Mar 28, 2024  
2018-19 College of Liberal Arts 
    
2018-19 College of Liberal Arts [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Sustainable Development and the Environment Minor


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Meet the Faculty

The program starts from the premise that the world faces two interlocking moral crises; 1) the need to provide a decent quality of life for all the world’s inhabitants and 2) the need to protect the earth’s natural systems upon which all life depends. In all likelihood, the earth cannot physically tolerate the spread of the pattern of “development” present in the now developed countries. Indeed, many vital ecosystems are already overstressed and near collapse.

It is necessary, therefore, to develop an alternative path to economic and human development that is consistent with, rather than contrary to, the laws of nature. This would be a development strategy that is both regenerative and sustainable.

This program explores both theoretical and actual development strategies that are ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable.

Students who complete this minor will gain an understanding of:

  • the basic principles of environmental protection and sustainability;
  • the emergence and consequences of globalization;
  • the increasing role of international cooperation in managing environmental problems;
  • the political economy of transnational corporations;
  • the range of both positive and negative behaviors of transnational corporations in developing countries, and the ability to evaluate the environmental consequences of those behaviors and recent attempts to measure and evaluate sustainable development, including indicators of corporate practice.

Minor Requirements


Twenty-eight (28) semester hours are required: four (4) core courses, worth four (4) semester hours each and two (2) seminar/practicum courses worth six (6) semester hours each.

Seminar/Practicum Courses


Seminar/practicum courses serve as case studies in sustainable development. Each is comprised of a semester-length seminar followed by a study-abroad practicum. All are focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, areas that serve as representative case studies to illustrate a wide range of issues in sustainable development. Two (2) courses with field study component are required.

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