Sustainability and the Curriculum

Whitworth is committed to helping students engage with issues of sustainability in the curriculum. We believe that education around sustainability issues provides students with an education of mind and heart that extends into and across disciplines. Current academic developments in regard to sustainability are listed below:

• Beginning in fall semester 2013, an environmental studies minor was added to the curriculum. The minor adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the development of environmental literacy and competency. Students can explore both the scientific and the socio-economic realities of environmental issues, ethics and motivations for sustainability, as well as the complexities of personal and societal action. Consistent with the university's mission, the minor provides students with the opportunity to be better equipped to honor God by learning to care for His creation, to follow Christ by reflecting in their lives and actions His purposes for creation, and to serve humanity by pursuing environmental justice and caring for future generations by carefully stewarding the earth.
• A wide array of on-campus courses reflect the importance of sustainability across academic disciplines. Participating departments include the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Education
  • English
  • History
  • Physics
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Theology
• Whitworth is a longtime partner with Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies. The institute is a Christian, educational organization that trains leaders to sustain God's good Earth. The Au Sable academic program offers courses and research experiences in field ecology and environmental stewardship.
• In spring 2014, Whitworth's twice-yearly Faculty Development Day will be dedicated to sustainability, and to enriching sustainability courses and experiences on campus.