The Sustainability Minor (SUST) offers a holistic approach to development and daily living, which demands scientific, economic, environmental and social perspectives to understand and implement actions that can inform the public, business, industry, government and service organizations on how their activities impact the environment. Questions of sustainability are currently among the most important facing humankind and receiving tremendous attention in the media. Because issues of sustainability do not arise from single causes, nor can solutions be developed from within narrow disciplinary frameworks, a multidisciplinary perspective is not only desirable but necessary to identify and understand problems, and create, evaluate and implement solutions.
Specializations in this critical area of study include: health and the environment, sustainable ecology, environmental ethics, environmental policymaking and policy analysis, institutional behavior, community-based and participatory approaches to sustainable development and conservation, environmental justice, sustainable food production and critical consumerism.
- Students must complete a total of 18 credit hours chosen from the approved courses.
- Students must complete a minimum of 12 upper-division (3000-level and above) credit hours in the minor, from the approved courses.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the minor and must achieve a minimum cumulative minor GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to minor requirements.
- Students must complete a minimum of nine credit hours with CU Denver faculty chosen from the approved courses below.
(*Note: In the required 9 credits of course, "SUST 4960" is not an in-person course. Instead, the course requirements can be completed through an internship, research project, or substituted with a 4000+ level course with a sustainability emphasis.)
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Students should consult with the Sustainability advisor before registering for any courses applicable toward the minor. *Graduate-level courses and cross-lists may be used with prior consent from the advisor.
- Credits counted for another major or minor program can be counted toward the Sustainability Minor with approval from the advisor, though no course may be used to fulfill more than two graduation requirements.
Complete These Three Courses
- ENVS 1342 Environment, Society and Sustainability
- SUST 3010 Sustainability: Past, Present, and Future
- SUST 4960 Capstone in Sustainability
Take three courses (nine credit hours) from the list of pre-approved elective courses.
Anthropology
ANTH 1302 Introduction to Archaeology
ANTH 1303 Introduction to Biological Anthropology
ANTH 2102 Culture and the Human Experience
ANTH 3301 World Prehistory
ANTH 3512 Human Evolution
ANTH 4560 Human Ecology
Architecture
ARCH 3700 Special Topics Design (topic must be approved by Sustainability minor advisor)
Biology
BIOL 1550 Basic Biology: Ecology and the Diversity of Life
BIOL 3330 Plant Diversity
BIOL 3411 Principles of Ecology
BIOL 3521 Vertebrate Biology
BIOL 3650 & BIOL 3651 General Microbiology and General Microbiology Lab
BIOL 4154 Conservation Biology
BIOL 4335 Plant Structure and Development
BIOL 4345 Flora of Colorado
BIOL 4415 Applied Microbial Ecology
BIOL 4425 Biogeography
Business
MGMT 4950 Special Topics in Management (topic must be approved by Sustainability minor advisor)
MKTG 4950 Special Topics (topic must be approved by Sustainability minor advisor)
Chemistry
CHEM 1474 Core Chemistry: Chemistry for Everyday
CHEM 4700 Environmental Chemistry
Communication
COMM/INTS 4611 Rhetoric of Global Food Policy
Economics
ECON 4530 Economics of Natural Resources
ECON 4540 Environmental Economics
ECON 4770 Development Economics
Environmental Studies
ENVS 1044 Introduction to Environmental Sciences
ENVS/PHYS 3082 Energy and the Environment
Geography/ Geology
GEOG 1102 World Regions Global Context
GEOG 1202 Introduction to Physical Geography
GEOG 1602 Urban Studies and Planning
GEOG/ENVS 3232 Weather and Climate
GEOG 3412 Globalization and Regional Development
GEOG/GEOL 4010 Landscape Biogeochemistry
GEOG/GEOL 4020 Earth Environments and Human Impacts
GEOG 4060 Remote Sensing I: Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing
GEOG 4080 Introduction to GIS
GEOG 4085 GIS Applications for the Urban Environment
GEOG 4090 Environmental Modeling with Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 4230 Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment
GEOG 4265 Sustainability in Resources Management
GEOG 4280 Environmental Hydrology
GEOG 4301 Population, Culture, and Resources
GEOG 4305 Water Quality and Resources
GEOG 4335 Climate Change & Society
GEOG 4350 Environment and Society in the American Past
GEOG 4420 The Politics of Nature
GEOG 4450 Urban Food and Agriculture: Perspectives and Research
GEOG 4640 Urban Geography: Denver and the U.S.
