Category: Classes

Register for Spring/Summer 2019 Classes, & Good Luck with Finals!

As we enter finals week this F18 semester, don’t nelgect your planning for next year’s classes! Advising and registration are ongoing for the Spring & Summer 2019 semesters here at @RooseveltU — and there are still seats left in most of our SUST classes. The Sustainability Studies program is once again offering a wide range of on-campus and online courses for the next two exciting semesters of learning, research, and campus outreach projects!

Students, please look over the Spring 2019 schedule using this coursefinder, check your remaining course requirements, and email or call your assigned academic advisor with your planned schedule and any questions you have about your upcoming classes. Your advisor will help you craft your schedule and provide you with an RU Access registration code so you can register.

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Spring 2018:

SUST 101 Humans & Nature (MW 11am-12:15pm, Bryson)* — Waitlisted
SUST 210 Sustainable Future (T 2-4:30pm, Hoffman)◊
SUST 210 Sustainable Future (8-week online, 1/22-3/18, STAFF)§
SUST 220 Water (8-week online, 3/19-5/13, Jones)§
SUST 230 Food (M 2-4:30pm, Gerberich)◊
SUST 240 Waste (8-week online, 3/19-5/13, Gerberich)§
SUST 250 The Sustainable University (W 2-4:30pm, Bryson)◊
SUST 330 Biodiversity (8-week online, 1/22-3/18, Hoffman)§
SUST 340 Policy, Law, & Ethics (16-week online, Bryson)
SUST 395 Sustainability Studies Internship (by arrangement, Bryson)

* Ideas course in new CORE general education curriculum, effective Fall 2018; recommended for SUST majors and minors!
§ 8-week accelerated online courses; these work great taken back-to-back.
◊ Experiential Learning (EXL) designated courses: satisfy EXL requirement in CORE.

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Summer 2019:

SUST 361 Urban Ecology (5 Saturdays, 7/8-8/5, Pickren)◊ — NEW Course
SUST 390 Rooftop Garden (on-campus + online, 5/28-8/5, STAFF)◊

◊ Experiential Learning (EXL) designated courses: satisfy EXL requirement in CORE.

I know November is a super busy time of the academic year, but be sure to make a little time to get in touch with your advisor to sign up for the classes you need! For additional useful info, see this Advising Resources page here on my faculty website.

Good luck with your final exams, papers, and projects!

Welcome to the Fall 2018 Semester @RooseveltU

Key text for SUST 350 this fall

As we wrap up Week 1 of the Fall 2018 semester, I want to extend a welcome to new students in the sociology, sustainability studies, and community development & action programs here @RooseveltU, as well as a “welcome back” to our continuing students. It was great meeting my students in SUST 240 Waste (Wed 2-4:30pm in WB 1215) and SUST 350 Service & Sustainability (Tues 12-13pm @EdenPlace Nature Center and online), and I’m looking forward to a great semester of learning together!

I also want to recognize some of our student leaders this 2018-19 year in our Department of Sociology, Sustainability, & Community Development:

  • Michelle Giles, senior SUST major, is President of the student organization RU Green and one of our Rooftop Garden stewards
  • Matt Harlovic, another senior SUST major, is Vice President of RU Green and chief steward of our Rooftop Garden as part of his SUST 395 Internship work this fall
  • Brenda Hershey and Shay Odimayo, both graduate students in the MACDA program, are the Graduate Assistants for our department in the College of Arts & Sciences

Students, please check back here to get in touch, find my office hours, or tap into my class/writing/research resources. I also recommend subscribing to the sustainability blogs and social media listed on the right, so you can stay up to date on all things sustainable here at Roosevelt. My SUST 240 and 350 classes will be contributing posts to the SUST at RU, RU Green Campus, and Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future blogs this semester.

Finally, I look forward to seeing you at the various College of Arts & Sciences events planned for the fall, as well as the landmark American Dream Reconsidered Conference here at RU the week of September 10-14. That will be an exciting week, capped off by our annual Day of Service on Friday 9/14! SUST students, faculty, and alumni will be running a volunteer workday on our 5th-floor Rooftop Garden.

