The undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability requires at least 24 s.h. of credit. Students must maintain a grade-point average of at least 2.00 in work for the certificate. Certificate courses may not be taken pass/nonpass.
The certificate may be earned by any student admitted to the University of Iowa who is not enrolled in a UI graduate or professional degree program. Undergraduate to Graduate (U2G) students may earn the certificate when the undergraduate classification is primary.
A course may be used to satisfy only one certificate requirement.
The Certificate in Sustainability requires the following coursework.
| Requirements | Hours |
|---|---|
| Introductory Core | 12-13 |
| Breadth Electives | 9 |
| Project/Integrative Systems | 3 |
Introductory Core
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Both of these: | ||
| SEES:1070 | Contemporary Environmental Issues | 3 |
| SEES:2013/BUS:2013/URP:2013 | Introduction to Sustainability | 3 |
| One of these: | ||
| ENGL:1510 | Introduction to Environmental Literature | 3 |
| JMC:1800 | Environmental Communication | 3 |
| One of these: | ||
| SEES:1080 | Introduction to Environmental Science | 3-4 |
| SEES:1085 | Fundamentals of Environmental Science | 4 |
Breadth Electives
Students complete at least 3 s.h. in each of three breadth areas: communications, ethics, and interpretation; dynamics of human systems; and dynamics of natural systems.
Communication, Ethics, and Interpretation
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| At least 3 s.h. from these: | ||
| SEES:4770/AFAM:4770/GHS:4770 | Environmental Justice | 3 |
| AFAM:2770/GHS:2770/SOC:2770 | Black and White Community Politics | 3 |
| CNW:2740 | The Art and Craft of Writing about the Environment | 3 |
| ENGL:2329 | Topics in Modern British Literature Before 1900 (when topic is British literature and environmental history) | 3 |
| ENGL:3565 | Literature and the Environment | 3 |
| ENTR:3500 | Social Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| FREN:1007 | Nature/Ecology French Philosophy and Fiction | 3 |
| HIST:3230 | American Environmental History | 3 |
| JMC:3185 | Topics in Understanding Media (when topic is risk communication) | 3 |
| LAW:8622 | International Environmental Law | 3 |
| MGMT:2000 | Introduction to Law | 3 |
| RHET:3700 | Advocacy and Sustainability: Crafting Stories of People, Place, and Resilience | 3 |
| SCLP:3895 | Topics in Sculpture (when topic is art at the edge of the landfill) | 4 |
| URP:6273/PBAF:6273 | Community Development Through Creative Placemaking | 3 |
Dynamics of Human Systems
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| At least 3 s.h. from these: | ||
| SEES:1046/ANTH:1046/GWSS:1046/SJUS:1046 | Environmental Politics in India | 3 |
| SEES:1090 | Globalization and Geographic Diversity | 3 |
| SEES:1115/HIST:1115 | The History of Oil | 3 |
| SEES:2110/GHS:2110 | Eight Billion and Counting: Introduction to Population Dynamics | 3 |
| SEES:2910 | The Global Economy | 3 |
| SEES:3090/GHS:3070 | Hungry Planet: Global Geographies of Food | 3 |
| SEES:3250/CPH:3400 | Health, Work, and the Environment | 3 |
| SEES:3300/GHS:3300 | Envisioning Future Worlds: Sustainable Development and Its Alternatives | 3 |
| SEES:3420 | Sustainable and Green Building Concepts | 3 |
| SEES:3780/GHS:3780/HIST:3240/POLI:3431 | U.S. Energy Policy in Global Context | 3 |
| SEES:3800 | Environmental Policy | 3 |
| SEES:3920/URP:3001 | Planning Livable Cities | 3 |
| SEES:4150/GHS:4150/IGPI:4150 | Health and Environment: GIS Applications | 3 |
| SEES:4750/URP:4750 | Environmental Impact Analysis | 3 |
| SEES:4790 | Applied Environmental Geology | 3 |
| AMST:1154 | Food in America | 3 |
| AMST:1290/GHS:1290/HIST:1290/NAIS:1290 | Native American Foods and Foodways | 3 |
| ANTH:2100 | Anthropology and Contemporary World Problems | 3 |
| ANTH:2261 | Human Impacts on the Environment | 3 |
