Sustainability

Overview

Although all sustainability graduate programs emphasize the integration of a broad range of expertise in student training, the MA degree (vs. the MS) is best suited to students inclined toward social sciences, humanities, planning or related fields and interested in a career in research or academia.

Students learn how different disciplines view and approach the challenges of sustainability in theory, research and practice. They develop the academic and technical skills as well as the ethical insights that will help them understand, research and provide solutions to complex sustainability challenges at the local, regional, national and global levels. This Sustainability MA program from Arizona State University (vs. MSUS) is geared towards students interested in a career in research or academia.

Learning outcomes

MA graduates will be able to think in a holistic way about different types of sustainability problems using a dynamic systems framework. They will have the technical skills to formulate and solve problems at the appropriate scale, and the breadth of vision to recognize the interconnectedness of coupled social and environmental systems. They will also be able to produce policy-relevant results. In addition to the common learning outcomes, MA students will have:

• an understanding of the need for an interdisciplinary approach to solving sustainability challenges
• the ability to communicate their work to professionals in other disciplines, policymakers and the general public
• the breadth of vision to recognize the interconnectedness of social, economic, environmental and technical systems
• the critical thinking skills to approach sustainability challenges from a systems perspective
• the skills needed to work effectively in interdisciplinary teams
• the technical skills to formulate and solve problems at the appropriate scale