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Program Structure

Please follow the program structure outlined in the Academic Calendar from your FIRST academic year as a student at St. Thomas University. Find the Academic Calendars HERE. If you have any questions, please contact your academic advisor. 

Major in Sustainability and Environmental Studies

To major in Sustainability and Environmental Studies, students must successfully complete 36 credit hours, including:

27 credit hours  of required courses:

 SEST 1013: Understanding Environmental Problems
 SEST 1023: Environmental Praxis: Making Change Happen
 SEST 2023: Perspectives on Environment and Society
 SEST 2113: Ecological Literacy
 SEST 3013: Power, Politics, and the Planet OR  SEST 3043:Canadian Environmental Law
 SEST 3023: Environmental Praxis: From Theory to Activism
 SEST 3113: Researching Sustainability
 SEST3143: Theories of Sustainability and Change
 SEST 4003: Capstone Seminar

9 credit hours from the SEST electives listed below or cross-listed courses in other departments (see full list in the Academic Calendar):

2000-level (3 credit hours)
SEST 2043: Communicating Sustainability
SEST 2053: UN Sustainable Development Goals: Critical Perspectives
SEST 2123: Food and Society
SEST 2243: Health at Risk: Environmental Hazards
SEST 2263: Understanding Sustainability
SEST 2313: Energy and Society
SEST 2413: Climate Crisis: Society at a Crossroad

3000-4000 level (6 credit hours)
SEST 3053: Measuring What Matters: Sustainability Reporting
SEST 3133: Building Regenerative Food Systems
SEST 3243: Healthy Planet, Healthy People
SEST 3413: Climate Justice: Political Economy of Climate Change
SEST 3613: Pathways to Community Sustainability
 SEST 4013: Work-Study Project (Independent Study).

Minor in Sustainability and Environmental Studies

The Minor in Sustainability and Environmental Studies consists of 18 credit hours distributed as follows:

Required course: SEST- 1013. Understanding Environmental Problems (3 ch)

Three other SEST cours at the 1000-2000 level or higher (9 ch)

Two SEST courses at the 3000-4000 level (6 ch)

 

Honours in Sustainability and Environmental Studies

Students wishing to complete an Honours in Sustainability and Environmental Studies must maintain a GPA of 3.5 in  SEST courses. The Honours option consists of 54 credit hours of study:

  • All the required courses  for the Major (27 credit hours with 15 credit hours at the 3000-4000 level)

  • 18 credit hours of approved  SEST electives with 12 credit hours at the 3000-4000 level

  • 3 credit hours Honours Workshop from this list:
    INTR 4003: Interdisciplinary Honours Workshop OR approved substitute from another department (with permission)
    ECON 4533: Honours Research Project
    POLS 3913: Honours Thesis Proposal
    SOCI 4023: Honours Workshop
    HMRT 3603: Thesis Proposal

  • 6 credit hours Honors Thesis:  SEST 4016: Honours Thesis

Students completing an Honours in Sustainability and Environmental Studies must complete the Honours Workshop and a thesis proposal one year prior to graduation. The Honours program must be approved by the SEST Program Director and will be overseen by a committee consisting of a thesis supervisor and two other faculty members.