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Credit- Degree applicable
Effective Quarter: Fall 2020

I. Catalog Information


E S 2
Introduction to Sustainability
4 Unit(s)
 

(See general education pages for the requirement this course meets.)

Advisory: EWRT 1A or EWRT 1AH or (EWRT 1AS and EWRT 1AT) or ESL 5.

Lec Hrs: 48.00
Out of Class Hrs: 96.00
Total Student Learning Hrs: 144.00

An introduction to sustainability through environmental, social, and economic evaluation. Students will learn the influence of societal resource use, distribution, and waste on earth. Climate change, power dynamics, and leadership are observed as influences on sustainability.


Student Learning Outcome Statements (SLO)

 

Analyze an environmental (or societal) issues through the lens of sustainable development theory.


 

Analyze the connection between sustainability and food production.


II. Course Objectives

A.Evaluate the components of sustainability studies.
B.Analyze different human societies through a sustainability lens.
C.Explore how individual choices are limited by institutionalized powers with regards to natural resources such as air, water, nutrients and energy.
D.Examine the human dimensions of sustainability, including history, culture and ethics.
E.Examine sustainable infrastructure.
F.Analyze theories of societal collapse.
G.Examine the relationship between resource degradation, climate change, and the role of humans in society.
H.Compare and contrast human land use ethics in world cultures.
I.Formulate recommendations on policy direction for sustainable societies at a local, national, or international level.
J.Analyze and explore sustainable solutions at a local, federal, and global level through case studies.

III. Essential Student Materials

 None

IV. Essential College Facilities

 Kirsch Center and surrounding gardens.

V. Expanded Description: Content and Form

A.Evaluate the components of sustainability studies.
1.Explore sustainability development theory.
2.Assess the environmental, economic, and social spheres and influence on sustainability studies.
3.Analyse problem-solving, metrics, and tools for sustainability.
4.Assess the challenges for sustainability.
B.Analyze different human societies through a sustainability lens.
1.Explore resources use and consumption, inputs.
2.Examine waste outputs, including solid and liquid waste.
3.Analyze food, housing, and transport accessibility and equity.
C.Explore how individual choices are limited by institutionalized powers with regards to natural resources such as air, water, nutrients and energy.
1.Analyze the structural power dynamics and the human and natural resouce based energy demands of global production of goods, including food.
2.Assess institutional water processes, including impacts of privatization, utilization of public lands for acquisition, and inequities that result from leadership decisions, such as the case of Flint, Michigan.
3.Examine power systems influencing energy, pollution, and climate.
D.Examine the human dimensions of sustainability, including history, culture and ethics.
1.Assess our habits of consumption to the long history of human social development on evolutionary time scale, including the period of industrialization of nature (1500 to present).
2.relate our habits of consumption to the long history of human social development on evolutionary time scales.
3.Explore systems literacy, how it is tailored specifically to the understanding and remedy of environmental problems, and the ways in which it differs from traditional disciplinary approaches to academic learning.
E.Examine sustainable infrastructure.
1.Explore components necessary in achieving sustainability, such as energy, transportation, food, and waste practices.
2.Assess the barriers to achieving sustainable cities.
F.Analyze theories of societal collapse.
1.Identify factors that contribute to collapse such as climate change, hostile neighbours, collapse of essential trading partners, environmental problems, and failure to adapt to environmental issues.
2.Analyze theory of geographic determinism.
G.Examine the relationship between resource degradation, climate change, and the role of humans in society.
1.Examine developed versus developing societies environmental impacts.
2.Assess the correlation between lifestyle and the impact on natural resource consumption and global environmental impacts.
H.Compare and contrast human land use ethics in world cultures.
1.Examine ethics associated with developed and developing societies.
2.Assess environmental elitism.
I.Formulate recommendations on policy direction for sustainable societies at a local, national, or international level.
1.Investigate ideologies necessary for sustainable strategy implementation.
2.Investigate policies and programs necessary for sustainable strategy implementation.
J.Analyze and explore sustainable solutions at a local, federal, and global level through case studies.
1.Explore case studies at each level.
2.Compare and contrast sustainable approaches to counter the degradation of the earth's natural resources

VI. Assignments

A.Assignments including reading, videos, and podcasts for assessment of information literacy.
B.Assess and evaluate assigned content in group discussions
C.Reflect and build upon in class group based activities, including stewardship activities in the Kirsch Center community.
D.Writing assignments involving summary, synthesis and critical analysis of assigned content.
E.Final assessment of a group project with deliverable such as presentation, poster, or digital submission.

VII. Methods of Instruction

 Lecture and visual aids
Discussion of assigned reading
Discussion and problem solving performed in class
In-class essays
In-class exploration of Internet sites
Quiz and examination review performed in class
Homework and extended projects
Field observation and field trips
Guest speakers
Collaborative learning and small group exercises
Collaborative projects (Stewardship activities)

VIII. Methods of Evaluating Objectives

A.Completion of written assignments and group work evaluated for student comprehension and reflection.
B.Completion of team project evaluated for student comprehension.
C.A final assessment requiring students to demonstrate the ability to summarize, integrate and critically analyze principles and concepts examined throughout the course.
D.Successful completion of in class participation in group based activities, including stewardship activities in the Kirsch Center community.

IX. Texts and Supporting References

A.Examples of Primary Texts and References
1.Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation - OpenStax CNX. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2018, from https://cnx.org/contents/F0Hv_Zza@43.5:HdWd2hN5@2/Foreword
B.Examples of Supporting Texts and References
1.Fleischman, P. (2014). Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines. Candlewick Press.
2.Diamond, J. M. (2011). Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed. New York: Viking.
3.Barnosky, A. D., & Hadly, E. A. (2016). Tipping Point for Planet Earth: How Close Are We to the Edge? Thomas Dunne Books.
4.McNeill, J. R. (2000). Something new under the sun: An environmental history of the twentieth-century world. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
5.Agyeman, J., Bullard, R. D., & Evans, B. (2003). Just sustainabilities: Development in an unequal world. London: Earthscan.
6.Chevat, R., & Pollan, M. (2009). The omnivore's dilemma: The secrets behind what you eat. New York: Dial Books.
7.Best, J. (2018). American nightmares: Social problems in an anxious world.
8.Fleischman, P. (2014). Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines. Candlewick Press.