Sustainability Studies classroom

Dr. Hilario Molina, IUP Sociology, speaks in the Sustainability Studies Speaker's Series on “Environmental Discrimination: Excluding the Poor from Sustainability”

Program Requirements

Students must complete 18 credits and a capstone experience to earn a minor in sustainability studies. The program's interdisciplinary approach encourages students to take courses from a variety of departments. The program is structured as follows:

  • All students will take SUST 201: Introduction to Sustainability.
  • Students must then take at least 12 credits from Category A, defined as courses in which substantial content is foundational to engagement with sustainability. These credits must be distributed across three “clusters,” each of which denotes a major aspect of sustainability (see below). Having taken one course from each of the three clusters, students will then be able to take the remaining Category A credits from a cluster of their choosing.
  • Only three credits may come from Category B, defined as courses in which significant content is foundational to engagement with sustainability. Because their content may vary, courses from Category B must be approved by the program director to count for the minor.
  • At least six credits must be at the 300 level or above.
  • Only one course may come from the student's major.
  • With the exception of SUST courses, no course prefix may be used more than twice without written permission from the program director.
  • Special topics, independent study courses, and internship courses may be applied to either Category A or Category B with the approval of the Sustainability Studies Committee.
  • Students should consult with the program director to determine if there are any prerequisites for the courses listed below. Through counseling, the program coordinator will work with individual departments to determine if students may qualify for prerequisite exemptions.
  • Students will work with an advisor from the Sustainability Studies program to develop a capstone experience that synthesizes their knowledge and skills related to sustainability. This requirement may be fulfilled by one of the following options: a portfolio, conference presentation, or other scholarly activity approved by the program director

What Category A courses are part of the Sustainability Studies Minor?

Cluster I: Ethics, Culture, and Society
Course Number Course Name Credits
ANTH 420 Cultural Ecology 3cr
ANTH 430 Anthropology of Food 3cr
ANTH 470 Environmental Archaeology 3cr
ENGL 361 Environmental Literature 3cr
GEOG 230 Cultural Geography 3cr
HIST 385 People in Nature 3cr
PHIL 270 Ethics and the Environment 3cr
RLST 365 Native North American Religions 3cr
SOC 314 Sociology of Native Americans 3cr
Cluster II: Natural Sciences and Environmental Stewardship
Course Number Course Name Credits
BIOL 103 Life on Earth 4cr
BIOL 115 Biotic Diversity of North America 3cr
BIOL 201 Principles of Ecology and Evolution 4cr
BIOL 221 Environmental Health and Protection 4cr
BIOL 272 Conservation of Plant and Animal Resources 3cr
BIOL 362 Ecology 3cr
BIOL 450 Field Biology and Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology 4cr
BIOL 490 Field Studies in Biology 3cr
ENVE 301 Environmental Aquatic Chemistry 3cr
GEOG 101 Environmental and Society 3cr
GEOG 341 Climatology 3cr
GEOG 435 Geography of Energy 3cr
GEOS 101 The Dynamic Earth 3cr
GEOS 103 Oceans and Atmospheres 3cr
GEOS 155 Geology of Climate Change 3cr
GEOS 156 Geology of Natural Disasters 3cr
GEOS 204 Historical Geology 3cr
GEOS 310 Environmental Geology 4cr
PHYS 101 Energy and Our Environment 3cr
PSYC 331 Environmental Psychology 3cr
Cluster III: Environmental Policy, Economics, and Law
Course Number Course Name Credits
CRIM 374 Environmental Crime and Justice 3cr
ECON 361 Environmental Economics 3cr
ENVE 101 Introduction to Environmental Engineering 3cr
FDNT 415 Sustainable Nutrition 3cr
FDNT 470 Human Food Consumption Patterns 3cr
GEOG/RGPL 103 Global Cities: Issues in Planning and Development 3cr
GEOG 104 World Geography: Global Context 3cr
GEOG 231 Economic Geography 3cr
GEOG/RGPL 343 Geography of Fresh Water Resources 3cr
GEOG/RGPL 345 Biogeography for Environmental Managers 3cr
GEOG/RGPL 440 Conservation: Environmental Analysis 3cr
MKTG 444 Green Marketing 3cr
RGPL 426 Environmental Land Use Planning 3cr

What Category B courses are part of the Sustainability Studies Minor?

Category B Courses
Course Number Course Name Credits
ANTH 110 Contemporary Anthropology 3cr
ANTH 213 World Archaeology 3cr
ANTH 240 Introduction to Global Health 3cr
ANTH 314 Contemporary Native American Cultures 3cr
ANTH 352 The Anthropology of Human Rights 3cr
ANTH 444 Medical Anthropology 3cr
ART 113 Three-Dimensional Design 3cr
ART 213 Woodworking: Function and Form 3cr
BIOL 301 Fundamentals of Epidemiology 3cr
BIOL 323 Introduction to Toxicology and Risk Assessment 3cr
BIOL 456 Ecological Toxicology 3cr
ECON 338 Poverty in Africa 3cr
ECON 339 Economic Development I 3cr
GEOS 150 Geology of National Parks 3cr
GEOS 152 Physical Resources of the Earth 3cr
GEOS 201 Foundations of Geology 4cr
KHSS 143 Physical Well-Being 3cr
JRNL 375 World News Coverage 3cr
JRNL 466 Community Journalism 3cr
NURS 101 Disaster Awareness 3cr
NURS 143 Healthy People - Promoting Wellness 3cr
PHIL 122 Contemporary Moral Issues 3cr
PHIL 130 Introduction to Biomedical Ethics 3cr
PLSC 250 Public Policy 3cr
PLSC 389 International Development Strategies 3cr
RLST 485 Selected Topics in Feminist Studies of Religion 3cr
SOC 337 Society, Globalization, and Risk 3cr
SOC 417 Global Service Learning 3cr

Please also refer to the current Undergraduate Catalog for additional information about the minor which is housed in both the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.