Core Courses
SUS 601: Visions of Good and Sustainable Communities
This course is designed to engage you in a dialogue about
good and sustainable communities with a focus on worldviews, human nature, and
the shaping of community life.
It is intended as an overview of these themes, with primary
attention given to the traditions of thought within western cultures as well as
contemporary conversations within American society.
Course objectives:
- to
become familiar with a variety of theories regarding the structure of
reality and the nature of being human
- to
develop both a critical and constructive assessment of these various
worldviews and theories
- to
develop a basis for deepened and extended reflection on the relationship
between worldviews and the way they are given life-form in human
interaction
SUS 602: Community, Technology, and Values
Offered during the spring semester, SUS 602 is the second
core course required of all SUS students. Attention is focused on how
economics, environment, and technology apply to the larger issue of creating
and maintaining sustainable communities that are healthy, just, and creative.
SUS 588: Thesis Prospectus
You will complete several drafts of a thesis or integrated
project prospectus for submission to your thesis/project committee. You will
have an understanding of the thesis/integrated project process and the steps toward
degree completion.
Course structure:
This is a seminar course, directed toward the development of your prospectus.
The instructor will guide you through the writing process. The instructor and
fellow students will read and critique sections of each other’s prospectus
work.
Course outline:
Section I: Elements of a prospectus
Abstract
Statement of significance
Introduction
Brief review of literature
Theory
Method
Extended bibliography
Timeline to completion
Section II: Writing your prospectus
Style, format, source citations, motivation, rewriting
Section III: Steps toward degree completion
Creating a committee; working with your committee; graduate
college requirements; public presentations
SUS 695: Elements of Communities: Theories and Practice
Also known as the capstone class, this course will review
and elaborate on several aspects of the theme of Good and Sustainable
Communities.
Students will bring together their experiences in a variety
of courses as they discuss the theories and practices that inform sustainable
community life.
They will have an opportunity to refine their philosophy of
community and their approach to sustainable communities, test their ideas in
conversation, and connect their individual work with the work and ideas of others.
This course is only offered in the spring and is
required to graduate.
Course objectives:
- to
provide a forum for the elaboration and maturation of ideas about
sustainable community life
- to
gain exposure to a variety of approaches and perspectives on issues of
sustainability and community life
- to
make connections between theory and practice and between academic and
community life
- to
enable advanced graduate students to develop and share their philosophies
of community and strategies for re-enchanting the world — particularly as
they are taking form in their final projects— with each other and to
respond to the work of others