The Sustainability, Health, and the Environment (SHE) Approaches seminar People, Planet, Profit: An Introduction to Sustainability provides students with knowledge and skills required for understanding the complex interplay between humans and the natural world. Through discussion, debates, and inquiry-based activities, students apply theoretical and methodological approaches from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities to develop an understanding of the emerging field of sustainability. Sustainability is a highly interdisciplinary and globally focused discipline that focuses on the challenge of meeting the needs of present and future populations while preserving living standards and the environment. Perspectives, texts, and case studies representing multiple regions of the world, including students’ abroad sites, will contextualize the study of sustainability through examination of historic and contemporary threats to the health of populations, economies, and the environment as well as strategies for their management and remediation. Questions of sustainable development, urban and agricultural systems, globalization, climate crises, and environmental policy as well as the perspectives of indigenous and marginalized peoples will be included. By the end of this course, students will be able to think critically about the impact of human activities and produce an original research project using appropriate sources and methods.
SHE Curriculum
Sustainability, Health, and the Environment explores relationships between human affairs and the biophysical planet, as well as inherent challenges and opportunities, in a multidisciplinary approach. With explosive population growth and substantive consumption patterns, our species has impacted the Earth to such an unprecedented extent that a new geologic epoch has been proposed: the Anthropocene, or Age of Humans. Current environmental crises underscore the pressing need for sustainability, an interdisciplinary approach for meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the future, that incorporates wildlife, ecosystem functionality, and organismal health. In our Global Topics courses, selected social, economic, ecological, cultural, and other disciplines are combined to study the organization and effects of human beings on the Earth, as well as the impact that environmental and climatological conditions exert on the health and society of humans and other living things. Topics courses allow the students to examine specific themes in their chosen concentration that connect to their junior abroad study site and may include a variety of texts including academic materials, official reports, and the news.
Sample Courses:
In the Sustainability, Health, and the Environment Junior Independent Research Seminar, students will gain research experience and prepare for their GLS SHE senior thesis. In this online, asynchronous, two-credit course, students located at the NYU global sites around the world interact with their New York-based instructor and each other to learn key skills and explore potential thesis questions, topics, or related interests. Participants work both independently and with their instructor and peers to develop topics of interest on which to write an annotated bibliography, a research paper that might serve as a draft chapter of the thesis, and a prospectus outlining a potential thesis topic. Course topics are additionally explored through a mix of short recorded lectures, student- and faculty-selected readings, discussions, a presentation, peer review, and other active learning techniques. SHE juniors are not required to finalize their thesis topic in JIRS, and ultimately their proposal must be approved by their senior thesis/colloquium instructor.
The Global Liberal Studies Senior Colloquium & Thesis classes culminate in a GLS Senior Thesis. This class is offered in two parts, with the Senior Colloquium taking place in the fall, followed by the Senior Thesis in the spring. Throughout the year, students actively write about, present, and discuss their research, and participate in related events or opportunities. The first thesis draft is due on March 15th, with final submission one month later.
The SHE senior thesis fosters a rigorous, multidisciplinary, and engaging approach to investigating Sustainability, Health, the Environment, and their interactions. The thesis course builds on prior work, including the Junior Independent Research Seminar. As a reminder, the JIRS prospectus does not commit students to a senior thesis topic. Some students continue the research that they started in JIRS in the senior colloquium, and some explore entirely new topics and questions.
SHE accepts scholarly theses and scholarly theses with a creative component. In special circumstances, students may apply for permission to submit a Creative Thesis (as described here). The scholarly thesis normally is limited to 50 double-spaced pages including Title, Table of Contents, Acknowledgements, Abstract, and three chapters. A key part of the thesis is the comprehensive scholarly bibliography with a mix of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. Informative Tables, Figures, and Images are strongly encouraged to clarify and illustrate important points.
Students will consider inclusive global and local perspectives on related concerns, issues, and solutions, and reflect on key concepts and topics. Experiences and course work abroad and in New York City strongly inform the development of questions and hypotheses, in the context of scholarly theories and debates regarding Sustainability, Health, and the Environment. Some examples include climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, pandemic planning, global perspectives on HIV/AIDS, environmental racism, urban planning/green space design, food systems, and many other topics.
Criteria for Excellence
Multidisciplinarity is a key aspect of Global Liberal Studies as well as the SHE concentration. An excellent thesis will address this by incorporating at least two of the three main areas within Sustainability, Health, and the Environment. The top theses will critically analyze their topics with respect to the appropriate academic theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence. A clear, unique, and scholarly rationale will be provided for the chosen topic, question, or problem, as well as original solutions to problems or answers to questions. Innovation, accuracy, relevance, and depth characterize a top-notch thesis, along with mastery of the subject matter in global and local contexts over time. Excellent theses will be clear, organized, well-written, and free of errors, with a strong focus on correct citing and referencing and a sterling bibliography. The content will be clarified by illustrative and explanatory tables, figures, and images when appropriate, and the various components will be seamlessly unified into a cohesive, inquiry-based, and well-argued thesis.
