Cornell Sustainability Courses
Cornell's commitment to sustainability in its education curriculum is evidenced by the broad course list below. These courses have been identified by instructors, college administrators, or by an independent review of course content. We encourage faculty, departments, schools, and colleges to bring other sustainability courses to our attention, by emailing atkinson@cornell.edu.
The following 739 courses are categorized as sustainability-focused and sustainability-related according to nationally recognized STARS v2.1 guidelines. Some of these courses are cross-listed in multiple departments and will appear more than once in the list.
Interested students should review course websites, contact the instructor, and discuss options with their advisor.
We update this list as a courtesy to the Cornell community, but we may not capture the most recent course changes. Please refer to the authoritative Courses of Study and check with the relevant department.
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All | Ecology | Economics + Business | Energy Environmental Justice | Policy | Sustainable Design |
| Dept | Course # | Title | F | Sp | Su | Credit | Level* | Pre Reqs | Faculty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIIS | 1110 | Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Richardson | |
| AIIS | 3560 | Thinking from a Different Place: Indigenous Philosophies | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Cheyfitz | |
| AIIS | 3100 | Haudenosaunee Ecology in the Story of Earth’s Creation | ~ | ~ | X | 1 | Related | AIS 1100 or AIS 1110 | Adams |
| AIIS | 2100 | Indigenous Ingenuities as Living Networks | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Rickard | |
| AIIS | 3422/6422 | Culture, Politics, and Environment in the Circumpolar North | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Nadasdy | |
| AIIS | 2600 | Introduction to Native American Literature | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Spec | Warrior | |
| ALS | 2000 | Leadership in Campus Sustainability | X | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Anderson, Brylinsky, Hilversum | |
| ALS | 3600 | Community Engagement, Climate Change in the Mekong Delta: Insights into Vietnam | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | must take both ALS 3600 and ALS 3601 to receive course credit | Tranviet |
| AMST | 1601 | Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Richardson | |
| AMST | 2108 | Indigenous Ingenuities as Living Networks | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Rickard | |
| AMST | 3330 | Ways of Knowing: Indigenous and Place-Based Ecological Knowledge | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Enrollment limited to: juniors, seniors, or graduate students | Kassam |
| AMST | 2331 | Agriculture, History, and Society: From Squanto to Biotechnology | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| AMST | 3675 | The Environmental Imagination in American Literature | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Spec | Hutchinson | |
| AMST | 4033 | Race and Social Entrepreneurship: Food Justice and Urban Reform | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Rooks | |
| AMST | 2225 | Controversies About Inequality | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haskins | |
| AMST | 2600 | Introduction to Native American Literature | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Spec | Warrior | |
| AMST | 3562 | Thinking from a Different Place: Indigenous Philosophies | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Cheyfitz | |
| AMST | 2100 | Indigenous Ingenuity as Living Networks | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Rickard | |
| ANTHR | 4437 / 7437 | Development, Humanitarianism, and the Will to Improve | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Next offered 2019-2020 | Welker |
| ANTHR | 4410/7410 | Indigenous Peoples, Ecological Sciences, and Environmentalism | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Nadasdy | |
| ANTHR | 3422 / 6422 | Culture, Politics, and Environment in the Circumpolar North | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Nadasdy | |
| ANTHR | 2400 | Cultural Diversity and Contemporary Issues | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Villenas | |
| ANTHR | 2440 | Anthropology of Money | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Miyazaki | |
| ANTHR | 2729/6729 | Climate, Archaeology and History | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Manning | |
| ANTHR | 3256/7256 | Ancient Civilizations of the Andes | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Henderson | |
| ANTHR | 4435/7435 | Postcolonial Science | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Langwick | |
| ANTHR | 4166 | Risk Work | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Welker | |
| ARKEO | 2201 | Early Agriculture | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Russell | |
| ARKEO | 2729/6729 | Climate, Archaeology and History | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | Manning | |
| ARKEO | 3256/7256 | Ancient Civilizations of the Andes | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Henderson | |
| ARKEO | 7741 | Methods and Approaches in Current Archaeology | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Manning | |
| ARTH | 2101 | Indigenous Ingenuities as Living Networks | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Rickard | |
