$3000 Course Conversion Awards/Ethics and Sustainability

Sponsored by the Office of Sustainability & the Center for the Core Curriculum

About the Awards

In collaboration with the Office of Sustainability, the Center for Core Curriculum is pleased to announce an open competition for course development funds to convert an existing course in order to address ethical issues through a sustainability framework.* Courses may cover a wide array of topics but in all cases must meet the requirements for the Ethics and Leadership flag.

COURSE CONVERSION AWARD APPLICATION

Submission Guidelines

All interested applicants should:

• Propose their course for an Ethics and Leadership flag.
• Complete the attached one-page application form and send it electronically to Jess Miner, Coordinator for the Ethics and Leadership Flag.

Deadline

All parts of the course proposal application must be completed by December 3, 2012.

Award Structure

Applications may come from any academic unit on campus; $2500 will be given to the selected instructor to support costs associated with converting an existing class to incorporate sustainability content and meet the Ethics and Leadership Flag (i.e. travel, books, research expenses, etc.); the remaining $500 will be given to the chosen instructor’s home department.

Requirements

A proposed course conversion must:

• Substantially adjust the course to include sustainability and ethics content.
• Incorporate sustainability as a distinct and significant course component/module or concentrate on a single sustainability principle or issue throughout the course, i.e., the study of what is involved in ethically addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges.
• Meet the criteria for the Ethics and Leadership flag, but not already carry the flag.
• Be offered at least three times beginning with either the Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 semester. Preference will be given to courses that are designed to be a regular part of the department’s course offerings.

Review Committee

Awards will be determined by a joint panel of members from the Ethics and Leadership Flag Committee, the Academic Subcommittee of the President’s Sustainability Steering Committee, and the Center for the Core Curriculum.

*Sustainability is commonly understood to require a balanced pursuit of ecological health, social equity, and economic welfare. The pursuit of sustainability is grounded in an ethical commitment to the well-being of not only current populations, but also future generations. Ethics/sustainability courses should explicitly frame and address content in real-world terms by giving students the opportunity to apply content to questions or problems that are relevant to their adult and professional lives. An ethics/sustainability lens is broadly applicable to courses across the curriculum including topics such as environmental ethics, climate science, resource management, energy efficiency and technology, transportation and planning, as well as courses that speak to the history and philosophy of environmentalism, economic development, social justice, communication and psychology.