The New School
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

All Parsons undergraduate students are required to take a foundational sustainability course - 'Sustainability Systems' - as part of their first year curriculum. From the syllabus: "This course is a required first year course that provides foundational understanding of the scientific and social issues related to the design of resilient urban futures. An understanding of the constraints, challenges, and opportunities presented by the need to design products, systems, and services that are more socially, environmentally and economically resilient is at the core of a Parsons education. This course is where that work begins." Parsons Sustainable Systems Learning Outcomes: - Respect diverse cultural attitudes regarding our ecological systems and an awareness for their relevance to creative practice through careful investigations and presentations that explore those diverse viewpoints. - Exhibit awareness of moral and ethical problems related to sustainability by identifying assumptions and questionable goals underlying various strategies and points of view. - Exhibit awareness of interrelationships within and between systems through self-directed study and documenting (writing and/or diagramming) examples as they relate to a given topic or question. - Drive scientific inquiry, by conducting experiments and field investigations that test hypotheses, supporting or refuting particular creative propositions. - Use analog and digital tools toward scientific methods of analysis by conducting and interpreting the results of experiments that use such tools; and develop creative work outcomes that explore various forms of material literacy that is informed by adjacent first year coursework - Translate scientific thinking and knowledge into creative, sustainable, [measurable] solutions to ecological challenges, by presenting a cogent argument with supporting evidence (quantitative and qualitative) - Evaluate and reflect on their creative works in relation to stated goals and values by clearly articulating the methods used for evaluating their creative solutions—quantitative and/or qualitative, “Why?” and “To what level of impact within a particular system of exchanges?”

From the New School's Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management M.S. program webpage: "The New School is at the forefront of addressing global environmental issues, thanks to Milano's Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management (EPSM) program. This program is designed to turn students' passion for environmental change and sustainability into careers with impact. Our students benefit from small, customized classes, a rigorous program of critical theory and practice, and close attention from a faculty engaged in research, scholarship, and cutting-edge professional practice. Our practice-based learning places students front and center alongside organizations working on the most pressing environmental issues of our time, from climate change and environmental justice to food systems and sustainable development."

Learning about sustainability at The New School involves understanding: 1. Rationales for concern about sustainability, such as valuing a. Being precautionary (by limiting the extent of what is done or ensuring its reversibility) b. Equity (across peoples of different race and culture and between current and future generations) c. A diversity of non-human species and the uniqueness of places d. Democratic principles of transparency and inclusiveness 2. Qualities of sustainable systems, such as natural ecosystems, that tend to be negentropic (attempting wherever possible to stem the cosmic dissipation of energy into less concentrated and ordered forms) a. Resilient (with redundancies and networking that can absorb unexpected impacts) b. Biocompatible (with outputs that can be non-destructive inputs to mostly non-human (i.e. ‘natural’) systems, or non-interfering of those systems (i.e., valuable inputs to subsequent industrial systems)) c. Dematerializing (decoupling demand satisfaction and value creation from material resource consumption) 3. Capacities of institutions and communities to prioritize those rationales and qualities, by incorporating a.scientifically-produced knowledge into decision-making: long term planning that take account of variable scenarios and risks a. Whole-of-life costing, internalizing environmental costs and restoration b. Timely, authentic consultation with a wide set of stakeholders and communities c. Accounts of humans that assume culturally-specific reasonableness constrained by socio-technical systems and routine everyday practices The above figures include graduates from the following degree programs: All Parsons undergraduate degree programs in addition to... Masters in Architecture – Architecture MS – Design and Urban Ecologies MS - Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management BA - Environmental Studies BA – Food Studies BS – Food Studies BA – Global Studies MFA – Industrial Design MA – International Affairs MFA – Lighting Design MS – Strategic Design and Management MA – Theories of Urban Practice MFA – Transdisciplinary Design BS – Urban Design For each of these degree programs, there was at least one required sustainability course, as per the standards and terms outlined in AC 1.

See attached excel spreadsheet for a breakdown of the number of graduates per degree program requiring a minimum of one sustainability course.