Social Perspectives on Sustainable Practices

Catalog description

In this course, students will learn about social sustainability and other applicable principles such as inequalities, stratification, racism, poverty, environmental and social justice and injustices, and environmental degradation. Students will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop an understanding of the values and beliefs that influence sustainable (or unsustainable) practices from an individual and societal level. Students will also explore how social institutions like the government and the economy affect outcomes in how laws, regulations, and policies affect socially vulnerable communities. Cross-cultural ideas of sustainable practices, as well as community, development, and decision-making processes are explored as they relate to human interaction with local cultural and natural environments. Students will have an opportunity to engage in applied sustainable practices through group-based projects. Finally, students will learn how cultural, social, and psychological forces can shape human practices to be ecologically sound, socially just, and economically viable.