Sustainability Studies is our newest degree program.  It responds to national and global developments that have made sustainability a key public concern.  It also responds to vocal demand by students at Rensselaer for sustainability curricula, paralleling the growth of sustainability-oriented student clubs and initiatives on campus. 

Sustainability Studies students have diverse course offerings:

Sustainability Debates            Environment and Society             Oil Politics

 A Century of Environmental Thought             Food, Farms and Famine

 Sciences of Sustainability                  Globalization and Development

 Consumer Culture                  Environment and Law Sustainability Research

 Sustainability Careers

Sustainability Studies prepares graduates for careers in environmental policy, management, and research—in industry, in government, or in non-profit organizations. Rigorous and creative teaching of social science methods is a signature aspect of the program, providing a strong base from which students launch their careers or advance into graduate programs.

Sustainability Studies students:

• Identify the issues, debates, and forms of expertise associated with environmental sustainability.
• Analyze the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of environmental problems and sustainability opportunities.
• Analyze the required infrastrcture and future implications of diverse sustainability pathways.
• Analyze and formulate ethical ideas and policy positions to support environmental sustainability.
• Carry out sustainability-focused research using methods appropriate to the social sciences and humanities and in collaboration with researchers from other disciplines.
• Understand, communicate with, and provide leadership amongst diverse stakeholders.
• Identify job niches, business opportunities, and research needs, and to have the skills necessary to assess evolving career landscapes.

Sustainability Studies students research:

• Alternative systems of food production and distribution
• Causes and consequences of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon disaster
• Factors shaping the global asthma epidemic
• Water rights in countries around the world
• Evaluation and regulation of toxic chemical at the US Environmental Protection Agency
• Causes and consequences of the global bee colony collapse
• The future of nuclear energy production in light of the Fukushima nuclear disaster