Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability

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Addressing sustainability in our society poses complex challenges that require interdisciplinary solutions. Sustainability is frequently taught in silos within individual Faculties, and most often within individual and isolated courses. The goal of the Minor is to alter this pedagogy and teach sustainability both within and across Faculties. The Minor provides a path for students to study diverse aspects of sustainability from different disciplines and integrate them into a cohesive whole. The scope and definition of sustainability used for the Minor are guided jointly by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The primary responsibility for governance of the Minor is held by the Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability Committee comprised of an interdisciplinary group of faculty and administrators from the Faculties of Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Science, Social Sciences, and the Arts & Science Program. The Arts & Science Program hosts the Minor by managing administrative obligations such as the submission of curricular revisions. Responsibility for advising students rests with the student’s home Faculty.

More information on the Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability can be found on the Academic Sustainability Programs Office webpage (https://asp.mcmaster.ca/minor.html) or by contacting asp@mcmaster.ca.

Course List

Requirements

24 units total (no more than 6 units from Level 1 courses)

3 units

from

21 units

from

Course List (selected from two or more Faculties as outlined in the Undergraduate Course Calendar). Any cross-listed course between two or more Faculties and those of interdisciplinary programs will be counted as a course outside of the student’s home Faculty. Sustain courses do not count towards units outside a student’s home Faculty

Notes

Please see the Course Listings section for a detailed description of the above courses. Student requests for course substitution can be completed using the request template and sent to Minor Committee Co-Chair Kate Whalen at whalenk@mcmaster.ca. The Request for Course Substitution template can be found online.

Students should note that not all courses listed are available each year. As well, it is the student’s responsibility to check carefully for prerequisites, co-requisites and enrolment restrictions.
Students are strongly encouraged to seek guidance from their academic advisor to ensure they are meeting all enrolment requirements, including Faculty-specific requirements for double counting courses required for a student’s major.
All courses have enrolment capacities. The Faculty cannot guarantee enrolment in courses for minors, even when prerequisites have been met.
ENVIRSC and EARTHSC courses are administered by the Faculty of Science.
ENVSOCTY and GEOG courses are counted as Social Sciences courses.