» Curriculum

Interdisciplinary Courses Across the University

A liberal arts education emphasizes an interdisciplinary philosophy of learning. Chapman does not require students to learn about sustainability or environmental topics during their time on campus, however, these topics impact all facets of academic study from the hard sciences to social sciences. This chapter provides recommendations as to how Chapman can integrate these topics into the curriculum.

Environmental Science and Policy and Schmid College of Science and Technology Curriculum

The Environmental Science and Policy major and Environmental Science minor were created in 2009, shortly followed by the Environmental Studies minor in 2011. In recent years, this area of study has gained momentum, and additional areas of study (i.e. environmental justice, policies, and natural disasters) have developed. With the creation of the Keck Center, Chapter 10 makes recommendations for new sustainability curriculum to grow along with the new building.

Argyros College of Business: Sustainability Curriculum

Sustainability is a subject that can successfully merge environmental and earth sciences with business and economics. For-profit business is extremely influential in society and therefore can make large scale positive impacts on the environment. Sustainability initiatives can also provide companies with a competitive advantage. These chapters evaluate the curriculum within the Argyros School of Business Economics to make recommendations on how to effectively incorporate sustainability into existing courses.

Crean College of Health and Behavioral Science: Environmental Health Curriculum

There is a very important intersection between the environment, public health, and socioeconomic factors. These factors include waste disposal, water use and quality, road safety, ecosystem services, and many more. The umbrella of environmental health can have emphases in environmental epidemiology, exposure science, climate change, ergonomics, home and industrial hygiene, and molecular epidemiology. These chapters explore sustainability as it relates to the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences.

Sustainability Curriculum Search Tools

This chapter focuses on increases the sustainability courses at chapman by improving online course search tools. Chapman transitioned from WebAdvisor to People Soft in the fall of 2015. While there were many benefits of my.chapman.edu, during this study both student and faculty noted navigational challenges with the new system. Improving the search tools on my.chapman.edu would ultimately bring awareness to new interdisciplinary classes.

Sustainability Across the Curriculum Faculty Workshops

Sustainability is an interdisciplinary topic that is connected to all aspects of life. This portion of the audit looked at developing workshops for faculty to aid them in incorporating sustainability across all disciplines. By looking at programs from other schools, the current workshops that Chapman has, and survey data, a sample lesson plan for an "Integrating Sustainability Across Curriculum Workshop" was developed.

Public Awareness of Sustainability

It can be argued that some of the best learning opportunities happen outside of the classroom. This section of the 2017 Environmental Audit reviewed current and past sustainability public awareness campaigns and sought to make recommendations for ways to improve to the sustainability messaging that the campus is exposed to.

Campus Earth Week Programming

Earth Week is an opportunity for students, staff, faculty, and community members to learn about environmental issues and come together to make strides towards campus and community sustainability. This chapter compares Earth Week events on Chapman’s campus to larger-scale Earth Week programming at other peer and aspirational universities. In addition, it provides analysis of past student, staff, and faculty interest in programming, as well as attendance data from previous years Earth Week events.