| ASIAN | 2273 | Introduction to Religious Studies | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Haines-Eitzen | |
| ASRC | 4330 | Race and Social Entrepreneurship: Food Justice and Urban Reform | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | Rooks | |
| ASRC | 1790 | Pirates, Slaves, and Revolutionaries: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to Louverture | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Bassi | |
| BEE | 7540 | Water Management in an Era of Growing Water Scarcity | ~ | X | ~ | 2-3 | Related | graduate standing | Steenhuis, Holst-Warhaft |
| BEE | 2000 | Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge | ~ | X | ~ | 1 | Focused | Hess | |
| BEE | 5400 | Engineering Ethics and Professional Practice | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Senior or graduate level standing | Evans, Timmons |
| BSOC | 2061 | Ethics and the Environment | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | freshmen must have permission of instructor | Johnson |
| BSOC | 2581 | Environmental History | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | Sachs | |
| BSOC | 2071 | Introduction to the History of Medicine | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Seth | |
| BSOC | 2201 | Society and Natural Resources | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Stedman | |
| BSOC | 3181 | Living in an Uncertain World: Science, Technology, and Risk | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Slayton | |
| BSOC | 4131 | Comparative Environmental History | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Pritchard | |
| CLASS | 6739 | Archaeology of the Aegean Bronze Age, ca. 3000-1000: from villages to palaces | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Manning | |
| CLASS | 4677 | Desert Monasticism | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haines-Eitzen | |
| COML | 2021 | Humans and Climate Change | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Pinkus | |
| COML | 3024 | Literature, Trauma, and Culture | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | Spec | Caruth | |
| COMM | 6860 | Risk Communication | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | McComas | |
| COMM | 2850 | Communication, Environment, Science, and Health | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | second-semester sophomore, junior, or senior standing | Staff |
| COMM | 3210 | Communication and the Environment | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | McComas, staff | |
| COMM | 3070 | Communicating for Impact: Developing Strategic Communication from Op-ed to Video | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | COMM 2310 or COMM 2010 | Chambliss |
| COMM | 6210 | Advanced Communication and the Environment | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | McComas | |
| CRP | 3011/6011 | Ethics, Development, and Globalization | X | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 3090/5090 | Community Development Seminar | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 3106/5106 | Structural Barriers to Equity in Planning I | X | X | ~ | 1 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 5074 | Economic and Community Development Workshop | X | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 3310 | Social Justice and the City: Preparation for Urban Fieldwork | X | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | Staff | |
| CRP | 5620 | Perspectives on Preservation | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 3107/5107 | Structural Barriers to Equity in Planning II | X | X | ~ | 1 | Related | CRP 3106 or permission of instructor | Staff |
| DSOC | 3400 | Agriculture, Food, Sustainability, and Social Justice | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Bezner Kerr | |
| DSOC | 6120 | Social Change and Population Process in Asia | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Williams | |
| DSOC | 3200/5200 | Rethinking Global Development: New Frameworks for Understanding Poverty, Inequality &,amp, Growth in 21C | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | DSOC 2050 | Bezner Kerr |
| DSOC | 2050 | International Development | ~ | X | ~ | 3-4 | Related | McMichael | |
| DSOC | 6200 | Community, Place, and Environment | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | graduate standing | Stedman |
| DSOC | 6210 | Foundations of Environmental Sociology | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Zinda | |
| DSOC | 4380/6380 | Population and Development | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Williams | |
| DSOC | 6620 | The Social Life of Land | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Graduate standing | Wolford |
| DSOC | 2201 | Society and Natural Resources | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Stedman | |
| DSOC | 2090 | Social Inequality | ~ | X | X | 4 | Related | Weeden | |
| DSOC | 3240 | Environmental Sociology | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Zinda | |
| DSOC | 4210 | Theories of Reproduction | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Basu | |
| DSOC | 4700 | Senior Capstone Course | X | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Enrollment limited to: DSOC majors with preference given to juniors and seniors. | Fall: Leonard. Spring: Peters |
| DSOC | 6001 | The Empirics of Development and Social Change | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Eloundou-Enyegue | |
