Arizona State University Rob Walton College of Global Futures 6 courses 32 total credits
The Master of Science in sustainability is a research-oriented degree program that culminates in writing either a thesis or publishable scientific paper. The program focuses on knowledge generation and investigating potential solutions to sustainability challenges, and it prepares you for designing and conducting transdisciplinary research. This master's degree program is best suited to you if you're inclined toward natural sciences, economics, engineering or related quantitative fields and are interested in a career in research or academia. You learn how different disciplines view and approach the challenges of sustainability in theory, research and practice. You develop academic and technical skills as well as the ethical insights that help you understand, research and provide solutions to complex sustainability challenges at the local, regional, national and global levels. As a sustainability graduate student, you understand the need for a transdisciplinary approach to solving sustainability challenges; you are able to communicate your work to professionals in other disciplines, to policymakers and to the general public; and you have the breadth of vision to incorporate the interconnectedness of social, economic, environmental and technical systems into your research. You have the critical thinking skills necessary to approach sustainability challenges from a systems perspective, the ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary teams, and the technical skills to formulate and solve problems at the appropriate scale.
| Required Core | 11 credits |
| Electives | 15 credits |
| Culminating Experience | 6 credits |
| Total Credits | 32 credits |
Required Core
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| SOS 510 | Perspectives on Sustainability | 3 |
| SOS 520 | Research Design and Methods for Sustainability | 3 |
| SOS 525 | Social-Ecological-Technical Systems: Domains and Interfaces | 3 |
| SOS 589 | Community of Graduate Student Scholars | 2 |
| Total Required Core | 11 credits | |
Electives
methods (3) normative dimensions of sustainability (3) general electives (9)
Culminating Experience
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| SOS 596 | Capstone: Scientific Paper | 6 |
| SOS 599 | Thesis | 6 |
| Total Culminating Experience | 6 credits | |
Additional Curriculum Information
SOS 589 is taken twice for two credit hours total. The taught-course element of the program is evaluated through course-specific examinations, research papers or applied projects and is considered to have been successfully completed if the student obtains a GPA of 3.25 or higher. Graduate College policies and procedures for fulfillment of degree requirements also must be met. Approved general electives subjects include the following: SOS, ASB, ART, PAF, SGS, POS, SOC, PSB, PHI, COM, CPP, CRD, ESS, NTR, MCO, GCU, SCM, HPS, HST, JHR, JMC, JUS, LAW, LES, PUP, SBS, STS, TDM and URB.
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