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)