Pictured | Cori Jones | Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies / Minor in Geography| Bremen, Indiana (hometown)

Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability

Sustainability is generally characterized as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The Sustainability Studies Program offers in-person and online BA degrees as well as a minor. In these, students study the trans-disciplinary foundations of sustainability and learn how to apply the knowledge they acquire to the development and implementation of sustainable values, innovations, practices, technologies, and policies. Going beyond the traditional classroom, the Sustainability Studies curriculum includes civic engagement and experiential, project-based, and service learning, thus preparing students to lead the way in the creation of a sustainable future while preparing them for the new jobs of the emerging green economy.

Academic Advising

College policy on advising requires that students meet with their academic advisors at least once each year, and in some departments, prior to each semester’s enrollment. Advising holds are placed on all College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) students prior to advance registration and are released following advising appointments. Students with a declared major are advised in their academic units. To determine who your advisor is and how to contact them, see One.IU.

Degree Requirements (120 cr.)

Degree Map >>

Students receiving the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree must complete 120 total credit hours including:

• IU South Bend Campuswide General Education Curriculum (33 cr.)
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Bachelor of Arts Requirements (16-26 cr.)
• Required Minor taken in any campus school or interdisciplinary program (15-18 cr.)
• Major Requirements (33 cr.)
• Electives (12 cr.)
• Capstone (3 cr.)
• Free Electives (balance of credits needed to equal 120 cr. requirement)

• A minimum of 30 credit hours at the 300– or 400–level.
• Major and minor requirements must be completed with a grade of C– or higher.
• All courses are 3 credit hours, unless otherwise noted.

Major Requirements (33 cr.)

Introduction (3 cr.)

• SUST-S 201 Foundations of Sustainability

Sustainability Core Courses (12 cr.)

Select 12 credits from the following:

• SOC-B 399 Human Behavior and Social Institutions
  VT: Sustainable Communities
• SUST-B 399 Human Behavior and Social Institutions
  VT: Just Food: Sustainable Food Systems
  VT: Icelandic Land Ethics
• SUST-S 310 Systems Thinking for Sustainability
• SUST-S 360 Topics in Sustainability Studies
  VT: Sustainable Urban Agriculture
  VT: Good Work
  VT: Sustainability, Health, and Wellness
  VT: Urban Landscapes and Biodiversity
  VT: Tools for Measuring Sustainability
  VT: Environmental Justice
  VT: Art and Sustainability
• SUST-S 361 Sustainability Abroad (1-6 cr.)
• SUST-S 411 Sustainability, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
• SUST-S 460 Strategies for Transformative Leadership and Community Engagement
• SUST-S 491 Internship in Sustainability
• SUST-S 495 Directed Readings in Sustainability (1-3 cr.)
• SUST-S 496 Research in Sustainability (1-3 cr.)

Skills for Sustainability (3 cr.)

In consultation with your advisor, select one course from the following:

Computing

• BUS-K 201 The Computer in Business
• CSCI-B 100 Problem Solving Using Computers (4 cr.)
• INFO-I 101 Introduction to Informatics (4 cr.)

Economics

• ECON-E 103 Introduction to Microeconomics
• ECON-E 104 Introduction to Macroeconomics

Geographic Information Systems

• GEOG-G 338 Geographic Information Systems

Social Science Research Methodology

• SOC-S 370 Research Methods in Sociology

Statistics

• BIOL-L 337 Introduction to Biostatistics 
• ECON-E 270 Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
• MATH-K 310 Statistical Techniques
• PSY-P 354 Statistical Analysis in Psychology
• SOC-S 351 Social Statistics

Writing

• ENG-W 231 Professional Writing Skills
• ENG-W 232 Introduction to Business Writing
• ENG-W 234 Technical Report Writing
• ENG-W 270 Argumentative Writing
• ENG-W 315 Writing for the Web
• ENG-W 319 Grant Writing
• ENG-W 367 Writing for Multiple Media

Electives (12 cr.)

Select 12 credits from the following:

• ANTH-B 399 Human Behavior and Social Institutions
  VT: Environmental Anthropology
• BIOL-L 101 Introduction to Biological Sciences 1 (5 cr.)
  (2 cr. count towards Elective)
• BIOL-N 390 The Natural World
  VT: Environmental Science
  Biology majors can substitute BIOL-L 473 Ecology and BIOL-L 474 Field and Laboratory Ecology (2 cr.)
• BUS-B 399 Business and Society
• CHEM-N 190 The Natural World
  VT: Chemistry and Our Environment
• GEOG-B 190 Human Behavior and Social Institutions
  VT: Introducing Globalization
• GEOG-G 213 Introduction to Economic Geography
• GEOG-G 338 Geographic Information Science
• GEOL-G 111 Physical Geology
• GEOL-G 210 Oceanography
• GEOL-G 219 Meteorology
• GEOL-G 451 Principles of Hydrogeology
• GEOL-N 190 The Natural World
  VT: Geology of the National Parks
  VT: Weather Forecasting and Analysis
• GEOL-N 390 The Natural World
  VT: Natural Hazard and Disasters
• HIST-T 190 Literary and Intellectual Traditions
  VT: Humans and the Environment
• HPER-N 220 Nutrition for Health
• HSC-H 331 Environmental Health
• HSC-H 412 Global Health
• LSTU-L 390 Topics in Labor Studies
  VT: Jobs and the Environment
• PHIL-P 383 Topics in Philosophy
  VT: Philosophical Topics in Evolution
• PHIL-T 390 Literary and Intellectual Traditions
  VT: Environmental Philosophy
• PHYS-N 190 The Natural World
  VT: Energy in the 21st Century
• PLSC-B 101 Plant Biology (5 cr.)
• POLS-Y 115 Environment and the People
• PSY-B 190 Human Behavior and Social Institutions
  VT: Social Justice
• SOC-B 399 Human Behavior and Social Institutions
  VT: Sustainable Communities
  VT: Costa Rica (Crosslisted with SOC-S 362)
  VT: Belize (Crosslisted with SOC-S 362)
  VT: Consumer Society and the Environment
• SOC-S 306 Urban Society
• SOC-S 362 World Societies and Cultures
  VT: Belize
• SOC-S 410 Advanced Topics in Social Organization
  VT: Consumer Culture and Climate Change
  VT: Environmental Sociology
• SOC-S 460 Topics in Non-Western Cultures
  VT: International Inequalities
• SUST-B 190 The Sustainable Future
• WGS-T 390 Literary and Intellectual Traditions
  VT: Women and Sustainability

Capstone (3 cr.)

• SUST-S 490 Sustainability Practicum