Paul Smith's College of Arts & Sciences
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Students learn to connect people with the environment through positive advocacy, policy, education and entrepreneurial practices focused on durable landscapes, sustainable food systems and resilient communities. Graduates of the Sustainable Communities and Working Landscapes program will: +Make appropriate land-use decisions based on a variety of factors +Understand the concepts, issues and practices related to sustainable food systems from the individual to the global levels +Help communities preserve culture and traditional arts +Develop entrepreneurial business strategies that incorporate environmental and social consciousness into economic practice +Help communities create and maintain natural resource and cultural sustainability under a range of conditions. Program Objectives include, +Durable Landscapes Integrate political, social, economic, technological, and ecological dimensions of conservation and resource sustainability to make appropriate land use decisions. +Sustainable Food Systems Analyze concepts, issues and practices related to sustainable food systems from farm to fork at individual, family, community, regional and global levels. +Resilient Communities Analyze concepts, issues and practices related to cultural sustainability and preservation of traditional arts at individual, family, community, regional and global levels +Entrepreneurial Practice Develop, implement, and evaluate sustainable, entrepreneurial business strategies and projects that incorporate environmental and social consciousness into economic practice +Environmental Outreach Facilitate opportunities for collaboration and public participation around natural resource and cultural sustainability and work to create and maintain effective collaborations under a range of social-economic conditions

Students who are fascinated by the interactions between human society and our natural world thrive in this bachelor’s-degree program, where crucial natural-science concepts such as climate change and globalization are explored through a variety of lenses. Political science, economics, art, literature, philosophy, ethics and sociology are all applied. Students will learn the following: +What it means to possess a personal sense of place +Fundamentals of social sciences, natural sciences and humanities +How to respond effectively to environmental problems and how to encourage effective responses from others. This program includes highly experiential coursework which focuses on understanding and addressing the complex environmental problems faced by our society, such as climate change, globalization, invasive species, loss of biodiversity, energy, pollution and population pressure. Graduates are well-prepared for careers in environmental advocacy and environmental education, as well as work in environmental organizations and agencies, writing and public relations, environmental policy and law, and teaching and graduate study. Program Objectives include the following, +Environment and Human Expression Drawing from a variety of sources and perspectives, students will creatively and critically interpret, in written and oral form, the influence of philosophy, literature, religion and the arts in developing environmental policies and perspectives. +Environment and Society Critically interpret the influence of politics, social forces, economics, and geography in developing environmental perspectives, policies and actions, highlighting the influence of social, cultural and ecological diversity. +Environmental History Students will analyze how different societies’ patterns of relating to and valuing the natural world have shaped the ecosystems around them over time, and how societies in turn have been shaped by their material environments. +Environment and Science Students will be able to effectively communicate and discuss how ecosystems function in conjunction with the mechanisms of human influence on nature. +Comparative Field Experiences Through out-of-classroom group and individual work, students will describe how history, art, local culture, and economic activity have influenced environmental and social outcomes in the Adirondacks and other regions. +Applied Tools Integrate critical thinking and research skills as a basis for informed action by using one or more applied tools for environmental study and management in independent and group research/action projects. +Interdisciplinary Study Employ and integrate a variety of intellectual and disciplinary concepts in their study of and engagement with complex environmental policies and perspectives.

The Sustainable Communities Minor allows a student to demonstrate a broad knowledge of natural resources sustainability from the basics of ecological sustainability and society’s interaction with natural resources to conservation design of communities, structures, or alternative energy, and land use planning. Understanding sustainable practices is increasingly important in many fields including facilities management, hospitality, and business. Students are required to take 18 credits in total for the minor. Required courses include, Sustainable Community Agriculture, Conservation Design Green Communities, Sustainable Practical Entrepreneurship, and one required course from a cluster of "Sustainable Practitioner" classes, including Draft Horse Management, Maple Sap and Sugar, Ecological Restoration, etc. Students are required to take 6 additional elective credits, they can choose any two classes from a list of Sustainability Course offerings.