GEOG/ENVS 4720 Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions
History
HIST/ETST 3297 Social History of Asian Americans
HIST 3345 Immigration and Ethnicity in American History
HIST/ETST 3350 Colonial Latin America HIST 3360 Denver History
HIST 3366 Nature and Power in American History
HIST/ETST 3396 History of the American Indian
HIST 3451 Introduction to African History
HIST 3460 Modern Latin American History
HIST 3470 Intro to East Asia: Since 1800
HIST 3480 Introduction to European History
HIST 3606 Science, Technology, and Society in the Modern World
HIST 4032 Globalization in World History Since 1945
HIST 4217 Consumer Culture
HIST 4226 Capitalism in America
HIST 4227 American West
HIST 4236 Colorado Mining and Railroads
HIST 4240 National Parks History
HIST/ETST 4411 Modern Mexico
HIST 4417 Commodities and Globalization
HIST 4421 Modern China HIST 4431 Modern Japan
HIST 4451 Southern Africa
HIST 4461 The Modern Middle East
HIST 4503 Topics in History of Science
HIST 4504 Animals in U.S. History
Physics
PHYS 3082 Energy and the Environment
PHYS 4400 Scientific Instrumentation
Philosophy
PHIL 3430 How to think green: Environmental Ethics
Political Science
PSCI 3022 Political Systems of the World
PSCI 3034 Race, Gender, Law and Public Policy
PSCI 3035 Political Movements: Race and Gender
PSCI 3042 World Politics PSCI 3914 The Urban Citizen
PSCI 4009 Politics of the Budgetary Process
PSCI 4014 Media and Politics
PSCI 4025 Local Governance and Globalization
PSCI 4085 Comparative Governance: Environment and Society
PSCI/ETST 4144 Indigenous Political Systems
PSCI/ETST 4146 Indigenous Politics
PSCI 4206 Social Movements, Democracy and Global Politics
PSCI 4207 Theories of Social and Political Change
PSCI/WGST 4215 Women's Rights, Human Rights: Global Perspectives
PSCI 4216 International Politics: Human Rights
PSCI 4226 The United Nations in World Affairs
PSCI/WGST 4248 Gender, Development and Globalization
PSCI 4276 Conflicts and Rights in International Law
PSCI 4326 Advanced International Political Economy: Globalization
PSCI 4354 Environmental Politics
PSCI 4365 Global Ecological Crises
PSCI 4545 Immigration Politics
PSCI 4645 Comparative Political Leadership
PSCI 5217 Human Rights: Theory and Practice
PSCI 5468 Research Methods in Political Science
Public Health
PBHL 3020 Introduction to Environmental Health
Who is this Minor For?
Everyone! Humanistic studies of Sustainability serve as an excellent addition to science-based and liberal arts curricula, as well as a stand-alone program that addresses contemporary issues and interests.
How can a minor in Sustainability complement my major?
An interdisciplinary Sustainability Studies Minor pairs well with many majors.
Below are some examples* of how it might pair well with your major:
*not a comprehensive list
- Political Science: develop a deeper understanding of climate and environmental policies, and analyze how these policies impact climate change, resource management, and social justice for a more sustainable future
- Sociology: helps students analyze how social structures, power dynamics, and cultural norms influence environmental behaviors and the implementation of sustainable practices
- Communications: curate more effective messaging strategies to promote sustainable practice, raise awareness, and engage diverse audiences
- History: analyze histroical events and trends through the context of environmental impact, resource management, and social justice, to explore how past societies interacted with the evironment and their long term impacts
- Philosophy: integrates real-world contexts for using philosophy to critically analyze and enage with areas in sustainability, such as ethics, social justice, and political theory
- Equips future educators with knowledge, skills, and critcial thinking abilities to integrate environmental repsonsibility into teaching practices
- Allows future educators a deeper understanding on promoting sustainable practices to their communities and students
- Increase your understanding of policy and legislation impacting the environment and sustainability practices
- Use environmental law to advocate for the Earth and our environment
- Analyze and address policy affecting climate change, resource management, and pollution control issues
- Analyze social and environmental impact of business operations
- Develop sustainable business strategies
- Engage in sustainably conscious consumerism
- Learn to manage risks related to climate change and operate business in a more responsible manner for long-term buisness succes
- Promote responsible practices within STEM reserach and applications
- Learn how to develop more sustainable technologies by identifying and critically analyzing environmental problems
- Environmental engineering
- Understand the ethical considerations within STEM
- Understand how social and environmental factors contribute to crime
- Analyze crime patterns pertaining to evironmental degradation and exploitation, corporate misconduct, and community disparities
- Green criminology
- Curate pieces that incorporate environmental advocacy in your own creative pieces
- Critcially analyze sustainability of the Arts and how they interact with the evironment
- Advocate sustainablility through the Arts
Have questions?
If you have questions regarding the Interdisciplinary Studies minor, you can reach out to our Interdisciplinary Program Advisor, Dr. Lorna Hutchison.