Sustainability Studies Minor
The rapidly growing and linked ecological and social crises arising from stresses on supplies of energy, water, food, land use and other natural resources are among the most critical societal challenges of the next 50 years. These crises are not simply about the adequacy of supply relative to demand; they are also the result of the complex social relations within and among societies, in the past, present, and future. Sustainability is not a fixed state that can be achieved once and maintained. Creative solutions for socio-ecological problems require ever-evolving adaptive approaches and robust interdisciplinary collaborations among engineers, social scientists, economists, policy makers, artists and natural scientists. College graduates will need to be flexible and responsive, able to learn new knowledge and skills rapidly, and cognizant of the complex organization of society and technology. The minor in sustainability studies administered by Rachel Carson College takes a “learning by doing” approach to prepare students as change-makers equipped with professional conduct, analytic abilities, a global perspective and practical know-how.
The pedagogical underpinnings of this minor are anchored in design as a creative process and premised on relationships between classroom learning, character development, non-violent communication, community engagement, and technical innovation through research and application. Broad interdisciplinarity and individual grounding in STEM, social sciences and the arts are critical elements at the center of the minor’s core courses. The curriculum is therefore structured to 1) facilitate interdisciplinary academic and research collaborations among faculty and students across multiple UC Santa Cruz divisions (drawing on but outside of the divisional structure) and in the off-campus community; 2) teach and train students in ecology and sustainability for regenerative design thinking, entrepreneurship and impact assessment in the built and natural environment; 3) integrate the use of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) skills and social science knowledge to these ends; and 4) meet undergraduate demand for a sustainability curriculum with focuses distinct from those offered in existing UCSC departments.
The program is designed to graduate students who can think past mere technology-based solutions to design and implement disruptive innovations that challenge the existing paradigm and invite regenerative systems that support our demands for energy, food, water, mobility and shelter by cultivating mutually beneficial relationships. Students are introduced to concepts and topics such as living-system and cradle-to-cradle design, life-cycle analysis, waste management, coastal and marine conservation, and natural resource management. During the program, students will design and participate in service-learning projects in collaboration with on- and off-campus units, agencies, and organizations; and apply the knowledge and skills acquired through the minor.
No specific prior preparation or prerequisites are required for entry to the minor.
Program learning objectives are as follows:
-
Demonstrate whole system awareness with the ability to identify and understand interconnectedness (intersecting, related and/or connected systems; synergies and rebound effects) and how all human-made designs rely upon and are embedded within nested ecological systems.
-
Demonstrate awareness that a design is a system, that users interact with designs and that designs and users are embedded in higher level systems that include environmental ecosystems and the life they sustain.
-
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of whole life-cycle and closed-loop systems thinking as related to the impact of mitigation work (e.g., understanding of life-cycle burdens of design alternatives).
-
Comprehend and apply understanding of the causes, features, data, complexities, policies, and practices giving rise to and needed to address a perceived crisis in the contemporary global socioecological context including the role of production, consumption, politics, policies, markets and human behavior in this crisis.
-
Show proficiency in applying basic STEM skills needed for evaluation and design practices in real-world applications including quantitative and qualitative metrics for impact and risk assessments and a selection of software and hardware-specific skills (e.g.. computer animated design, 3D printing, Arduino programming etc.) Use cognizance of appropriate social science knowledge/methods and entrepreneurial practices to design and implement social enterprise and service learning projects in sustainability and ecological design and practice.
-
Demonstrate the ability to forecast the near- and long-term costs and value of their work to the environment and society through the efficient use of resources (e.g., efficient for whom?) and socially/culturally responsible engagement with stakeholders.
-
Show awareness of risks and opportunities related to changing environments and stakeholder interests on their work (e.g., extended costs, value, trade-offs, partnerships, regulations, policies, etc.).
-
Demonstrate the ability to identify relevant cultural implications and influences in the context of their work (e.g., cultural expressions and sensitivities, services and goods procurement, heritage site appreciation) as well as equity awareness (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, class, etc.).