 

Exploring Urban Nature in Chicago (May 2018)

Just finished up five days of exploring the urban and suburban environment of the Chicago region with my intrepid squad of @RooseveltU students in our one-week-intensive Sustainability Studies 360 course, Writing Urban Nature. Here they are at the North Park Village Nature Center on Chicago’s NW Side, one of the many sites we visited this week in Chicago, Schaumburg, and Will County.

From Chicago’s lakefront to its North Side parklands and trails; from South Branch of the Chicago River to the wetlands and woodlands of the NW suburbs; from heritage farms to prairie restoration sites — we visited a wide diversity of places in which to analyze the ever-shifting relations between the natural and built environments in this place that has come to be called “Chicago Wilderness.”

Pictured from L to R here are Austyn (oboe major), Tom (psychology), Alicia (sustainability studies), Grace (wildlife biology), and Denise (biology). Notably, Grace joined our group as a student-at-large from Western State CO University, enrolling in this environmental humanities class via the Resilience Studies Consortium of US colleges and universities. The students now are working on creative non-fiction essays as part of our Writing Urban Nature online project, est. 2015.

SUST 360 Writing Urban Nature: One-Week Experiential Learning Course this May

Registration Information

  • SUST 360-01 Writing Urban Nature — CRN 31243 / Pre-req: ENG 102 with a grade of C- or better

Meets May 21-25 from 9:30am to 5pm at RU’s Chicago Campus. Required pre-session on May 9 from 4-6pm, room TBA — videoconferencing also will be provided through Zoom for the pre-session. Some additional work online required. Final writing assignment due June 1st.

See detailed course preview here!

Register for Summer & Fall 2018 Classes Now @RooseveltU

Advising and registration are underway for the Summer and Fall 2018 semesters at Roosevelt. Sign up now to get the classes you want! Spaces are still available in our SUST courses, and we’ve got many hands-on learning opportunities for both summer and fall.

RU students: (1) look over the Summer and Fall 2018 schedules using this Coursefinder, (2) check your remaining course requirements in Degree Works, and (3) email or call your assigned academic advisor with your planned schedule and any questions you have about your upcoming classes. Your advisor will provide you with an RU Access registration code so you can register. Click on selected titles below for detailed course previews!

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Summer 2018:

SUST 210 Sustainable Future (online, May 29 – July 25, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 360 Writing Urban Nature (Chicago, one-week intensive, May 22-26, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 390 Rooftop Garden (Chicago, May 29 – July 25, Prof. Gerberich)

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Fall 2018:

SUST 210 Sustainable Future (M, 2-4:30pm, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 210 Sustainable Future (online, 8/27-10/20, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 220 Water (T, 2-4:30pm, Staff)
SUST 230 Food (online, 10/22-12/15, Staff)
SUST 240 Waste (W, 2-4:30pm, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 310 Energy & Climate Change (online, 8/27-12/15, Staff)
SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, & Planning (Th, 2-4:30pm, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 330 Biodiversity (Field Museum, Th 9am-1pm, Prof. Kerbis)
SUST 350 Service & Sustainability (Eden Place Farm, T 12-3pm, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 350 Service & Sustainability (online, 8/27-12/15, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 390 Intro to GIS (M 11-11:50am & W, 11am-1pm, Prof. Pickren)

Click on the links above for detailed course previews!

March is a super busy time of the academic year, but don’t neglect getting in touch with your advisor. It’s the best time to get signed up for classes. For additional useful info, see this Advising Resources page on my faculty site as well as this Registration page on the RU website.

Register Now for Spring/Summer 2018 Classes @RooseveltU

Here’s a cheerful autumnal thought: advising and registration are now ongoing (since Nov 2nd) for the Spring & Summer 2018 semesters here at @RooseveltU. The Sustainability Studies program is offering a wide range of courses and we’re planning two exciting semesters of learning, research, and campus outreach projects!

