Elements of Sustainability

Elements of Sustainability is a Natural Science course taught by Larry Winship.

This course satisfies Division I requirements.

Course Description
How do we build a sustainable approach to human existence, often described as "providing for the needs of people today without reducing the ability to support people in the future?" What is our proper relationship to other species that share our planet? In other words, what are we trying to sustain, for whom, for how long, and at what cost environmentally and economically? And how will we know if a system is actually sustainable? Many analytical and organizational frameworks and models exist. We will assess these tools as we grapple with our ignorance of the interconnected web of physical, chemical and biological processes that make up our environment and modulate its responses to our activities. We will employ several case studies to examine these difficult issues. Teams of students will examine the available evidence, get practical experience, and develop evaluations or propose solutions. Emphasis will be placed on understanding underlying scientific principles, systems modeling, evaluating evidence, and developing solutions.

Learning Goals

 * Project-based
 * Presenting
 * Quantitative
 * Reading
 * Writing