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Semester 1

Sustainable Development 1a: Introducing Sustainable Development (SCIL08008)

Subject

Sociology

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

1

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

Sustainable Development 1A: Introducing Sustainable Development addresses the central problems facing us in the twenty-first century, which concern access to water, food, energy, shelter, as well as justice, in the context of a destabilising climate and degradation of environmental resources. The course debates principles, concepts, contexts, issues and applications of sustainable development from the perspective of different disciplines, and helps students situate themselves in these debates as well as reflect on their own stance.

Course Description

Open to all students, the course starts with a short history of the principles and background to the concept of "sustainable development", and proceeds to draw on insights from economic history and sociology, politics and international relations, social anthropology and human geography, to unravel the multiple issues and interpretations of sustainability, its politics, and its relevance. Students will learn to think critically about what sustainability means and how it can be applied. Students will be encouraged to examine from the lens of sustainability the challenges that contemporary societies are being confronted with from global to local levels. They will also be able to evaluate the changes that capitalist and industrial development and technological advancement have brought about to living patterns and the environment.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 60%, Coursework 40%, Practical Exam 0%

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