Sustainability Studies Program

The purpose of the Sustainability Studies Program is to prepare students to be educated citizens, to be conversant with the sustainability-related issues and tasks that arise in the workplace, and to pursue careers as sustainability professionals. Sustainability Studies currently offers an 18-credit minor that may be combined with any major field of study.

Sustainability is most often defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As such, it focuses upon the interaction of environmental, economic, and social systems. This triple focus is reflected in kindred concepts such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria associated with corporate culture; triple bottom lining (taking into account economic, social, and environmental factors) in the private sector; the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) associated with local, national, and international efforts; as well as other environmental and climate action and justice initiatives including advocacy, social movements and other efforts in the public arena.

The rising importance of sustainability has been accompanied by increased demand within all kinds of organizations – public, private and nonprofit – for employees conversant with the issues and tasks involved. Common tasks of sustainability professions include:

developing and implementing climate and resilience action plans at the local, state, national and international level
compiling regular reports on the organization’s environmental, social, and economic performance, both locally and throughout the world
ensuring compliance with governmental regulations regarding pollution and occupational health and safety
reducing waste and energy use by making operations more efficient
measuring and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions
ensuring compliance with nongovernmental sustainability standards, labels, and certifications
maintaining outreach to important stakeholders such as the local community, governmental officials, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, shareholders, and the media
creating and monitoring management plans for natural resources owned or impacted by the organization
educating and motivating fellow employees

All of these tasks require an ability to communicate across disciplinary boundaries. This emphasis on communication across boundaries is reflected in the design and delivery of the Sustainability Studies curriculum at UMass Dartmouth. The participating faculty and students represent a wide range of academic disciplines, and many non-faculty members of the campus community participate in the program as well.

Sustainability Program Outcomes

Students with the minor will be able to:

GENERAL: Develop a critical and interdisciplinary understanding of the multiple forces that contribute to sustainability challenges and injustices
GENERAL: Envision alternative and equitable sustainable practices that address cultural, social, economic, political, institutional, and environmental challenges
NATURAL SCIENCE: examine unsustainable practices and to offer the latest science and technological solutions to reduce the impact of these practices (natural science)
ARTS, THOUGHT, and MEDIA: articulate the impact of art, design, language, or thought to re-imagine, define, and challenge the relationships between humans and the natural and built environment
ECONOMIC, SOCIETY, and POLICY: articulate a deeper understanding of how to identify and address local and global challenges to sustainability from economic, environmental and social perspectives
EARTH STEWARDSHIP: actively participate, connect, and take care of the natural world

Participating Faculty

Rachel Kulick (Program Director), Associate Professor of Sociology

Mark Altabet, Department of Estuarine & Ocean Sciences

Smita Bala, Department of Chemistry

Heidi Berggren, Department of Political Science

Sankha Bhowmick, Department of Mechanical Engineering

James Bisagni, Department of Estuarine & Ocean Sciences

Sarah Cosgrove, Department of Economics

Robert Darst, Department of Political Science

Anna Dempsey, Department of Art History

Neil Fennessey, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Catherine Gardner, Departments of Philosophy and Women’s & Gender Studies

Randall Hall, Department of Economics

Memory Holloway, Department of Art History

Kaisa Holloway Cripps, College of Arts and Sciences

Margarita Huayhua, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

James Jacquart, Campus Sustainability

Shannon Jenkins, Department of Political Science

Pamela Karimi, Department of Art History

Lisa Maya Knauer, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Sarah Lederman, Sustainability Studies

Steven Lohrenz, Department of Estuarine & Ocean Sciences

Crystal Lubinsky, Religious Studies Program

Devon Lynch, Departments of Economics & Public Policy

Daniel Macdonald, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

David Manke, Department of Chemistry

Chad McGuire, Department of Public Policy

Kristen McHenry, Department of Health and Society

Heather Miller, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Cathy Moran, Department of Art History

Jennifer Mulnix, Department of Philosophy

Nancy O’Connor, Department of Biology

David Prentiss, Department of Political Science

Tara Rajaniemi, Department of Biology

Isabel Rodrigues, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Mark Santow, Department of History

Sukalyan Sengupta, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

John Silva, Department of Physics

Lydia Silva, Sustainability Studies

Miles Sundermeyer, Department of Estuarine & Ocean Sciences

Amit Tandon, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Bridget Teboh, Deparment of History

Jefferson Turner, Department of Biology

Timothy Walker, Department of History

Steven White, Department of Management & Marketing

Marguerite Zarrillo, Department of Physics