This class will examine key cross-cutting themes of sustainability and development through the framework of sustainability science. With its focus on use-inspired, basic, interdisciplinary research, the field of sustainability science has emerged as a foundational means to think through human-environmental relationships and social-ecological systems. Key thrusts in sustainability science – to bridge the gap between science and practice and across social, ecological, and professional sciences – are central to understanding and changing the trajectories of unsustainable development in many regions and countries, societies and communities, sectors, and markets. Students taking the course will (1) learn about the core principles of sustainability science and its antecedents, and (2) focus on four cross-cutting themes relevant to sustainability: Equity and justice, adaption to shocks, and transformational change, knowledge-action relationships, and governance of complex systems.

Learning goals and outcomes
- Develop an understanding of key concepts in sustainability science, the ability to use them, and the capacity to understand their relationships
- Identify how empirical writings apply these key concepts and the major theoretical underpinnings of sustainability science and assess and critique their use in the literature
- Analyze political and institutional dimensions of sustainability
- Apply concepts and framings of interest to you in creating an independent empirical case study related to one of four issues in sustainability science: 1. Equity/Justice in sustainability; 2. Knowledge to Action; 3. Adaptation, 4. Governance of social-ecological systems