Sustainability, Development & Health: Costa Rica

3 units

Sustainability Studies is a transdisciplinary field that integrates the economic, social, environmental, and technological problems that humanity must solve if our species is to continue to thrive on this planet. This course will employ lessons from diverse fields including, but not limited to, agriculture, forestry, energy production, environmental economics, domestic and international policy, ecology, resource management, and human health. The course introduces perspectives from the natural and social sciences, arts and humanities, and professional disciplines and explores how their interconnection increases the prospects for creating a more sustainable future. The course will be taught in Costa Rica at Earth University. While Costa Rica will provide many of the case examples used in the class, experts from many disciplines will provide lectures and learning opportunities from cases around the world. Specific topics to be explored include: paradigms and worldviews; agriculture, forestry, and food systems; principles of ecology, physics and economics; energy and natural resource and conservation; cultural sustainability; environmental politics and justice; ethics and religion; sustainable agriculture; conservation and preservation of ecosystems and species; and the roles of the arts; ecological connections to human health.