Register Now for Fall 2020 SUST Classes @RooseveltU

Hey, Roosevelt students! This is your friendly neighborhood Sustainability Studies program, letting you know that advising and registration are ongoing for the Fall 2020 semester here at RU. If you haven’t finished setting up your fall schedule, wait no longer! Sign up now to get the classes you want. Spaces are still available in most of our SUST courses, which this fall are being offered remotely or online. (Not sure what the difference is? Check the “Remote or Online” section below.)

How To Register

If you’re a current RU student, (1) look over the Fall 2020 schedule using this Coursefinder, (2) check your remaining course requirements in Degree Works, and (3) email your assigned academic advisor with your planned schedule and any questions you have about your upcoming classes. Your advisor (or any of the great folks in our Advising Center) will provide you with an RU Access registration code so you can register.

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Fall 2020:

SUST 101 Humans & Nature (remote, MW 11am-12:15pm, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 210 Sustainable Future (remote, T 2-4:30pm, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 220 Water (remote, M 2-4:30pm, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 230 Food (online, 10/26-12/19, Prof. Gerberich)
SUST 240 Waste (remote, W 2-4:30pm, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 310 Energy & Climate Change (online, 8/31-12/19, Prof. Jones)
SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, & Planning (online, 8/31-12/19, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 330 Biodiversity (online, 8/31-12/19, STAFF)
SUST 350 Service & Sustainability (online, 8/26-12/14, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 390 Environmental Crime (remote, MW 9:30-10:45am, Prof. Green)

Summer is a great time to get signed up for classes, so be sure to reach out to your advisor soon! And for additional useful info, see this Advising Resources page on Prof. Mike Bryson’s faculty website as well as this Registration page on the RU website.

Featured Course: SUST 240 Waste

Taught by Prof. Graham Pickren, SUST 240 Waste is about way more than just recycling. This popular and transformative course examines sustainability dilemmas involving waste reduction and management, from the personal level of what we do in our own homes to larger-scale technologies and policies. Students investigate issues of waste policy and management while assessing the economic, political, environmental, and social justice impacts of waste stream practices. In past semesters, SUST 240 students have conducted campus waste audits, advocated for campus-wide composting, and published their research on waste and environmental justice issues in their local communities. Email Prof. Pickren (gpickren@roosevelt.edu) for more information.

Waste and Environmental Justice: RU students and faculty listen to local activist Tom Shepherd describe the history of landfills while on a recycling, waste, and pollution tour on Chicago’s SE Side for SUST 240 Waste (M. Bryson, Oct 2014)

All Fall 2020 SOC and SUST courses offered remotely or online

As part of RU’s Covid-19 response, the university has reduced its number of regular face-to-face (F2F) courses in order to minimize the density of people on campus at any one time and thus maintain safe physical distance in our buildings. To do our part in this effort, all courses in the Department of Sociology & Sustainability this fall are offered either remotely or online, rather than F2F. So what’s the difference between the two?

• Online courses are web-based, run on Blackboard and are “asynchronous” (meaning there are no set meeting days or times). Asynchronous learning occurs through Blackboard without real-time interaction and may include discussion boards, readings, videos, email exchanges or assignments. As in all classes, there are deadlines for assignments.
• Remote courses are also web-based and run on Blackboard and Zoom. A remote course has both synchronous and asynchronous features. “Synchronous” learning is online or distance education that happens in real time, such as chat rooms and Zoom conferences. Synchronous activities in these classes, when scheduled, will always take place during the scheduled course day and time (e.g., MW 11am-12:15pm). Note the days/times listed for the remote SUST courses above. Asynchronous learning occurs through online channels without real-time interaction, such as discussion boards, readings, videos, assignments and email. There may not be Zoom meetings on every scheduled date.  Finally, Zoom conferences may be recorded for later viewing.

Questions? Email Prof. Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu) for more information.