Integrated traditional and applied education in a public US university: exploring sustainable cities and regions in classrooms and communities

Abstract

The most effective and promising models for teaching sustainability sciences and studies in a university setting are a topic of vigorous debate. This paper discusses an integrated sustainability curriculum at a large public university, which serves students from departments such as city and regional planning, environmental studies and sciences, geography, and many more—as well as professional schools such as public health, journalism, business, and government. We describe an integrated suite of sustainability offerings that link available academic opportunities laterally across campus to touch more students at once, as well as longitudinally to provide individual students with a progressively more focused academic experience. Finally, we share lessons learned from the development of new curriculum over the last decade. The curriculum described here illuminates the larger discussion on emerging models for educating university students in planning for prosperous, stable, efficient, and just cities and regions.