging with humankind in the context of sustainability.
- Students will apply multidisciplinary cooperation, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills to address complex global sustainability challenges in local context.
- Students will evaluate the significance of individual agency, societal commitments, and global responsibility in achieving sustainability.
- Students will judge the necessity and potential impact of transformative changes required for a more sustainable future.
- Students will justify recommendations for policy or behavior changes aimed at addressing sustainability challenges.
Topical Outline
- 1. Course Introduction
2. History and Evolution of Sustainability and Sustainable Development
3. Distinguishing Sustainability from Sustainable Development
4. Individual agency, societal commitments, global responsibility
5. Ecological Sustainability and Natural Resource Use
6. Social Dimensions of Sustainability
7. Economic Dimensions of Sustainability
8. Sustainability Case Studies
9. Sustainability in Practice: Field Visits/Campus site Visits
10. Tools and Methods for Assessing Sustainability Impacts
11. Envisioning Sustainable Futures
12. Group Project: Identifying Sustainability Challenges and Designing Solutions
13. Student Presentations
14. Role-Play: Decision-Making in Sustainability Contexts
