This interdisciplinary certificate explores the relationship between humans and the environment. The program integrates knowledge and methods from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to gain a holistic understanding of the environmental challenges of the 21st century. Students earning a certificate in Sustainability and Environmental Studies will be better prepared to understand and communicate a host of complex issues confronting our species and our planet, including climate change, energy, pollution, waste, biodiversity loss, population growth, food production, environmental racism, and the moral standing of nonhuman animals and future generations.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students completing a certificate in Sustainability and Environmental Studies will be able to:

• Use scientific reasoning to understand, evaluate, and develop arguments about human impacts on the environment and ways to mitigate those impacts.
• Evaluate and develop arguments about ethical dimensions of humans’ relationships to and impacts on the environment, including how these vary across human populations.
• Analyze and create communication strategies to respond to environmental challenges and engage in environmental advocacy.
• Analyze and synthesize representations and conceptualizations of the environment in human cultures.

This certificate requires 9 credit hours of required courses. Students must have a grade of “C” or better in each course. A minimum of six hours used to meet the certificate requirements must be earned in residence at Washburn University. Students may request alternate coursework be accepted toward the certificate. Students should make these requests prior to completing coursework.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
BI 203	Human Impact on the Environment	3
CN 353	Environmental Communication	3
Select one course from the following options:		3
PH 300	General Topics in Philosophy (Section Name: Climate Change Ethics)
PH 317	Ethics of Genetic Technologies
PH 319	Midwestern Environmental Ethics
Total Hours		9