About the Cultural Sustainability Certificate
The Cultural Sustainability Certificate provides undergraduate students and non-degree-seeking students an opportunity to gain a deep understanding of how culture intersects with conceptualizations of sustainability. Cultural sustainability encompasses three overlapping threads.
Thread One: Sustaining cultural sites, artifacts, practices, and knowledge. This thread focuses on what we can learn from the past and from vulnerable people’s cultural and linguistic traditions to help us address current sustainability issues.
Thread Two: Highlighting the role of culture in social and economic justice. This thread emphasizes the importance of culture in achieving equity and inclusion in sustainable societies.
Thread Three: Highlighting the role of culture in environmental action. This thread examines the human side of environmental sustainability, exploring how culture influences our relationship to the natural environment.
In addition to learning about cultural sustainability, students also have opportunities to engage in real sustainability issues through internships and through research practices associated with understanding the past (e.g., archaeological research) and the present (e.g., ethnography).
Why Is This Certificate Important Now?
We created the Cultural Sustainability Certificate because of the serious need for people to understand the human side of sustainability. By focusing on the intersection of culture with economic, social, and environmental sustainability we are more apt to develop sound and effective policies, use limited resources wisely, understand what sustainability means to different groups of people, and identify why and how we embrace or resist sustainability efforts. In addition, the certificate aligns closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Is the Cultural Sustainability Certificate Right for Me?
This certificate is perfect for any student interested in exploring the human side of sustainability. It easily compliments the anthropology major or minor. It is relatively easy for other majors to complete the certificate’s 18 credit hours because courses in 14 other programs can be included as electives.
The Cultural Sustainability Certificate will give students an edge when applying for jobs. If you gravitate toward Thread One, you will gain skills and knowledge needed for work in cultural resource management, historic preservation, or tourism management. If you gravitate toward Thread Two, the knowledge and skills you develop will be appropriate for work in the public and non-profit sectors to promote social and economic justice. Finally, if you are interested in Thread Three, your skills and knowledge will be applicable to companies, agencies, and organizations that work at the intersection of human actions and environmental change.
Program Requirements
Students complete 18 credit hours to earn the Cultural Sustainability Certificate.
Required Courses (9 credits)
ANTH 115: Introduction to Cultural Sustainability (3 credits)
ANTH 201: Cultural Anthropology (3 credits) OR ANTH 202: Introduction to Archaeology (3 credits)
ANTH 345 Applied Anthropology (3 credits), ANTH 362: Social and Cultural Change (3 credits), ANTH 401: Environmental Anthropology (3 credits), ANTH 490: Independent Studies (1-6 credits) (with permission), OR SOCY 346: Environmental Sociology (3 credits)
Elective Courses (9 credits)
See below for recommended courses by thread. See courses for more information:
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Thread A: Sustaining cultural sites, landscapes, artifacts, knowledge
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Thread B: Highlighting the role of culture in social and economic justice
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Thread C: Highlighting the role of culture in environmental action
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9 credits
No more than 3 credits from ANTH and no more than 6 from any other discipline. Special topics courses approved on course-by-course basis. ANTH 381-388 and 490-494 (by permission)
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Questions?
If you have any questions about the Certificate in Cultural Sustainability please contact Dr. Christine Finnan at (finnanc@cofc.edu).
Last modified on September 2, 2022
by finnanc