Sustainability Courses

Sustainable Land Systems
John Motloch, Ball State University
This interdisciplinary course explores regions and sites as parts of complex adaptive systems; and the integration of economic and community development within these systems in ways that promote sustained ...

Science and Other Stories: Reading the Mississippi River
Julie Maxson, Metropolitan State University
This course is an exploration of the nature of science and sustainability, focusing on the local system of the Upper Mississippi River.

Environmental Assessment
Maureen Padden, McMaster University
Students in this fourth-year course explore the policy and requirements of environmental assessment in both a Canadian and international context. Students gain familiarity with the environmental assessment process ...

Interdisciplinary Sustainability Practicum
Steven Burian, University of Utah
This is an interdisciplinary project-based course where students are divided into multi-disciplinary teams and select projects to complete working for real clients.

Life cycle assessment
James Stone, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
This course will provide an introduction to life cycle assessment (LCA) modeling for students within various science and engineering degree programs at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. LCA data and ...

Sustainability Science
Tun Myint, Carleton College
This course is conceived within the dual challenge of the need to understand how societal dynamics and environmental dynamics interact over time AND how they help induce or inhibit sustainability of social ...

Environmental Science
Dan Vaughn, Vincennes University
This course examines issues and events of current importance such as pollution, natural disasters, state and federal land use (including state and national parks), Resource extraction and its effects, and ...

Human Impacts on Biogeochemical Cycles
Mari Lee, Colorado College
Human Impacts on Biogeochemical Cycles is an introductory environmental science course examining the pressures of modern civilization on natural Earth cycles. The course uses inquiry based learning to cover basic ...

Introduction to Sustainability Science
Tracey Holloway, University of Wisconsin-Madison
This course aims to develop a solutions-oriented understanding of environmental and energy issues. Through interactive lectures, field trips, and problem-based homework sets, the class introduces basic quantitative ...

Plant Biology
Susan Singer, Carleton College
This is an interdisciplinary course that introduces students to the basic concepts of plant biology in the context of sustainable food and agriculture systems. The course is taught in an interactive format with ...

Solar Energy
Scott Cummings, Kenyon College
Solar Energy (CHEM 108) is a one-semester chemistry lecture and discussion course designed for students majoring outside of the natural sciences. With an emphasis on quantitative reasoning, the course explores the ...

Environmental Geology
Maureen Muldoon, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
This is a general geology course for non-majors. I introduce the course using a picture of the book "How Things Work in Your House (and what to do when they don't)". The course covers all the basic ...

Its Not Easy Being Green
Laura Rademacher, University of the Pacific
This course will address the real-life challenges of environmental sustainability through examination of the scientific, socio-economic, and political factors that govern sustainability in complex systems. ...

Global Political Ecology
Pablo Toral, Beloit College
Global Political Ecology is an interdisciplinary, lab-based course that requires the students to study how societies organize themselves to address environmental challenges. The students will learn and apply ...

Science, Society, and Sustainability
Ellen Metzger, San Jose State University
The participation-intensive course is an elective for teachers pursuing an MA in Science Education and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students drawn from geology and other disciplines. Teaching strategies ...

Visioning a Sustainable World
Bill Stigliani, University of Northern Iowa
Students will learn why the present industrial system is unsustainable, and envision key attributes of a sustainable society. The class creates a sustainable vision based on study and conversation about renewable ...

Sustainable Buildings and Planning
Lori Troxel, Vanderbilt University
This is an interdisciplinary, 4-week, study-abroad course. Seminars and field trips in Northern Ireland and Barcelona provide students an international perspective of urban planning, sustainable building design, ...

Soils and Sustainable Agriculture
Jeff Walker, Vassar College
This intermediate-level lecture/lab earth science course explores the relationships between the geological parent and the character of the resulting soils. The lecture portions discuss the theoretical background ...

Petrology
Laura Webb, University of Vermont and State Agricultural College
The course is an introduction to the scope and methods of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic petrology. Through lecture, class discussions, and laboratory exercises, students learn about the classification, ...

Natural Hazards and Risk Communication
Kathleen Phillips, Stanford University
This course will provide an introduction to the science behind natural hazards, the risks associated with these hazards, and effective methods of communicating those risks to a variety of audiences. Recent research ...