GSVS

This course investigates a major source of human impact upon the Earth - energy consumption to fuel human activity. The course a) provides a cross-disciplinary perspective on the challenge of human-centered energy use, b) explains the historical origins of today's energy systems, c) describes current energy systems, d) examines the components of sustainable energy systems, and e) considers keys to their deployment.

This integrated and interdisciplinary course provides foundational knowledge on the multifaceted aspects of both problems and solutions related to sustainability, and challenges participants to deepen their understanding of global sustainability issues through a real-world, collaborative Think Global/ Act Local project.

This course interprets humanity's changing ecological relationships through religious and philosophical traditions. It takes up ethical questions presented by environmental problems, introduces frameworks for making sense of them, and examines the symbols and narratives that shape imaginations of nature.

This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in Global Environments and Sustainability, in Global Studies.

This course is a collaborative design thinking experience that emphasizes sustainability. Students work in self-selected teams through the first half of the design process, identifying a challenge and conceiving of a solution. The course emphasizes sustainability, multidisciplinary teamwork, and client-stakeholder engagement. Students define their own challenge space, conceive of their own solution, and articulate solution requirements.

This course is a collaborative design thinking experience that focus on sustainability. Students work in self-selected teams through the second half of the design process, prototyping and testing a sustainability-related concept and articulating a robust description of a solution ready for transfer to end-users. The course emphasizes multidisciplinary teamwork and client-stakeholder engagement.

This seminar investigates the principles of sustainable community development--environmental quality, economic health, and social equity--as reflected in buildings, rural landscapes, towns, and cities. Through case studies, class activities and site visits, we will examine how communities impact and improve basic environmental-quality variables such as air and water quality, food supply, mobility, energy, and sense of place.

In this experiential, workshop-based course, students will develop leadership skills in translating ideas into action, using UVA's Grounds as a living lab for sustainability - the campus as a sustainability classroom. Students will gain insight into a process in which individuals can catalyze change to solve global problems and advance strategic goals on a local level though a place-based, project-based, and human-centered approach.

How and what we eat is basic to who we are as individuals, as a culture, and as a polity. This course looks at the production and consumption of food in a political context, focusing on controversies over agricultural subsidies, labeling requirements, taxation, farming practices, food safety, advertising and education.

Clean energy (CE) systems require far more minerals than their fossil fuel-based counterparts, minerals sourced, refined, and disposed of globally. The course examines which minerals are needed for the CE transition and why. It considers social, economic, and environmental sustainability challenges from use of these materials and highlights the sociotechnical reality of sustainability, i.e., Success depends upon social and technical advance. 3rd year standing or instructor permission

Students will survey the main currents of US & international sustainability policy (air & water quality, endangered species protection, public land management, private land conservation), consider their origins in conservation thought, and learn to evaluate these policies via examples and assignments from current natural resource and environmental challenges. Students will learn about the actors and processes by which policy decisions are made.

Various topics offered by the Global Studies, Global Environments & Sustainability track.

This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in Global Environments and Sustainability, in Global Studies.

In this course, students will learn how to trace the "causal chains" from such actions/inactions to various ecosystem, social, and economic outcomes and to measure and value those outcomes. We will consider the philosophical/ethical underpinnings of the Ecosystem Services framework, use computer mapping and other software tools for evaluation, and review current applications of the framework by private and public sector entities.

The practicum uses problem-based learning to develop relevant facts and sound arguments surrounding local, national and global sustainability challenges. Working with live case studies in the U.S. and abroad, we will follow the steps from problem formation, through model building, data collection, and qualitative and quantitative analysis, and finally on to technical and advocacy communications grounded in our facts.

This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in Global Environments and Sustainability, in Global Studies.

This course is the required Capstone Seminar in the Global Environments and Sustainability track of Global Studies

This course is an independent study to be arranged by student in consultation with faculty.