| ANTH:3103 | Environment and Culture | 3 |
| ANTH:3240/NAIS:3240 | Cultural Resources Management Archaeology: Practice and Practicalities | 3 |
| ANTH:3260 | Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas | 3 |
| ARTH:3090 | Contemporary Architecture | 3 |
| CBE:2030 | Energy and Society | 3 |
| CEE:3790 | Resilient Infrastructure and Emergency Response | 3 |
| CEE:4158/OEH:4920 | Solid and Hazardous Wastes | 3 |
| CEE:4159/CBE:4459/IGPI:4159 | Air Pollution Control Technology | 3 |
| CHEM:1050 | Chemistry of Our World | 3 |
| CPH:2200 | Climageddon: Understanding Climate Change and Associated Impacts on Health | 3 |
| CPH:3500/GHS:3500 | Global Public Health | 3 |
| CPH:4200 | Agriculture, Food Systems, and Sustainability | 3 |
| ECE:5630 | Sustainable Energy Conversion | 3 |
| ECON:3625/URP:3135 | Environmental and Natural Resource Economics | 3 |
| ECON:3650 | Policy Analysis | 3 |
| GHS:3560 | Global Garbage and Global Health | 3 |
| ME:4048 | Energy Systems Design | 4 |
| POLI:1400 | Introduction to Comparative Politics | 3 |
| POLI:1500 | Introduction to International Relations | 3 |
| POLI:2417 | Comparative Environmental Policy | 3 |
| POLI:3424 | Global Development | 3 |
| SOC:1040 | Energy, Sustainability, and Society | 3 |
| TDSN:3200 | Product Design | 4 |
| TDSN:4010 | Wood Furniture Design | 4 |
| URP:2020/PBAF:2020 | Environment and Society: Sustainability, Policy, and Politics | 3 |
| URP:6253/PBAF:6253 | Designing Sustainable and Healthy Cities | 1-3 |
| URP:6256/PBAF:6256 | Environmental Policy | 3 |
Dynamics of Natural Systems
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| At least 3 s.h. from these: | ||
| SEES:1020 | The Global Environment | 3 |
| SEES:1040 | Evolution and the History of Life | 3-4 |
| SEES:1290 | Energy and the Environment | 3 |
| SEES:1400 | Natural Disasters | 3 |
| SEES:2310 | Introduction to Climatology | 3 |
| SEES:2374/BIOL:2374 | Biogeography | 3 |
| SEES:2673/BIOL:2673 | Ecology | 3 |
| SEES:2950 | Environmental Conservation | 4 |
| SEES:3070 | Marine Ecosystems and Conservation | 3 |
| SEES:3340 | Ecosystem Services | 3 |
| SEES:4630 | Hydrogeology | 4 |
| CBE:2040 | Environment, Energy, and Climate Change | 3 |
| CBE:2050/CEE:2050 | Severe and Unusual Weather | 3 |
| CBE:3405 | Green Chemical and Energy Technologies | 3 |
| CBE:5425/CEE:5115 | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics | 3 |
| CEE:4102 | Groundwater | 3 |
| CHEM:4873 | Atmospheric and Environmental Chemistry | 3 |
| IALL:3131 | Ecology | 4 |
| Or both of these: | ||
| SEES:2010 | Interdisciplinary Environmental Seminar | 1 |
| SEES:3080 | Introduction to Oceanography | 2 |
Project/Integrative Systems
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| At least 3 s.h. from these: | ||
| SEES:2930 | Water Resources | 3 |
| SEES:3150 | Sustainability Project | arr. |
| SEES:3230 | Prairie Restoration | 3 |
| SEES:3400 | Iowa Environmental Policy in Practice | 3 |
| SEES:3760/GHS:3760 | Hazards and Society | 3 |
| ABRD:3049 | Sustainable Chemistry | arr. |
| ABRD:3445 | India Winterim (when topic is water poverty or sustainable development) | arr. |
| ANTH:2261 | Human Impacts on the Environment | 3 |
| CEE:4107/CBE:4410 | Sustainable Systems | 3 |
| CNW:3660/ENGL:3760 | Multimedia Writing (when topic is environmental writing and filmmaking) | 3 |
| ENTR:3700 | Sustainable Innovation and Management | 3 |
| ENTR:4100 | International Entrepreneurship, Culture, and Social Impact | 1-3 |
| EVNT:3180 | Sustainable Events | 3 |
| GHS:4100 | Topics in Global Health (when topic is sustainability) | 1-3 |
| MKTG:4250 | Marketing and Sustainability | 3 |
| TDSN:3260 | Design for Production (when topic is special issues and topics in design) | 4 |
| URP:6256/PBAF:6256 | Environmental Policy | 3 |
| URP:6273/PBAF:6273 | Community Development Through Creative Placemaking | 3 |