Undergraduate students: please look over the Spring 2018 schedule using this coursefinder, check your remaining course requirements, and email or call your assigned academic advisor with your planned schedule and any questions you have about your upcoming classes. Your advisor will help you craft your schedule and provide you with an RU Access registration code so you can register.

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Spring 2018:

ACP 110 Primary Texts (MW 11am-12:15pm, Bryson)*
SUST 210 Sustainable Future (TTh 11am-12:15pm, Pickren)
SUST 220 Water (12-week online, 1/29-4/27, Jones)
SUST 230 Food (W 6-8:30pm, Gerberich)
SUST 240 Waste (8-week online, 3/12-5/14, Gerberich)§
SUST/ACP 250 The Sustainable University (M 2-4:30pm, Bryson)◊
SUST 310 Energy & Climate Change (T 2-4:30pm, Pickren)
SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, & Planning (12-week online, 1/29-4/27, Pickren)
SUST 330 Biodiversity (8-week online, 1/16-3/9, Hoffman)§
SUST 340 Policy, Law, & Ethics (Th 2-4:30pm, Hoffman)
SUST 395 Sustainability Studies Internship (by arrangement)

* First Year Seminars are open to new full-time undergrads with 12 or fewer hours in transfer credit.
§ These 8-week accelerated online courses are open to all students and synced with the Flex-Track adult degree calendar. They may be taken back-to-back.
◊ Students may register for either ACP 250 (Grounds for Change credit) or SUST 250 (Sustainability Studies credit).

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Summer 2018:

SUST 210 Sustainable Future (8-week online, 5/29-7/25, Pickren)
SUST 360 Writing Urban Nature (1-week intensive, 5/21-25, Bryson)
SUST 390 Special Topics: Rooftop Garden (on-campus + online, 5/29-7/25, Gerberich)

November is a super busy time of the academic year, but be sure to make a little time to get in touch with your advisor to sign up for the classes you need! My advisees should be sure to check this Advising Resources page here on my faculty website.

Before you email me:

  • Check your remaining course requirements for your designated major, minor, etc. in Degree Works (or, if you started prior to Fall 2015, on your signed curriculum checksheet).
  • Review the online course schedule for class availability and draft a schedule that will work for you.
  • Make sure you don’t have any holds on your registration by checking RU Access.
  • Check your RU student email for important announcements from me or the university.

Include in your email:

  • Your name, student ID, declared major, and phone number
  • The classes you wish to take in the upcoming semester, including dept, course number, and title
  • Any questions or concerns you have

Wasted Water and Environmental Injustice in Chicago

This fall semester, students in my SUST 220 Water class have been studying our American obsession with bottled water, which comes at the expense of (among other things) proper investment in and maintenance of public drinking water infrastructure. While taxpayer-funded repairs to underground water infrastructure are expensive and politically unpopular, the bottled water industry continues to thrive and grow: the International Bottled Water Association reported industry wholesale revenues of more than $14.2 billion in 2015 alone.

The Chicago Region is blessed with one of the best drinking water sources in the world: Lake Michigan, which supplies water to 163 Chicago-area communities.

Water intake crib off Chicago’s shoreline (photo: A. Perez, Chgo Tribune)

But as this important investigative report published online in the Chicago Tribune reveals, billions of gallons of treated drinking water are wasted each year, while communities pay millions of $ for water that never reaches their taps. Meanwhile, wide disparities in drinking water rates, combined with differential amounts of waste via leaks, disproportionately saddle poor and minority communities with extra costs they cannot afford.

Thus does neglected urban infrastructure meet environmental injustice in 21st century America, here along the southern rim of Lake Michigan.

Sources:

Patrick M. O’Connell, Cecilia Reyes, Ted Gregory and Angela Caputo. (25 Oct 2017). Billions Lost, Millions Wasted: Why Chicago-area Residents Pay Millions for Water that Never Reachers Their Taps. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from
http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/news/lake-michigan-drinking-water-rates/loss.html.

——. (25 Oct 2017). Same Lake, Unequal Rates: Why Our Water Rates Are Surging — and Why Black and Poor Suburbs Pay More. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/news/lake-michigan-drinking-water-rates/index.html.

