Sustainability Studies Minor: Courses and Program Requirements

Dr. Hilario Molina, IUP Sociology, speaks in the Sustainability Studies Speaker’s Series on “Environmental Discrimination: Excluding the Poor from Sustainability”

Program Requirements

Students must complete 18 credits and a capstone experience to earn a minor in sustainability studies. The program’s interdisciplinary approach encourages students to take courses from a variety of departments. The program is structured as follows:

All students will take SUST 201: Introduction to Sustainability.
Students must then take at least 12 credits from Category A, defined as courses in which substantial content is foundational to engagement with sustainability. These credits must be distributed across three “clusters,” each of which denotes a major aspect of sustainability (see below). Having taken one course from each of the three clusters, students will then be able to take the remaining Category A credits from a cluster of their choosing.
Only 3 credits may come from Category B, defined as courses in which significant content is foundational to engagement with sustainability. Because their content may vary, courses from Category B must be approved by the program director to count for the minor.
At least 6 credits must be at the 300 level or above.
Only one course may come from the student’s major.
With the exception of SUST courses, no course prefix may be used more than twice without written permission from the program director.
Special topics, independent study courses, and internship courses may be applied to either Category A or Category B with the approval of the Sustainability Studies Committee.
Students should consult with the program director to determine if there are any prerequisites for the courses listed below. Through counseling, the program coordinator will work with individual departments to determine if students may qualify for prerequisite exemptions.
Students will work with an advisor from the Sustainability Studies program to develop a capstone experience that synthesizes their knowledge and skills related to sustainability. This requirement may be fulfilled by one of the following options: a portfolio, conference presentation, or other scholarly activity approved by the program director

What Category A courses are part of the Sustainability Studies Minor?

Cluster I: Ethics, Culture, and Society
Course Number	Course Name	Credits	Offered Fall 2018
ANTH 420	Cultural Ecology	3cr	Yes
ANTH 430	Anthropology of Food	3cr	No
ENGL 361	Environmental Literature	3cr	No
HIST 385	People in Nature	3cr	No
PHIL 270	Ethics and the Environment	3cr	No
RLST 365	Native North American Religions	3cr	No
SOC 481	Critical Race Theory and Environmental Justice (Special Topics Course)	3cr	Yes
ENG 398	Global Genres—Novel Visions: Ecology and Environmental Justice through the Lens of Global Literature	3cr	No

Cluster II: Natural Sciences and Environmental Stewardship
Course Number	Course Name	Credits	Offered Fall 2018
BIOL 103	Life on Earth	4cr	Yes
BIOL 115	Biotic Diversity of North America (Punxy/NorthPointe)	3cr	No
BIOL 201	Principles of Ecology and Evolution	4cr	Yes
BIOL 221	Environmental Health and Protection	4cr	No
BIOL 272	Conservation of Plant and Animal Resources	3cr	Yes
BIOL 450	Field Biology and Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology	4cr	No
BIOL 490	Field Studies in Biology	3cr	Yes
GEOS 101	The Dynamic Earth	3cr	Yes
GEOS 103	Oceans and Atmospheres	3cr	Yes
GEOS 310	Environmental Geology	4cr	No
GEOS 370	Oceanography	4cr	No
PHYS 101	Energy and Our Environment	3cr	No
PSYC 331	Environmental Psychology	3cr	No

Cluster III: Environmental Policy, Economics, and Law
Course Number	Course Name	Credits	Offered Fall 2018
CRIM 374	Environmental Crime and Justice	3cr	No
ECON 361	Environmental Economics	3cr	No
FDNT 470	Human Food Consumption Patterns	3cr	Yes
GEOG/RGPL 103	Global Cities: Issues in Planning and Development	3cr	Yes
GEOG 104	World Geography: Global Context	3cr	Yes
GEOG 481/581	Special Topics: Field Study in India	3cr	No
GEOG/RGPL 343	Geography of Fresh Water Resources	3cr	Yes
GEOG/RGPL 345	Biogeography for Environmental Managers	3cr	No
GEOG/RGPL 440	Conservation: Environmental Analysis	3cr	No
MKTG 444	Green Marketing	3cr	No
RGPL 426	Environmental Land Use Planning	3cr	No

What Category B courses are part of the Sustainability Studies Minor?

Category B Courses
Course Number	Course Name	Credits	Offered Fall 2018
ANTH 110	Contemporary Anthropology	3cr	Yes
ANTH 213	World Archaeology	3cr	No
ANTH 314	Contemporary Native American Cultures	3cr	Yes
ANTH 444	Medical Anthropology	3cr	No
ART 113	Three-Dimensional Design	3cr	Yes
ART 213	Woodworking: Function and Form	3cr	Yes
BIOL 323	Introduction to Toxicology and Risk Assessment	3cr	No
BIOL 362	Ecology	3cr	No
BIOL 456	Ecological Toxicology	3cr	Yes
ECON 338	Poverty in Africa	3cr	No
ECON 339	Economic Development I	3cr	Yes
ECON 365	Economics of Tourism	3cr	No
GEOG 230	Cultural Geography	3cr	Yes
GEOG 435	Geography of Energy	3cr	Yes
GEOS 150	Geology of National Parks	3cr	No
GEOS 152	Physical Resources of the Earth	3cr	No
GEOS 201	Foundations of Geology	4cr	Yes
GEOS 324	Geology of Oil and Gas	4cr	Yes
KHSS 143	Physical Well-Being	3cr	Yes
JRNL 375	World News Coverage	3cr	Yes
JRNL 466	Community Journalism	3cr	No
NURS 143	Healthy People - Promoting Wellness	3cr	Yes
PHIL 122	Contemporary Moral Issues	3cr	Yes
PLSC 250	Public Policy	3cr	Yes
PLSC 389	International Development Strategies	3cr	No
PSYC 330	Social Psychology	3cr	Yes
RLST 485	Selected Topics in Feminist Studies of Religion	3cr	No
SOC 337	Society, Globalization, and Risk	3cr	Yes
SOC 340	Sociology of Industry	3cr	No
SOC 417	Global Service Learning	3cr	No

Please also refer to the current Undergraduate Catalog for additional information about the minor which is housed in both the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.