Sustainability Studies Courses

Fall 2013

SUST 1000 Introduction to Sustainability Studies
W 5:30-8:30
Instructor: Jeff McIntyre-Strasburg

Introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of sustainability studies, which focuses on the goal of transforming human societies so that we may equitably meet current human needs (such as health, energy, food, shelter, and transportation) while preserving the natural systems required to meet the needs of future generations. Includes 1) frequent writing assignments to allow students to express their understanding of the complex systems that provide the foundation for environmental and human health and well-being and 2) experiential elements (field trips and a campus sustainability project) that allow them to apply and test classroom theories and information. Guest speakers will represent different disciplines that contribute to sustainability studies. Fulfills GCP requirements for Physical and Natural Word content area and Critical Thinking skills area.

For Research and Communication Requirement

SUST 1100 Enhancing Campus Sustainability
M 5:30–8:30
Instructor: David A. Wilson

Students will learn principles of sustainability and then use the Webster Groves campus of Webster University and the surrounding community as their laboratory to analyze opportunities to improve environmental practices relating to energy, water, air, and/or materials use. Working in teams, they will select specific areas of campus sustainability to research and analyze; each team will then develop a proposal making recommendations to improve sustainability in that area.

WRIT 2072 Writing for Change
TR 3:00-4:20
Instructor: Kenneth Harrison

Working toward global and local change as citizens, activists, and consumers, and as compassionate human beings, is difficult, challenging work. But by using different modes of analytical and persuasive writing, and applying various techniques of research, students can learn to convey effective, powerful messages that call for awareness and action. This course will emphasize how to rhetorically analyze a writing situation, then plan and craft messages into thought-provoking and forceful pieces of writing. Assignments might include letters to the editor and elected officials, position papers on controversial issues, proposals addressing community problems, analysis essays on popular culture, and approaches to grassroots activism and blogging. Students will also work as a group to focus on particular issues, such as Global Warming and Peak Oil, and anticipate their far-reaching and systemic effects on the economy, the community, and our private and civic lives. Students will engage in frequent peer workshops to discuss drafts of each other's writing.

For Social Science and Sustainability Requirement

EDUC 4250 Economics and Geography for Global Sustainability (4 credits)
W 5:30-9:30 (full semester)

This course is designed to provide elementary, middle and secondary educators the information they need to understand and be able to teach the fundamentals of economics, geography and global sustainability. Economic content includes: economic systems, concepts, and institutions; economic change over time; modern global economics; and the relationship between producers, consumers, and the government. Geography content includes: Physical geography skills (apply and use geographic representations, tools, and resources such as maps, atlases, aerial photographs, globes, etc.), and concepts; locales, regions, nations, and the world relative to location, size, climate, and geology; and how individuals and groups are affected by events on an international and global scale. Sustainability concepts and skills will be integrated throughout the course with emphasis on current environmental and social equity issues as well as systems thinking. Students will explore the interconnectedness of people, profit and planet.



*Related Course
(*contact Sustainability Studies Chair Karla Armbruster at armbruka@webster.edu to ask about substituting this course into the minor)

JOUR 2750 Reporting Natural Disasters
Instructor: Don Corrigan
MWF 11:00-11:50