 

Major Madness: Student Event @RooseveltU on Thursday, Oct. 19th, 1-3pm

I’ll be attending this upcoming “Major Madness” event (share the pdf of the above poster) as an ACP 101 first year seminar faculty member and as department chair of sociology and sustainability studies. All students are welcome (and my 101 students are required) to attend this event and learn about our various undergrad majors here at Roosevelt. Free food? That’s a nice bonus!

 

SUST 350 Service & Sustainability Class Update

This fall 2017 semester I am teaching two linked sections of SUST 350 Service & Sustainability. The Chicago-based section (01) will meet in AUD 825 the first week of class (Tues 8/29) at 10am and subsequently off-campus at Eden Place Nature Center on Chicago’s South Side (4417 S. Stewart in the Fuller Park neighborhood). Starting week 2, we will convene at 9:30am in the WB Lobby and walk to the Red Line’s Harrison Stop. Eden Place is a half-mile walk from the 47th Street stop. Street parking is also readily available at the Nature Center for anyone traveling by car.

The online section (98) officially starts on 11 Sept 2017. However, students in that section are encouraged to participate in the 8/29 introductory session via Zoom video-conference. The session will also be recorded and archived on the course Bb site for the reference of students who have a scheduling conflict for 8/29.

Login information for the 350 Zoom session is as follows:

  • Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://roosevelt.zoom.us/j/903113673
  • Or iPhone one-tap (US Toll): +14086380968,,903113673# or +16468769923,,903113673#
  • Or Telephone: +1 877 369 0926 (US Toll Free) +1 877 853 5247 (US Toll Free)
  • Meeting ID: 903 113 673

For more information on this unique course, see this detailed preview page.

With Michael Howard (2nd from left), his son Troy Howard (far right), and RU students at Eden Place Nature Center, 1 Dec 2015

Finals Week Assignment: Get Registered for Summer & Fall Classes @RooseveltU!

Danette Mike Graham 2015FallAs the spring semester’s regular classes end on Monday and we begin Finals Week at Roosevelt, it’s a great time to take a few minutes’ break from studying and writing papers to get registered for summer and fall classes!

Advising and registration are ongoing this week, so if you’re an @RooseveltU student, (1) look over the Summer and Fall 2017 schedules using this coursefinder, (2) check your remaining course requirements, and (3) email or call your assigned academic advisor with your planned schedule and any questions you have about your upcoming classes.

Your advisor will provide you with an RU Access registration code so you can register. Click on selected titles below for detailed course previews!

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Summer 2017:

SUST 210 Sustainable Future (online, May 30 – Aug 8, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 390 Writing Urban Nature (Chicago, one-week intensive, May 22-26, Prof. Bryson) — pre-session on May 10 from 4-6pm, WB 1215 and video-conference

Sustainability Studies courses offered in Fall 2017:

ACP 101 Our Sustainable Future (MW, 11am-12:15pm, Prof. Bryson)*
SUST 210 Sustainable Future (T, 2-4:30pm, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 210 Sustainable Future (online, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 220 Water (M, 2-4:30pm, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 230 Food (online, 9/12-12/10)
SUST 240 Waste (W, 2-4:30pm, Prof. Pickren)
SUST 310 Energy & Climate Change (online)
SUST 330 Biodiversity (Field Museum, Th 9am-1pm, Prof. Kerbis)
SUST 350 Service & Sustainability (Eden Place Farm, T 10am-1pm, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 350 Service & Sustainability (online, Prof. Bryson)
SUST 390 Environmental Crime (MW, 12:30-1:45pm, Prof. Green)

* First Year Seminars are open to new full-time undergrads with 12 or fewer hours in transfer credit.

Yes, finals week is a super busy time of the academic year — but don’t neglect getting in touch with your advisor! It’s the best time to get signed up for classes. And for additional useful info, see this Advising Resources page on Prof. Mike Bryson’s faculty website.

Hauling straw in the Eden Place Nature Center’s pickup truck during a SUST 350 Service workday on Chicago’s South Side, Fall 2014 (photo: C. Dennis)