Approved Courses
PLU Courses and Sustainability Currently in the Curriculum
These courses have been approved by Department Chair’s or Dean’s as courses that have elements of the following criteria.
Sustainability means care for people, the planet, and prosperity, both now and in the future. Teaching about sustainability requires critically analyzing and engaging the inseparable importance of environmental, economic, and ethical principles.
People: A sustainable community must be characterized by equity, respect for diversity, and a full participation by all members. This requires the academic study of social justice, environmental policy, history, religion, business, art, and many other topics. Sustainability calls students to reflect on personal values within the context of a larger society and grasp how their choices can affect others.
Planet: Students learning about sustainability are called to reflect on their impact on the ecosystems of which they’re a part and on how they conserve and value the natural world. Understanding the intimate relationships between social and ecological systems is vital to citizenship in the 21st century and a logical outgrowth of PLU’s mission statement which includes care for the earth.
Prosperity: A commitment to sustainability implies that all things should thrive and that a community must be healthy and prosperous in order to care for people and the planet. Prosperity refers to the flourishing of an individual or community and can take on a variety of meanings, including economic success, personal fulfillment, social equality, and public health.
Course count: 109
ANTHROPOLOGY
Anth 102: Intro to Cultural Diversity
Anth 210: Global Perspectives: The World in Change
Anth 220: Peoples of the World
Anth 330: Native North Americans
Anth 332: Prehistory of North America
Anth 336: Peoples of Latin America
Anth 340: The Anthropology of Africa
Anth 342: Pacific Island Cultures
Anth 343: East Asian Cultures
Anth 350: Women and Men in World Cultures
Anth 365: Prehistoric Environment and Technology: Lab Methods in Archaeology
Anth 368: Edible Landscapes
Anth 370: The Archaeology of Ancient Empires
Anth 376: Nation, State, Citizen
Anth 380: Sickness, Madness and Health (Medical anthropology)
BIOLOGY
Biol 111: Biology and the Modern World (maybe)
Biol 116: Introductory Ecology
Biol 201: Introductory Microbiology (maybe)
Biol 356: Economic and Cultural Biology
Biol 366: Comparative Ecology of Latin America
Biol 367: Conservation Biology & Management
Biol 387: Virology (maybe)
Biol 448: Immunology (maybe)
Biol 462: Plant Diversity and Distribution
BUSINESS
Busa 201: Introduction to Business in the Global Environment
Busa 303: Business Law and Ethics
Busa 304: Law and Ethics for Financial Professionals
Busa 308: Principles of Marketing
Busa 352: Global Management
Busa 362: Sustainable Marketing
CHEMISTRY
Chem 104: Environmental Chemistry
COMPUTER SCIENCE
CSCE 320: Software Engineering (maybe)
CSCE 499: Capstone (depending on subject)
ECONOMICS
Econ 101: Principles of Microeconomics
Econ 102: Principles of Macroeconomics
Econ 111: Principles of Microeconomics: Global and Environmental
Econ 311: Energy and Natural Resource Economics
Econ 313: Environmental Economics
Econ 315: Investigating Envt & Econ Change
Econ 325: Industrial Organization and Public Policy (maybe)
Econ 333: Economic Development: Comparative Third World Strategies
Note: All Economics courses address the topics described as “sustainability” above, however for the purpose of this list, only the classes listed above will be counted
EDUCATION
Educ 410: Science/ Health in K-8 Education (maybe)
Educ 420: Health, Safety, and Nutrition (maybe)
Educ 566: Elementary Math and Science (maybe)
Educ 562: Schools and Society (maybe)
ENGLISH
Engl 213: Topics in Literature: Themes and Authors
Engl 232: Women’s Literature
Engl 234: Environmental Literature
Engl 341: Feminist Approaches to Literature
Engl 385: Special Topics in Creative Nonfiction (sometimes)
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Envt 350: Environmental Methods of Investigation
Envt 498: Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Analysis
GEOSCIENCE
Geos 102: General Oceanography
Geos 103: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Geologic Hazards
Geos 104: Conservation of Natural Resources
Geos 105: Meteorology
Geos 107: Global Climate Change
Geos 109: The Geology of Energy
Geos 201: Geologic Principles
Geos 332: Geomorphology
Geos 334: Hydrogeology
HEALTH EDUCATION
Heed 266: Nutrition, Health and Performance
Heed 395: Comprehensive School Health
HISTORY
Hist 355: History of US Popular Culture
Hist 370: Environmental History of the US
INTERNATIONAL HONORS
I-Hon 253: Gender, Sexuality, and Culture
I-Hon 257: The Human Experience
I-Hon 258: Self, Culture, and Society: Africa’s Triple Heritage
I-Hon 258: Self, Culture, and Society: Colonizations in the Americas
I-Hon 326: The Quest for Social Justice: Systems and Reality
I-Hon 327: Personal commitments, global issues
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
Lang 272: Literature and Social Change in Latin America
MATHEMATICS
Math 123: Modern Elementary Math I: Number Sense and Algebraic Sense (sometimes)
Math 124: Modern Elementary Math II: Measurement, Geometric Sense, Statistics and Probability (sometimes)
Math 341: Introduction to Mathematical Statistics (potential)
Math 446: Mathematics in the Secondary School (sometimes)
NURSING
Nurs 260: Professional Foundations I
Nurs 365: Culturally Congruent Health Care
Nurs 430: Nursing Situations with Communities
Nurs 460: Health Care Systems and Policy
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
PHED 324: Lifespan Physical Activity & Health
PHED 366: Health Psychology
PHED 384: Health and Fitness Promotion
PHYSICS
Physics 125: College Physics I*
Physics 126: College Physics II*
Physics 153: General Physics I*
Physics 154: General Physics II*
* Sometimes instructors assign problems about efficiency of appliances, cost to run a car, etc.
Additional class: Energy (J-term class 2011)
PHILOSOPHY
Phil 125: Ethics and the Good Life
Phil 225: Business Ethics
Phil 226: Environmental Ethics
Phil 230: Philosophy, Animals, and the Environment
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Pols 231: Current International Issues (maybe)
Pols 322: Scandinavia and World Issues (maybe)
Pols 345: Gov’t and Public Policy
Pols 346: Environmental Politics and Policy
Pols 353: United States Citizenship and Ethnic Relationships
Pols 380: Politics of Global Development
Pols 384: Scandinavian Government and Politics (maybe)
PSYCHOLOGY
Psyc 430: Peace Psychology
RELIGION
Reli 239: Environment and Culture
Reli 247: Women, Nature and the Sacred
Reli 365: Christian Ecological Ethic
Reli 393: Native Traditions in the PNW
SOCIOLOGY
Soci 240: Social Problems
Soci 296: Social Stratification
SOCIAL WORK
Socw 245: Human Behavior and the Social Environment
Socw 250: Social Policy I: History of Social Welfare
Socw 350: Social Policy II: Social Policy Analysis
Socw 360: Social Work Practice I: Interviewing and Overview of Generalist Practice (maybe)
Social Media