-
Feel familiar with ways to create robust, dynamic, and resilient systems and ways to develop transdisciplinary stakeholder networks.
-
Understand ethical implications relative to social impact of their work.
Course Requirements
A minimum of 25 upper-division credits are required to complete the minor. Substitutes for any of the required courses must be approved by the program director.
Introductory Courses
Take this course twice:
| CRSN 55 | Rachel Carson College: Service Learning Practicum | 2 |
Upper-Division Core Courses
Take all of the following courses:
| CRSN 151A | Sustainability Praxis in the Natural and Built Environment | 5 |
| CRSN 151B | Innovation and Professionalization for Sustainability Designers, Engineers, and Entrepreneurs | 5 |
| CRSN 151C | Sustainability Laboratory Tools, Techniques, and Applications | 3 |
Topics taught in CRSN 151C vary by quarter. It may be repeated for additional upper-division credit or as a capstone option if the repeated course is on a different topic.
Upper-Division Elective
All students must take one 5-credit course from the CRSN or Breadth Electives lists below. The upper-division elective does not count toward the Breadth Capstone requirement. While not required, students are encouraged to take a CRSN course to fulfill this elective.
Capstone
Students choose from one of the following options:
Option 1: IDEASS Capstone
Take the following course three times (9 credits total):
Option 2: Breadth Capstone
Students fulfill the Breadth Capstone by taking one upper-division Breadth Elective and either an upper-division CRSN or additional upper-division Breadth Elective course from the lists below.
Upper-Division Breadth and CRSN Courses
The following courses fulfill the upper-division Elective requirement and Breadth Capstone requirement.
CRSN Electives
| CRSN 151C | Sustainability Laboratory Tools, Techniques, and Applications | 3 |
| CRSN 155S | Innovation & Sustainability for Global Impact Practicum | 3 |
| CRSN 160 | Developing Leadership to Facilitate Environmental Education | 5 |
| CRSN 161 | Education for Sustainable Living Program | 5 |
Breadth Electives
The following courses are offered outside of Rachel Carson College and are subject to department availability. Check course descriptions for prerequisite or concurrent enrollment requirements. Lecture/lab combos count as one course. Labs are required only when required by the lecture.
| ANTH 110E | Anthropology of Global Environmental Change | 5 |
| ANTH 110K | Culture Through Food | 5 |
| ANTH 110W | Land and Waterscapes Entropology | 5 |
| ANTH 111 | Human Ecology | 5 |
| ANTH 135A | Cities | 5 |
| ANTH 137 | Consuming Culture | 5 |
| ANTH 146 | Anthropology and the Environment | 5 |
| ANTH 147 | Anthropology and the Anthropocene | 5 |
| ANTH 160 | Reproductive and Population Politics | 5 |
| ANTH 161 | The Anthropology of Food | 5 |
| ART 125 | Environmental Art Studio | 5 |
| BIOE 107 | Ecology | 5 |
| BIOE 108 | Marine Ecology | 5 |
| BIOE 145 | Plant Ecology | 5 |
| BIOE 147 | Community Ecology | 5 |
| BIOE 155 | Freshwater Ecology | 5 |
| CMMU 133 | Making California: Landscapes, People, Politics, Economy | 5 |
| CMMU 149 | Political Economy of Food and Agriculture | 5 |
| CMMU 156 | Politics of Food and Health | 5 |
| CMMU 162 | Community Gardens and Social Change | 5 |
| CMMU 186 | Food and Agriculture Social Movements | 5 |
| EART 107 | Remote Sensing of the Environment | 5 |
| EART 116 | Hydrology | 5 |
| EART 121 | The Atmosphere | 5 |
| EART 142 | Engineering Geology for Environmental Scientists | 5 |
