New ASU curriculum mandates all students meet ‘sustainability’ course requirement
‘We were the first to have a School of Sustainability, and now tens of thousands of students will take sustainability courses,’ said a school official.
‘[S]ignificant technological change is needed for the use of fossil fuels to be minimized or eliminated in some important activities for which the use of fossil fuel is, at present irreplaceable,’ an ASU professor told Campus Reform.
Arizona State University in Tempe is making students take a course on “sustainability” in order to graduate.
Beginning in the upcoming fall semester, students will need to take at least one class on “sustainability” to meet general education requirements.
Qualifying classes include “Sustainable Horticulture” and “Restoration & Wildlife Plants,” as well as some classes that do not, at first glance, appear to have a connection to “sustainability” or the climate, such as “Hist[ory] of Black Women in America” and “Race, Gender, and Media.”
Anne Jones, the school’s vice provost for undergraduate education, voiced her support for the change.
“We’re excited to have that requirement, which aligns with ASU’s strengths,” Jones said. “We were the first to have a School of Sustainability, and now tens of thousands of students will take sustainability courses.”
[RELATED: Arizona regents move forward with ban on student groups’ support for terrorists]
According to ASU’s academic catalog, the sustainability course requirement aims to help students “become familiar with how cultural, political, economic, social and ethical beliefs, practices and systems are related to and impact planetary systems.”
The catalog also states that upon completing a sustainability course, students will be able to “envision pathways toward futures characterized by integrated human-environmental well-being” and “articulate an approach to addressing contemporary questions or challenges that employs concepts or practices of sustainability.”
José Lobo, an associate professor in the School of Sustainability, voiced his opinion about the supposed necessity of the course requirement.
“It’s not just abstract: ‘Sustainability is good for the planet, therefore take a course on it,’” Lobo said. “ASU is saying, in effect, ‘An undergraduate education in the 21st century in the United States must include an appreciation of the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development.’ It’s pretty substantial.”
Lobo told Campus Reform: “There are many ‘actionable solutions’ [to climate change] but they all carry trade-offs, and some solutions are ready to be applied while some will take time. And significant technological change is needed for the use of fossil fuels to be minimized or eliminated in some important activities for which the use of fossil fuel is, at present irreplaceable.”
[RELATED: Arizona prof takes job as Democratic governor’s press secretary]
ASU also offers degrees in sustainability. In its program description, the school highlights the allegedly “practical” nature of this degree.
“The School of Sustainability offers both a BA and BS in sustainability. Students focus on developing practical solutions to some of the most pressing environmental, economic and social challenges of sustainability, honing their skills in resilience and systems thinking,” the page reads. “They learn to manage trade-offs, engage with diverse stakeholders, utilize future visioning tools, and assess the ethics and values associated with different solution pathways.”
Campus Reform has reached out to ASU for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.