Sustainable Communities (SC) is a vibrant undergraduate major that addresses current issues by integrating environmental studies with cultural analysis, social action, public policy, and hands-on skill building. The course of study encourages a student’s capacity to think globally and systemically; to clarify value conflicts, motivations, and learning styles; and to plan and carry out imaginative projects. Students undergo an expansion of their perspectives and a deepening awareness of themselves in relation to their world.

SC courses ask questions such as: Who is offering what solutions to address current social and ecology issues? What can we do as individuals and as communities as part of a democratic society to offer real solutions to address social and ecological issues?

SC courses are taught on the weekend as part of DUC’s Pathways program for busy adults. The SC major is based on a cohort model, with structure, content, and activities that encourage development of a sense of community among the students who move through the coursework together. This allows the academic subject matter of group dynamics, leadership, and building community to be put into practice through projects on the land and in the community. Each student enrolls in a series of core courses (Cultural Ecology, Ecological Design, Social Movements/Community Organizing) and a series of concentration courses in either EcoDwelling or Ecological Food Systems and Agriculture or Permaculture that allows them to delve more deeply into a particular area of interest. Check us out at www.dominican.edu/greenba or email kendall.dunnigan@dominican.edu.