SUST 6000 - Sustainable Human Systems
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Students will learn to think systematically through the study of the systemic structure and values underlying the modern world view. Alternative, emerging world views focused on sustainable structures will be emphasized. Systems thinking and a systems perspective will be developed through the study of environmental, cultural, and social systems. A critical perspective is emphasized throughout the course.
Credit: 3
SUST 6001 - Seminar in Environmental Governance
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Increasingly, citizens, civil society institutions, and international governmental organizations are playing crucial roles in environmental and natural resource management. This shift of power away from states, both “upward” to the international level and “downward” to citizens, begs several questions: What roles should the various actors play in these multi-level governance systems in order to ensure the most favorable, and most just, environmental and social outcomes? To what extent can they work together to achieve mutual, or at least mutually-compatible, goals? Is it necessary, even productive, for groups to maintain their own identities and distinct agendas, nurturing not a stifling consensus but a perpetual—yet respectful—debate? This seminar course will engage with these questions.
Credit: 3
SUST 6002 - Sustainable Community Development
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Sustainable Community Development provides students with the knowledge, skills, and concepts for enabling communities to self-organize for sustainable development. Students will learn to lead community development initiatives aimed to empower communities to develop themselves sustainably. They will also learn to assess and compile actionable knowledge and use that knowledge to design interventions that lead to sustainable community practices through collaborative relationships with community members.
Credit: 3
SUST 6005 - Research Methods for Environmental and Social Policy Formation
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Students will learn to conduct and evaluate environmental and social science research design, data quality, quality of reasoning, judgments in interpretation of evidence, and alternative interpretations of environmental and sustainability research. Emphasis will be placed on the design and generation of evidence acquired by interview, focus group, field research, and other approaches as used in environmental science and sustainability research. Small research teams will design and conduct a multi-faceted pilot study on some contested environmental or social issue related to sustainability using one or multiples of the following: survey research, action research, environmental impact assessments, environmental audits, case studies, in-depth interviews, focus groups, sustainability audits, organization environmental assessments, and campus sustainability audits.
Credit: 3
SUST 6310 - Sustainable Tourism
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
The study of how advances to the global tourism industry impacts on local cultures, eco-systems and livelihoods. Case studies are presented to assess relationships between natural resources and tourism industries, challenges to sustaining cultural identities and the integrity of tourism destinations, and the current and future value of cultural, natural and social capital to guide investment in tourism destinations.
Credit: 3
SUST 6320 - Sustainable Cities
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
The course explores urban sustainability from an historical, social, and environmental perspective. It examines the development of cities from their ancient beginnings to the early part of the 21st century. With that foundation, students will gain an in-depth knowledge of challenges and opportunities facing urban centers around the world and be able to identity solutions for developing sustainable cities of the future.
Credit: 3
SUST 6330 - Industrial Ecology and Sustainability
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Industrial Ecology and Sustainability is the systematic study of the global, regional, and local material and energy flows of industrial production systems as they interact with the environment and human communities. Ecological science concepts are used to redesign the primary features of the modern production system, including: energy consumption, renewable and non-renewable materials consumption, pollutant effluents, cost externalization, and solid waste generation. Analytical tools covered are: life cycle assessment, materials flow analyses, waste flow analyses, environmental performance metrics, and design for environment tools.
Credit: 3
SUST 6340 - An Environmental History of the Modern World
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
This course examines the impact of human activities on the environmental world that have occurred since the 15th century, with a focus on the 20th and 21st centuries. Historical, institutional, and cultural forces are studied to gain a contextual understanding of contemporary environmental issues. Implicit assumptions about the natural world imbedded in economic, religious, and cultural models will be identified and explored in terms of their environmental implications.
Credit: 3
SUST 6350 - Globalization and Natural Systems
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
An examination of the forces promoting globalization and the development of business in evolving markets. The course focuses on related contemporary managerial issues. Included is the study of market transformations in cases of regional economic integration. Technology transfer and patterns of business development are also introduced. Additionally, price mechanisms for regulating international exchange, and comparative costs studies related to the geometry of location are investigated.
Credit: 3
SUST 6360 - Sustainability Strategies and Indicators
Institutions and organizations are increasingly faced with the challenge of embedding sustainability into their strategies and then assessing the success of those strategies using relevant sustainability performance indicators and metrics. Students will learn strategic planning techniques, including futuring, visioning, forecasting, and backcasting. Sustainability indicators and metrics will be studied to assess each type of strategy. Emphasis is placed on the monitoring and reporting on the trends and interaction associated with sustainable strategies.
Credit: 3
SUST 6500 - Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Ecological economics is a relatively new, trans-disciplinary field that studies the interdependency between the human economy and natural ecosystems. Its premise holds that the economy is a subset of the larger and finite ecosystem that sustains it, such that the unlimited economic growth desired in traditional neoclassical economics is physically impossible. This course will closely examine the emerging field of ecological economics, compare and contrast it with the neoclassical economic model, and relate the underlying principles to current environmental issues, all within the context of the goals of sustainable development.
Credit: 3
SUST 6600 - Colloquium: I Ka‘ana Like ‘Ana o Ka Ike
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and enrollment in the MASUST program.
This colloquium series builds upon core sustainability competencies introduced in MAS UST courses. The seminars develop students' knowledge of emerging sustainability initiatives at the global and local levels, community engagement opportunities and cultural competencies in Hawaii, and opportunities for professional development.
Credit: 0
SUST 6920 - Special Topics in Sustainability
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
The title, content and prerequisites for this course will vary with instructor and need in the MASUST program. The course may be repeated when the title and content have changed.
Credit: 3
SUST 6950 - Globalization, Environment, and Sustainability Development Practicum
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
The GLSD 6950 Practicum offers students the opportunity to integrate the theoretical knowledge of sustainability, environmental policy/science, or sustainable development with practical experience in either a research project or an organizational employment setting related to their MASUST studies. The practicum goal is to allow students to gain practical, first-hand experiences in sustainability, and greater awareness of career possibilities that lie before them upon graduation. A practicum may or may not receive compensation. Hosting organizations will have agreed to provide practicum students with an intellectually-challenging primary task related to their studies. In turn, each practicum experience will be designed to benefit the host institution as well.
Credit: 1 to 4
SUST 6990 - Internship
Prerequisite: At least a 2.7 GPA for undergraduate level and a 3.0 for graduate.
Internships provide students with applied, experiential learning opportunities so that they can make connections between academic study and the practical application of that study in a professional work environment. Academic internships are supervised by a faculty member and an on-site professional supervisor. All academic internships must be approved in advance by the department or program. Unless stipulated otherwise by the department or program, credit hours are defined by the university's credit hour policy. Internships may be repeated for a total of 9 credit hours.
Credit: 1 to 3
SUST 6997 - Directed Readings in Sustainability
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of the instructor.
Directed individualized readings.
Credit: 3
SUST 7100 - Professional Paper I
Prerequisite: SUST 6005. Graduate standing and approval from instructor and/or program director.
Initial design and development of the major research paper for students in the MA program in Sustainability.
Credit: 3
SUST 7200 - Professional Paper II Capstone
Prerequisite: SUST 7100. Graduate standing and approval from instructor and/or program director.
Follow on to the SUST 7100 Professional Paper I to complete the professional paper. Finalize and formalize the development of the major research project for students in the MA program in Sustainability.
Credit: 3