| DSOC | 6060 | Sociological Theories of Development | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | DSOC 6030 or permission of instructor | McMichael |
| DSOC | 6270 | Agrarian Social Mobilization: From Resistance to Revolution | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited to: graduate students only. | Wolford |
| EAS | 2021 | Humans and Climate Change | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Pinkus | |
| ECE | 2500 | Technology in Society | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| ECE | 3600 | Ethical Issues in Engineering Practice | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Enrollment limited to: sophomores, juniors, and seniors. | Doing |
| ECE | 3600 | Ethical Issues in Engineering Practice | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Limited to sophomores, juniors, seniors | Doing |
| ECON | 3910 | Health, Poverty, and Inequality: A Global Perspective | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | introductory microeconomics and statistics or permission of instructor | Sahn |
| ENGL | 3675 | The Environmental Imagination in American Literature | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Spec | Hutchinson | |
| ENGL | 3560 | Thinking from a Different Place: Indigenous Philosophies | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Cheyfitz | |
| ENGL | 2600 | Introduction to Native American Literature | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Spec | Warrior | |
| ENGL | 3755 | Literature, Trauma, and Culture | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | Spec | Caruth | |
| ENGL | 4745 | The Turning Point: American Literature and Culture in the 1940s | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | at least one English class at the 3000-level or above | Hutchinson |
| ENGL | 6615 | Critical Indigenous Criticism and Theory | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Warrior | |
| ENGL | 6755 | Critical Ecologies | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Cohn | |
| ENGRG | 3600 | Ethical Issues in Engineering Practice | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Enrollment open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. | Doing |
| ESS | 4940 | Special Topics in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences | X | X | ~ | 1-4 | Spec | Staff | |
| FDSC | 1500 | Food Choices and Issues | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Miller | |
| GERST | 3011 | Green Thought in German Culture | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | GERST 2020, GERST 2040 or GERST 2060 or equivalent or placement exam | Staff |
| GERST | 4440/6440 | Screening the Environment | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Dobryden | |
| GOVT | 2225 | Controversies About Inequality | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haskins | |
| HD | 3570 | Social Inequalities in Physical and Mental Health | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | HD 1150, or HD 1170, PSYCH 1101, HD 2510/SOC 2510, DSOC 1101, or SOC 1101 . | Wethington |
| HIST | 2581 | Environmental History | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | Sachs | |
| HIST | 6221 | Environmental History | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Pritchard | |
| HIST | 1670 | Understanding Modern China | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Seow | |
| HIST | 1970 | Pirates, Slaves, and Revolutionaries: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to Louverture | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Bassi | |
| HIST | 2710 | Introduction to the History of Medicine | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Seth | |
| HIST | 4131 | Comparative Environmental History | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Pritchard | |
| HIST | 6181 | Confluence: Environmental History and Science &,amp, Technology Studies | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Prichard | |
| IARD | 6010 | Experience Latin America II (Chiapa Edition) | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | IARD 4010 / LATA 4010 | Hobbs |
| IARD | 4010 | Experience Latin America: Rural and Urban Realities I | ~ | X | ~ | 2 | Related | Hobbs | |
| IARD | 4011 | Student-Community Partnerships in Ecuador I | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Lassoie | |
| IARD | 7540 | Water Management in an Era of Growing Water Scarcity | ~ | X | ~ | 2-3 | Related | graduate standing | Steenhuis, Holst-Warhaft |
| IARD | 4140 | Tropical Cropping Systems: Biodiversity, Social, and Environmental Impacts | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Lauren | |
| ILRIC | 4313/6013 | Labor, the Environment and Climate Change | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Skinner | |
| ILRIC | 6320 | Comparative Labor Movements: Europe and the United States | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Turner | |
| ILRID | 3610 | Advanced Intergroup Dialogue | X | X | ~ | 3 | Related | EDUC 2610 or equivalent experience | Miller, Williams |
| ILROB | 2220 | Controversies About Inequality | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haskins | |
| LATA | 3256/7256 | Ancient Civilizations of the Andes | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Henderson | |
| LAW | 4071 | Law Culture and Society in China | X | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Enrollment limited to undergraduate students | Yu |
