ENVS 102: Introduction to Sustainability (XS) (GC)

Course Description

This course explores the many contested meanings of the term “sustainability.” Sustainability might mean, for some people, nothing more than tips for how to live “green.” In this class, however, we will treat sustainability as a lens of inquiry, a way of analyzing and assessing the complicated social, economic, and environmental problems that our society faces in the twenty-first century. These issues arise all around us, in the food we eat, the cars we drive, and the communities that we inhabit. And they occur at a variety of scales from the very local (such as the campus of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh) to the global. There is no single path to sustainability, no single solution to complicated problems. In this class, we will learn to think critically about sustainability issues, policies, solutions, and responsibilities. We will seek to answer the question: How do people understand and create a sustainable world?