Luther College
ER-12: Sustainability Immersive Experience

Luther offers the following immersive courses that focus on sustainability: * Paideia II. P. Green Germany: Advanced Models of Sustainability: This course will survey social structures that have historically supported and promoted environmental pollution and destruction, particularly in Europe, and will draw on similarities between the German and American situations. Students will study and visit environmentally sustainable projects and engage with political parties and local citizen organizations in Germany, Iceland, and Denmark. Central to the course are ethical issues in the development of environmentally sustainable projects, including both the immediate impacts and long term implications on the local populations. The group will be based in Husum, northern Germany, a major wind energy center, and will visit Hamburg, Berlin, Denmark, and Iceland. * REL 341 Environmental Ethics: A critical examination of issues in environmental ethics from diverse Christian perspectives. The course examines root causes of environmental problems, philosophical and theological assumptions about nature, and resources for response in Christian traditions. Particular attention is given to demographic and economic factors at the global level as well as personal consumption decisions at the local level. Case studies ground reflection in concrete situation. Typically offered during alternate years at Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat center in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. Offered alternate years.