Minor in Sustainability

Sustainability Minor student work will demonstrate:

• Disciplinary knowledge and skills
  Understanding and application of the practices, theories and science of sustainability.
• Proficiency in industry-standard skills, technologies, and processes • Capacity to identify and solve creative problems
  Proficiency in both creative and conventional research methodologies, including material and form exploration, interviewing, observation, and data analysis to define, investigate and solve sustainability-related problems from multiple perspectives.
• Cross-disciplinary awareness and practice • Audience-focused research, historical context, and field-specific discourse
  Understanding of the social, political, economic and environmental issues that impact the future of our planet and all its inhabitants, and the role artists and designers can play in securing sustainable futures.

Sustainability Minor student work will demonstrate:

• Innovation • Experimentation and play • Challenge to the status quo 
  Produce works of art and design that address or solve sustainability issues in ways that are innovative, environmentally conscious, socially responsive, culturally relevant, and economically viable. 

• Bravery in their work and their interactions with others
  Bravery in using their positions as artists and designers to advocate for a more just and sustainable world.

Sustainability Minor student work will demonstrate:

• Capacity to communicate (orally, written, and/or visually) about their practice
  Ability to clearly articulate the relationship between their major and sustainability concerns and how these studies will help them achieve personal and professional goals. 

• Capacity to seek, assemble, evaluate, and ethically apply information and ideas from diverse sources
  Including data and evidence that support their arguments for social and environmental change.

• Analysis of both ethical and aesthetic impacts of art and design
  Evaluate the impacts of human actions, including one's creative practice, on the environment and other beings.

Sustainability Minor student work will demonstrate:

• Understanding of themselves as parts of a larger whole made up of human and non-human beings.
  Understanding the interconnectedness of everything on the planet, advocating for equitable access to resources and opportunities for all members of society, human and non-human.

• Awareness of positionality – in the world, their field, their communities.
  Understanding of how one's own lived experiences, geographic locations and cultures shape one's understanding of sustainability challenges locally and globally. 

• Ability to work well, collaborate, and build relationships across differences in identity, perspective, aesthetics and disciplines
  Collaboratively using art and design to solve complex problems related to issues of social and environmental justice.

• Integration of skills and concepts:
  Successfully integrate skills, information and concepts between their majors and Sustainability minor, while understanding and articulating their positionality in their chosen fields.

Sustainability Minor student work will demonstrate:

• Ability to define aspirations, future goals and their role within the creative economy.
  Defined aspirations, future goals and their role within the creative economy through the lens of sustainability.
• Awareness of audience and ability to cultivate relationships with others in their chosen fields.
• Compelling presentation and exhibition skills, through Annual Exhibition, Capstone, and portfolios.
  Successful completion of sustainable and impactful projects that resonate with specific audiences and promote meaningful dialogue and action.
• Career readiness, as evidenced by strong interpersonal skills, self-advocacy, adaptation, autonomy, initiative, and willingness to both receive and offer feedback.
  Ability to take initiative, adapt, and contribute meaningfully to discussions and collaborations, while assessing strengths, weaknesses and areas for growth personally and professionally.