| EART 146 | Groundwater | 5 |
| EART 191 | Earth Sciences Capstone Seminar | 5 |
| ECE 175 | Energy Generation and Control | 5 |
| ECE 175L | Energy Generation and Control Laboratory | 2 |
| ECE 176 | Energy Conservation and Control | 5 |
| ECE 176L | Energy Conversion and Control Laboratory | 2 |
| ECE 177 | Power Electronics | 5 |
| ECE 177L | Power Electronics Laboratory | 2 |
| ECE 180J | Advanced Renewable Energy Sources, Storage, and Smart Grids | 5 |
| ECON 170 | Environmental Economics | 5 |
| ECON 171 | Natural Resource Economics | 5 |
| ECON 175 | Energy Economics | 5 |
| ENVS 110 | Institutions, the Environment, and Economic Systems | 5 |
| ENVS 120 | Conservation Biology | 5 |
| ENVS 130A | Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture | 5 |
| ENVS 130C | Field Experiences in Agroecology and Sustainable Food | 5 |
| ENVS 135 | Sustainable Aquaculture | 5 |
| ENVS 140
/LGST 140E
| National Environmental Policy | 5 |
| ENVS 142 | Sustainable Energy | 5 |
| ENVS 143 | The Future of Sustainable Development | 5 |
| ENVS 144
/POLI 179
| Global Climate Change Politics | 5 |
| ENVS 145 | Green Cities | 5 |
| ENVS 149
/LGST 149
| Environmental Law and Policy | 5 |
| ENVS 151
/LGST 151A
| Environmental Assessment | 5 |
| ENVS 152
/POLI 170
| International Environmental Politics | 5 |
| ENVS 165
/LGST 165A
| Sustainable Water Systems | 5 |
| ENVS 166 | Agroecosystem Analysis and Watershed Management | 5 |
| FMST 124 | Technology, Science, and Race Across the Americas | 5 |
| FMST 131 | The Politics of Matter and the Matter of Politics | 5 |
| FMST 133 | Science and the Body | 5 |
| HAVC 48 | Climate Justice Now! Art, Activism, Environment Today | 5 |
| HAVC 141K | Activist Art Since 1960: Art, Technology, Activism | |
| HAVC 143B | History of Urban Design | 5 |
| HIS 101C | Oceans in World History | 5 |
| HIS 101F | Global Environmental History | 5 |
| HIS 151 | History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from Antiquity to the Enlightenment | 5 |
| HIS 196F | Topics in European Environmental History | 5 |
| LALS 80P | Environment and Society in Latin America | 5 |
| LALS 152 | Consumer Cultures Between the Americas | 5 |
| LALS 163 | The Amazon: Cultures and Perspectives | 5 |
| LGST 137 | International Environmental Law and Policy | 5 |
| LGST 159 | Property and the Law | 5 |
| METX 101 | Sources and Fates of Pollutants | 5 |
| OCEA 101 | The Marine Environment | 5 |
| OCEA 102 | Oceans and Climate: Past, Present, and Future | 5 |
| POLI 132
/LGST 132
| California Water Law and Policy | 5 |
| POLI 174 | Global Political Ecology | 5 |
| PSYC 159E | Peace Psychology | 5 |
| SOCY 30A | Introduction to Global Information and Social Enterprise Studies | 5 |
| SOCY 119 | Sociology of Knowledge | 5 |
| SOCY 125 | Society and Nature | 5 |
| SOCY 130 | Sociology of Food | 5 |
| SOCY 132 | Sociology of Science and Technology | 5 |
| SOCY 167 | Development and Underdevelopment | 5 |
| SOCY 173 | Water | 5 |
| SOCY 177E | Eco-Metropolis: Research Seminar in Urban and Environmental Studies | 5 |
| SOCY 177G | Global Cities | 5 |
| SOCY 179 | Nature, Poverty, and Progress: Dilemmas of Development and Environment | 5 |
The list of breadth elective courses applies to all of the upper-division options above. This list is updated regularly, but course offerings change. Please consult course lists prior to each quarter to see what is being offered. Some of these courses require permission of the instructor to enroll). You can find the most updated listing of breadth electives here.