Minor in Sustainability

With a changing climate and mounting concerns about “sustainability” across a wide spectrum of disciplines, the Sustainability Minor provides students the opportunity to explore sustainable development, climate change, business sustainability, socio-ecological resilience, and related issues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Resilience refers to the ability of communities to effectively respond to short-term, long-term and abrupt changes to the environment.

Students choose courses from the Environmental Studies Program’s list of approved courses in the Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Physical and Life Sciences. It is an excellent addition to any major including Anthropology, Business Administration, Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Communications, Ethnic Studies, Global Studies, History, Liberal Studies, Political Science, Sociology, and Women’s Studies. (The minor cannot be completed by students enrolled in the Environmental Studies major -- they already study sustainability! But there are a host of other great options). If students find a class that they think will fit the minor, you can apply to have it included in the minor. And there will be more courses that fit the minor in the future.

To learn more about the Sustainability Minor, contact one of our excellent advising faculty or an academic advisor, and consult the catalog. Then select the Sustainability Minor in your degree planner. It is that simple to enroll and get to work.

What are the current core classes?

Students are required to take the following four classes:

ENVS 100 - Introduction to Environmental Studies
ENVS 305: Resilience and Society
GEOG 310: Climate and Life in the Anthropocene ( )
PHIL 340 - Ethics and the Environment

Then they may choose any two (2) electives from the Environmental Studies Course Lists, or other appropriate classes. Selections should be made in consultation with program faculty.

Arts and Humanities Courses:

AMD 313 - Digital Arts and the Environment - Units: 3
ENVS 325 - Environmental Issues Through Film - Units: 3
LTWR 346 - U.S. Environmental Literature - Units: 3

Land Use Courses:

ENVS 320 - Environmental and Land-Use Design - Units: 3
GEOG 320 - Patterns of San Diego County - Units: 3
GEOG 450 - Parks and Protected Areas - Units: 3

Natural Resources Courses:

AIS 360 - American Indian Water Rights - Units: 3
BRS 453 - Border Water Conflicts - Units: 3
ECON 325 - Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources - Units: 3
ENVS 361 - Diet and Planet - Units: 3
ENVS 464 – Food Politics and the Environment - Units: 3
GEOG 460 - Food Systems and Emerging Markets - Units: 3
PSCI 462 - Resource Wars - Units: 3

History, Culture, and Society:

AIS 440 – Traditional Ecological Knowledge - Units: 3
ANTH 370 – Environment, Population, and Culture - Units: 3
ENVS 301 – Place, Power, and the Environment - Units: 3
GEOG 307 – Children and the Environment - Units: 3
GEOG 341 – Nature and Society in California - Units: 3
PSYC 338 – Environmental Psychology - Units: 3
WGSS 304 – Ecofeminism - Units: 3

Biodiversity:

ANTH 470 – Community Ethnobotany - Units: 3
ANTH 471 – Plant Medicines and People - Units: 3
GEOG 350 – Environmental Geography - Units: 3
BIOL 318 – Plants and Society - Units: 3
BIOL 336 – Coastal Environments - Units: 3
BIOL 339 – Conservation Biology - Units: 3
BIOL 422 – Marine Communities - Units: 3

Sustainability:

ENVS 300 – Environmental Problems and Solutions - Units: 3
ENVS 351 – Outdoor Recreation and Tourism - Units: 3
GEOG 352 – Environment, Development, and Sustainability - Units: 3
MGMT 474 – Business Sustainability - Units: 3

Policy:

ENVS 309 – Principles of Environmental Policy - Units: 3
ENVS 310 – Environmental Impact Analysis - Units: 3
PSCI 321 – Marketing Public Policy - Units: 3
PSCI/GBST 374 – Political Theory and the Environment - Units: 3
PSCI 396 – Green Planet Politics - Units: 3
PSCI 420 – United States Environment Policy - Units: 3

Climate:

BIOL 338 – Human Impact on the Environment - Units: 3
CHEM 311 – Chemical and the Environment - Units: 3
GEOG 310 – Climate and Life in the Anthropocene - Units: 3
GEOG 311 – Earth: The Habitable Planet - Units: 3

Environmental and Climate Justice:

ANTH 379 – Environmental Health and Justice - Units: 3
GEOG 321 – Cities and Climate Justice - Units: 3
PHIL 340 – Ethics and the Environment - Units: 3
SOC 439 – Social Justice and the Environment - Units: 3

Students who want to include other classes need only discuss their plans with an ENVS advisor or faculty to get approval.

Sustainability Minor Worksheet from Student Advising Services

��

Minor in Sustainability

What are the current core classes?