Pictured | Lola Diaz | Master of Liberal Studies | Mexico City, Mexico (hometown)

Sustainability Leadership Option

An M.L.S. degree with a strong emphasis in sustainability leadership gives graduates the tools to contribute creatively to a growing international movement among businesses and communities. The student is able to add specific expertise in sustainability to the general communications skills and academic interdisciplinary skills developed in the M.L.S. core courses. A student is able to shape the degree to fit specific professional and personal goals, but at the core of the educational experience are the values of interdisciplinary scholarship and practice, as well as the understanding of how to lead effective sustainability efforts in several contexts. The Sustainability option incorporates the curriculum of the Graduate Certificate in Strategic Sustainability Leadership into the core requirements of the IU South Bend Master of Liberal Studies degree. It includes two capstone courses, the Public Intellectual Practicum and the seminar on Sustainability Leadership and Planning.

Indiana University South Bend graduates with a Certificate in Strategic Sustainability Leadership will be able to:

1. Identify and employ the literacies and concepts of sustainability, i.e., associated  with understanding the triple bottom line of environment, economy, and society.
2. Employ a systems approach, which demonstrates holistic thinking, integration, and complexity.
3. Formulate and apply sustainable solutions in real-life settings, using practical application.
4. Recognize and be able to judge the applicability of existing sustainability tools and frameworks, such as LEED, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Biomimicry, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), The Natural Step, Energy Star, Cradle to Cradle.
5. Apply collaborative and leadership skills.
6. Practice transformative thinking to become an effective change agent.
7. Demonstrate persuasive skills in a variety or ways (rhetoric and argument, media, public relations, political/community organizing).
8. Demonstrate an ethical sensibility and capacity for empathy.
9. Utilize interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary avenues for learning and application of knowledge of sustainability.

Requirements (34 cr.)

All courses are 3 cr., unless otherwise designated.

Required Core Courses (13 cr.)

• COAST-Q 510 Topics in Information Literacy (1 cr.)
• LBST-D 501 Humanities Seminar
• LBST-D 502 Social Sciences Seminar
• LBST-D 503 Science Seminar
• LBST-D 510 Introduction to Graduate Liberal Studies

MLS Elective (3 cr.)

• Any graduate elective course(s), including independent study credit, with approval of the academic advisor

Sustainability Required Courses (9 cr.)

• SUST-S 501 Sustainability Strategies and Applications
• SUST-S 520 Sustainability and Innovation
• SUST-S 620 Sustainable Technologies and Alternative Energy

Sustainability Electives (3 cr.)

Select one of the following

• SUST-S 630 Sustainable Food Systems
• SUST-S 660 Sustainability and the Built Environment

Capstone Seminars (6 cr.)

• LBST-D 600 Public Intellectual Practicum
• SUST-S 690 Sustainability Leadership Development and Planning

Photo credit | Peter Ringenberg