| MEDVL | 4557 | Desert Monasticism | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haines-Eitzen | |
| NES | 4557 | Desert Monasticism | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haines-Eitzen | |
| NS | 2600 | Introduction to Global Health | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Moseley | |
| NS | 3060 | Nutrition and Global Health | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | NS 1150 | Mehta |
| NS | 4620 | Global Service Learning Pre-Departure Seminar | ~ | X | ~ | 1 | Related | permission of instructor required | Moseley |
| NS | 4630 | Global Health, Development and Policy Issues in Tanzania | ~ | ~ | X | 4 | Related | NS 4620 | Moseley |
| NS | 4500 | Public Health Nutrition | ~ | X | ~ | 2 | Related | NS 1150 | Rasmussen, Kelles |
| NS | 4570 | Health, Poverty, and Inequality: A Global Perspective | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | introductory microeconomics and statistics or permission of instructor | Sahn |
| NTRES | 1101 | Introduction to Environmental Science and Sustainability | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Kraft | |
| NTRES | 2320 | Nature and Culture | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Tantillo | |
| NTRES | 3320 | Introduction to Ethics and Environment | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Tantillo | |
| NTRES | 4330 | Applied Environmental Philosophy | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | NTRES 3320 recommended | Tantillo |
| NTRES | 6201 | Community, Place, and Environment | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Graduate Standing | Stedman |
| PAM | 2208 | Social Inequality | ~ | X | X | 4 | Related | Weeden | |
| PAM | 2220 | Controversies About Inequality | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haskins | |
| PHIL | 1940 | Global Thinking | X | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| PHIL | 1440 | Ethics of Eating | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Starr | |
| PHIL | 2460 | Ethics and the Environment | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | Pritchard | |
| PHIL | 1950 | Controversies About Inequality | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haskins | |
| PLBIO | 2400 | Green World/Blue Planet | ~ | X | X | 3 | Focused | Silva | |
| PLHRT | 3600 | Climate Change and the Future of Food | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | at least 3 credits in plant, agricultural, or environmental sciences | Wolfe |
| PLSCS | 4303 | The GMO Debate: Science and Society | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Evanega, Herring, Thies | |
| PLSCS | 4910 | Food, Farming, and Personal Belief | ~ | X | ~ | 1 | Focused | CSS 1900 or equivalent | Fick |
| RELST | 2273 | Introduction to Religious Studies: Religion and Environmental Sustainability | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Law | |
| RELST | 4557 | Desert Monasticism | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Haines-Eitzen | |
| SHUM | 4614 | Polluted Senses | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Casey | |
| SHUM | 4616 | Corrupting Environmental Media | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Mukherjee | ||
| SOC | 2208 | Social Inequality | ~ | X | X | 4 | Related | Alvarado | |
| SOC | 3120 | Urban Sociology | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Cornwell | |
| SOC | 2202 | Population Dynamics | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Basu | |
| SOC | 3240 | Environmental Sociology | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Zinda | |
| SOC | 4210 | Theories of Reproduction | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Basu | |
| STS | 4131 | Comparative Environmental History | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Pritchard | |
| STS | 2331 | Agriculture, History, and Society: From Squanto to Biotechnology | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| STS | 2851 | Communication, Environment, Science, and Health | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | second-semester sophomore, junior, or senior standing | Staff |
| STS | 6181 | Confluence: Environmental History and Science &,amp, Technology Studies | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Pritchard | |
| STS | 4351 | Postcolonial Science | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Langwick | |
| STS | 4691 | Food, Agriculture, and Society | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | introductory ecology course or permission of instructor | Power |
| STS | 2061 | Ethics and the Environment | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | Pritchard | |
| STS | 2071 | Introduction to the History of Medicine | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Seth | |
| STS | 4303 | The GMO Debate: Science and Society | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Evanega, Herring, Thies | |
| STS | 3241 | Environmental Sociology | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Zinda | |
| STS | 2501 | Technology in Society | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| STS | 3601 | Ethical Issues in Engineering Practice | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Enrollment open to: sophomores, juniors, and seniors. | Doing |
| STS | 6121 | Environmental History | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | Pritchard |