Global Sustainability
The relationship between human societies and the planet have created many of today’s most intractable global challenges. The search for new social, spatial, and technological systems that do not require undue and increasing amounts of finite resources is known as sustainability. Over the past 50 years, Earth’s human population has doubled, to 6.8 billion people, and is projected to increase to 9.2 billion by 2050. When multiplied by a growing per-capita rate of consumption, the resulting effect is an accelerated depletion of natural resources, loss of natural capital, worldwide water and energy shortages, pressure on global food supplies, loss of precious biodiversity, increasing global health challenges, and social upheaval. These issues threaten human well-being and the Earth's ecosystems.
Major Requirements
Prerequisites (6 credits)
- Global Humanities, History or Culture: one of
- GSGS 2000: Introduction to Global Studies (was GSGS 2559 in Fall 2023)
The following courses satisfy this prerequisite for students graduating in May 2027 or earlier.
- ANTH 2160: Culture & the Environment
- ANTH 2250: Nationalism, Racism, Multiculturalism
- ANTH 2285: Anthropology of Development + Humanitarianism
- GDS 3114: Science, Technology, Development
- GSGS 2010: Global Commerce in Culture
- GSGS 2400: Mass Migration & Global Development (was GSGS 2559 in Spring 2024)
- GSGS 2610: Global Systems of Inequality
- GSGS 3030/ENGL 3610: Global Cultural Studies
- GSGS 3100: Critical Conceptions of the Global
- GSGS 3117: Dynamics of Great Powers: View from the South
- GSGS 3118: Space, Place and Global Development (was GSGS 3559 in Fall 2023)
- GSGS 3559 (19730): Order & Disorder in the Contemporary World
- Methods/Quantitative Reasoning: one of
- EVSC 3020: GIS Methods
- GSGS 4200: Applied Research in Global Studies
- GSGS 4620: GIS for Global Studies
- GSGS 4810: Thinking in (Global) Systems
- GSVS 4100: Evidence for (Sustainability) Policy
- PLAN 2110: Data Visualization for Planners
- PLAN 2111: GIS for Planners
- STAT 1601 or 1602: Intro to Data Science with R
- STAT 2020: Statistics for Biologists
- STAT 2120: Intro to Statistical Analysis
The following courses satisfy this prerequisite for students graduating in May 2027 or earlier.
- ECON 2010: Microeconomics
- ECON 3430: Economics of Sustainability & Environment
- GSGS 3330: Ecological Economics
- GSVS 2050: Sustainable Energy Systems
Core Courses (12 credits)
- GSVS 2150 / ARCH 2150 / COMM 3880: Global Sustainability
- GSVS 2210 / RELG 2210: Religion, Ethics & Global Environment
- GSVS 3310: Sustainability Policy at Home & Abroad
- GSVS 3330: Ecological Economics (preferred) ~OR~ ECON 3430: Economics of Sustainability & the Environment
Capstone Seminar (3 credits)
- GSVS 4991: Capstone Research Seminar
Elective Courses (15 credits)
- See the “Elective Explorer” tab of the GSVS Curriculum Planner spreadsheet for the the current list of courses pre-approved for the major.
Five electives (or 15 credit hours) will be chosen with the student’s GSVS advisor from a range of programs, disciplines, and topics. With some exceptions, three of the electives will be courses that focus on the natural environment, environmental quality, and ecosystem health. One elective will focus on ethical/equitable/just access to natural resources and/or in the distribution of the effects of environmental degradation/restoration. And one will focus on the economics of, or policy responses to, environmental challenges. Across these three themes (environment, equity, economics), at least three of the five electives must be at the 3000 level or higher.
See the “Elective Explorer” tab of the GSVS Curriculum Planner spreadsheet for the current list of courses pre-approved for the major.
(Please make a copy of the Curriculum Planner and follow the steps in the Instructions tab to map out your Global Sustainability journey.)
Language Competency
Completion/satisfaction of World Language Literacy as detailed in the College Curriculum. Students can meet the World Languages requirement by successfully completing one of the following courses of action:
- Earn exemption by placing beyond the 2020 level by examination
- Take 14 credits, or four semesters of a language in the proper sequence typically finishing at the 2020 level
- After placement, complete the remaining courses in the sequence up to the fourth semester (usually 2020)
The Global Sustainability Minor
The interdisciplinary Minor in Global Sustainability benefits students of all majors who want to understand the many facets of sustainability and learn how to apply this knowledge in their personal and professional lives. The Minor empowers students across the University in common efforts to accomplish real change through community engagement with sustainable projects in their communities and beyond. The Minor also establishes connections between different disciplines and prepares students to incorporate sustainable practices into their varied future careers. Global Sustainability Minors will be ready to create and tackle projects on their own, and to be creative collaborators who understand how to engage the material and human resources of their community to accomplish their goals.
Requirements for the Minor
The Global Sustainability minor requires 15 credits, including one 3-credit foundation course. See details in the “Minor Planner” tab of the GSVS Curriculum Planner spreadsheet. The “Elective Explorer” tab shows the current list of courses that are pre-approved for the minor. (Make a copy of the worksheet sheet to map out your plans, following the steps in the Instructions tab.)
For questions about the minor and/or to share a share a draft of your plans, please email Tashana Starks and Spencer Phillips. Once your plan is set, Ms. Starks will manage the minor declaration process.
Director
Spencer Phillips
Global Sustainability (GSVS) Track Director; Associate Professor of Global Studies, A&S