Curriculum

San Diego State University has witnessed a strong growth in academics related to sustainability.

Courses

Sustainability curriculum provides the necessary breadth and depth of knowledge, skills, and critical and creative thinking to implement solutions for, and adapt with, the interconnected ecosystems for present and future generations.

A list of currently identified sustainability courses are available here. If you have a course that meets requirements, please email [email protected]. Sustainable SDSU will be tracking sustainability-related and focused courses, another good reference for sustainability classes is available from the Sustainability Major. 

Courses designated as sustainability-related shall contain at least one module of lessons addressing one of the following criteria and courses designated as sustainability-focused shall contain modules of lessons addressing more than one of the following criteria or focus the majority of the lessons on one criterion from the rubric below:

• Examines how changes in the natural environment affect people and their communities, ecological systems, or economic systems
• Examines how human actions impact or change the natural environment and ecological processes
• Explores how people experience, express, or think about nature and the relationship between humans and nature
• Explores the aesthetic, ethical and philosophical dimensions of sustainability
• Analyzes the interconnected relationships among human, natural, and economic systems
• Develops skills to assess and communicate the interrelated socioeconomic and environmental challenges and design solutions to manage natural, human and fiscal resources that are compatible with the constraints on these resources.

 

Major/Minor

The Sustainability major and minor programs have been successfully developed, and several other academic majors incorporate aspects of sustainability:  geography; civil, construction and environmental engineering; mechanical engineering; electrical engineering; public health; city planning; and marketing. The Sage Program provides an opportunity for students to directly engage with communities on real world, sustainability-related issues.

Since the Sustainability Major was introduced in Fall 2012 with only 6 students, the major has grown to almost 200. Check out the trends here.