Programs

Sustainability and Sustainable Development

(15 credit hours) In the sustainability and sustainable development concentration students study the relations among productive activity and social and environmental impacts.  They consider the role of markets and related institutions in the efficient and equitable delivery of goods and services, and develop skills to analyze and address the systematic strengths and weaknesses in the various social systems.  Students examine the many factors, including social, economic, legal and political forces that promote or deter sustainability.  The concentration encourages students to examine the interrelationship of environmental and social systems, the regenerative capacity of both, and the institutional change that will be required to develop greater sustainability.  Graduates will be prepared for employment in government and international programs, corporate sustainability offices, and not-for-profit sustainability campaigns. Students may not use MPA core courses to fulfill concentration requirements.

Required Courses (3 credit hours)

In consultation with a concentration advisor, choose one of the following three courses:

SPEA-R 563 Corporate Sustainability in a Tri-Sectoral World (3 cr.)
SPEA-S 515 Sustainable Communities (3 cr.)
SPEA-S 596 Sustainable Development (3 cr.)
Electives (12 credit hours)
Group I - Context for Sustainability (6 credit hours):

In consultation with a concentration advisor, select two courses from one of the following areas:

  • Development, Policy and Entrepreneurship
  • Natural Environment
  • Environmental Protection
Students are encouraged to select courses that lead to expertise in a particular context. (Note: The three courses listed in Requirements may also be taken as Electives. However, they cannot be double counted. Students taking more than one of the three Requirements courses, will receive 3 credits towards Requirements for the first of those courses, and then the second and third would count towards electives.).

Development, Policy and Entrepreneurship:

SPEA-D 576 Approaches to Development (3 cr.)
SPEA-D 669 Economic Development, Globalization, and Entrepreneurship (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 530 Fundamentals of Sustainable Agriculture (3 cr.)
SPEA-L 622 Local Economic Development (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 512 Energy and Climate: Law and Policy (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 516 Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Governance (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 517 Environmental Justice (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 532 Water Policy and Economics (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 535 International Environmental Policy (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 643 Natural Resource Management and Policy (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 625 Environmental Economics and Policy (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 643 Natural Resource Management and Policy (3 cr.)
SPEA-R 674 Energy Economics and Policy (3 cr.)
SPEA-S 515 Sustainable Communities (3 cr.)
SPEA-S 596 Sustainable Development (3 cr.)
SPEA-V 527 Urban Sustainability (This course is offered at IUPUI) (3 cr.)
SPEA-V 550 Food Policy in a Changing World (3 cr.)
SPEA-V 559 Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship (3 cr.)
SPEA-X 511/
SPEA-E 501
Human Behavior and Energy Consumption (3 cr.)

Natural Environment:

SPEA-E 517 BMP Design for Healthy Urban Watersheds (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 522 Urban Forest Management (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 528 Forest Ecology and Management (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 534 Restoration Ecology (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 540 Wetlands Ecology and Management (4 cr.)
SPEA-E 545 Lake and Watershed Management (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 555 Sustaining Urban Ecosystems (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 557 Conservation Biology (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 563 Wildlife Management (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 591/R 591 Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources (3 cr.)

Environmental Protection:

SPEA-E 515 Fundamentals of Air Pollution (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 539 Aquatic Chemistry (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 552 Environmental Engineering (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 562 Solid and Hazardous Waste Management (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 564 Organic Pollutants (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 574 Energy Systems in Transition (3 cr.)
Group II - Analytical Tools (6 credit hours):

In consultation with a concentration advisor, select two of the following courses or other graduate courses approved as equivalent substitutions:

SPEA-E 511 Sustainability Assessment (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 518 Vector-Based Geographic Information Systems (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 529 Application of Geographical Information Systems (3 cr.)
SPEA-M 547 Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution for Public Affairs (3 cr.)
SPEA-P 507 Data Analysis & Modeling for Public Affairs (3 cr.)
SPEA-P 541 Benefit Cost Analysis (3 cr.)
SPEA-P 562 Public Program Evaluation (3 cr.)

Academic Bulletins

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