SU-101
Sustainability & Service
Details
The Saint Francis Minor cultivates interdisciplinary conversations around ecological and humanitarian crises facing our world today. Its goal is to encourage students to become engaged citizens dedicated to the collective betterment of the planet, as well as to equip them with the foundational knowledge and skillsets necessary to be so.
About the Program
Whether interests lie more in environmental transformation or in advocating for the underprivileged and marginalized (or both!), the minor asks students to engage critically with ideas stemming from a variety of different disciplines; to offer their time, energy, and compassion to the broader Helena community through dedicated Service hours; and engage in good-faith dialogue with classmates and faculty about their studies, research, and experiences.
Program Overview
This Minor is an integrated program for students with diverse interests, academic disciplines and desires to make a difference. It critically examines human impacts on Earth’s eco-systems and our social structures. It explores ways of thinking and acting that can align our way of being in the world with a solidarity toward social and environmental/ecological well-being. Faculty from multiple disciplines teach the principles and practices of sustainability from varied perspectives and foci to provide integral approaches to our problems and challenges. The curriculum is designed for student learning that integrates diverse ways of thinking, encourages interdisciplinary problem-solving, cultivates caring responsibility, and incorporates hands-on service.
“We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental… Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
Laudato Si, 2015Pope Francis
Featured Courses
All CoursesSU-310
Service to Humanity
This course is a Service Learning course, and it is designed to foster an inter-disciplinary conversation around humanitarian efforts seen throughout the world—both at international and local levels. Service Learning is “a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development” (Jacoby, Service-Learning in Higher Education, 1996).
SU-320
Service to the Earth
This is a Service Learning course designed to foster an inter-disciplinary conversation about environmentalism at both the international and local levels. Service Learning is “a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development” (Jacoby, Service-Learning in Higher Education, 1996).
SU-490
Sustainability Capstone
This course is the 1-credit capstone to Carroll College’s Sustainability Minor. The purpose of this capstone is twofold: First, students will reflect on and synthesize all of their previous academic and experiential content related to the minor that they have engaged at the College. Second, this capstone intends to supply students with language and materials that they can carry forward into and will have a positive impact on their future lives and careers.
Where can the Minor help you Thrive?
Environmental science/consulting
Engineering, architecture, design
Business and finance
Marketing
Governmental planning and policy
Non-Profits, advocacy
Agriculture and natural resource management
Academics (e.g., college and university Sustainability Offices)
Career Competencies
St. Francis Sustainability minors will…
Develop skills in communication
Learn how to work well with others on a team
Foster ways to manage their time effectively
Cultivate a greater understanding of issues affecting the Helena community
Build their professional networks;
Attain knowledge of potential new careers.
