Introduction

An introduction to sustainability from an interdisciplinary perspective which examines the historical and societal lenses through which sustainability is viewed. Students will learn terminology, theories, and concepts to effectively communicate across disciplines and on various topics of sustainability. The ideal for this course is to bring ideas together to form new ideas to tackle and understand the challenges and opportunities that will inevitably appear as we move to a more sustainable way of living.

Course Learning Objectives

•    Understand various perspectives of sustainability.

•    Understand the meanings underlying sustainability theories.

•    Retrieve relevant knowledge on general themes and major points from course content.

•    Plan and carryout experiential learning activities.

•   Create meaning by generating connections between academic theory and action through reflection.

Lectures and Course Structure

Lectures and readings will be online and asynchronous. This means you can goto them whenever and as many times as you wish. All content lectures will be available to you as of 4:00pm on Monday, January 8th. The course instructors may add supplemental lectures throughout the term (case studies tied to the lecture material). Overall learning will take place through a mixture of online lectures, readings, and videos. The readings and videos are there to assist in your success in Tutorial Discussions and Avenue Discussion Boards where in-depth discussions will take place. This course, as all courses fundamentally do, relies on you keeping up with the material to be successful.

Attendance and Emails Policy

While it is generally not appropriate to use email to ask detailed questions (including asking about what was discussed in the lectures), it is a bit different in an online course. Please email SUST1S03@mcmaster.cafor all questions. It is not the instructional team’s responsibility togo over an entire lecture with you so please have specific questions ready. As a rule, you should not expect to receive answers to emails on weekends or in the evenings. Rather, emails will typically be responded to   during regular business hours on weekdays, and as schedule allows. Emails sent 24 hours prior to or on a due date for any assignment cannot be expected to be answered.

When asking non-personal questions, you are encouraged to use the Avenue discussion board which will be monitored daily (during the working week). It is likely that any question you have (whether it be clarification or simply of interest) is had by others as well. The instructor will frequent the discussion board.

As a courtesy, and to ensure your emails are properly answered, you must include your name, tutorial number, MAC ID, and student ID number in the email signature. Emails must be sent from McMaster email accounts and should be sent to the course email, or they will not be read or responded to. Emails should be written in a professional manner, spell-checked, and proof-read before sending them. The subject line must state for which course the query is about. An email check-list will be posted on Avenue for further guidance.

Materials & Fees

Required Materials/Resources

•   There are no resources for you to purchase other than what is available online. You may need to loginto the McMaster Library Off-campus Access (https://library.mcmaster.ca/services/off-campus-access) to access some material.

Virtual Course Delivery

To follow and participate in virtual classes it is expected that you have reliable access to the following:

•    A computer that meets performance requirementsfound here.

•    An internet connection that is fast enough to stream video.

•    Computer accessories that enable class participation, such as a microphone, speakers and webcam when needed.

If you think that you will not be able to meet these requirements, please contact ut[email protected]as soon as you can. Please visit theTechnology Resources for Students pagefor detailed requirements. If you use assistive technology or believe that our platforms might be a barrier to participating, please contactStudent Accessibility Services,sas@mcmaster.ca, for support.

Course Overview and Assessment

Course Overview/Topics

(These are the topics to be covered in the lectures. The teaching team reserves the right to alter topics where necessary)

Evaluation

Assessment Schedule

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT 40% (2 at 20% each)

In line with the overall goals of the Sustainable Future Program, students will have the opportunity to take part in self-directed, community-based, and experiential education related to their personal passions and interests in sustainability. To achieve these goals, as part of their Experiential Learning Projects, students will complete 2 different community-based, experiential learning activities of their choosing throughout the course.

After taking part in each of their 2 chosen activities, students will document their experiences through the creation of personal reflections. To support interdisciplinary learning and reflection learning, students will share findings from their experiences with their classmates. Students will complete each experiential learning project, which will include research, taking part in the experiential activity, and preparing a reflection which will assess their takeaways of their learning.

Sufficient opportunities for experiential learning activities will be provided to students allowing them to  meet the criteria of the “Experiential Learning Project” regardless of geographic location. Students must ensure their activity is pre-approved during the current academic term, or receive approval from a member of the Instructional Team.

Please refer to the Avenue to Learn for full assignment details, including links to resources and rubrics.

BIOPHILIA ASSIGNMENT 20%

The word biophilia stems from the Greek word, 'philia' meaning'love of'. Put this alltogether and it literally means a love of life or living things. From a more traditional point of view, it refers to a psychological trait through which humans are subconsciously attracted to and feel an affiliation with plants, animals, and nature.

Students will be provided with links to resources that further elaborate on the topic of Biophilia and the relationship that exists between humans and nature. This assignment provides students with the opportunity to explore what aspects of nature they feel connected to. Students are to capture a photo that meets prescribed criteria and connect it to the concept of biophilia by answering questions.

Please refer to Avenue to Learn for full assignment details, including links to resources and rubrics.

ONLINE QUIZZES: 20%

Students will take an online quiz approximately every two weeks throughout the term (starting the week of January 22nd). The material covered will include instructor posted content, assigned readings, and assigned TED Talks and/or other related media. Students are expected to monitor A2L for assigned quizzes and announcements.

There is also 1% for the Student Information Quiz.

Due: Please check Avenue for the quiz schedule beginning on January 26th.

TUTORIALS 20%

Throughout the term the virtual tutorialslot you are assigned is used for office hours and discussion. All tutorials will take place on Microsoft Teams. There are 5 weeks during the term where you are to participate in the discussion or the tutorial. You need to attend 4 of the 5 tutorials to receive full marks. For these weeks, there will be instructions on Avenue or MS Teams as to how you need to prepare and what constitutes participation. The ‘participation weeks’ are the weeks of: January 22nd, February 5th,   February 26th, March 11th, April 1st. For the weeks that are not ‘participation weeks’, your TA will host office hours to give you time to ask your TA questions or simply stop in and say ‘hello’ .

If preparation is required prior to a tutorial, your TA will make a post via your specific MS Teams tutorial channel. This channel should be monitored regularly (i.e. twice a week) to ensure tutorial-related content is not missed. All other information regarding the course will be posted via Avenue to Learn.

MSAF Course Specific Information

In this course, MSAFs are not needed as we will be following Universal Course Design strategies that eliminate the need to submit an MSAF. For the Reflection and Biophilia assignments, all students will be given a 7-day grace period. This means that while the assignments are due on Fridays at 4pm, you can avoid any late penalties if it is handed in by the following Friday at 4pm. This is longer than the grace period awarded by an MSAF.

As the quizzes are graded best 3 of 4 and tutorial participation grades are graded best 4 of 5, an MSAF is not necessary as universal accommodation is built into the grading.