Creating an Interdisciplinary Introduction to Sustainability Studies Course

The general consensus among institutions of higher education is that for a course in Sustainability Studies to be successful it must treat the subject in a transdisciplinary manner.The authors (an Engineer, Ecologist, and Anthropologist) have collaborated to create and deliver a course titled "Introduction to Sustainability Studies."It will become the introductory course in the minor in sustainability studies at Roger Williams University.The students in the course were from many different majors (for example: Criminal Justice, Architecture, Biology, although no Engineering majors were enrolled), and ranged from freshman to seniors.The content of the paper will describe the genesis of the course and the manner in which it was delivered in a transdisciplinary way to such a diverse audience.It will also describe the engineering content, and the attempts made to deliver it to a non-engineering audience.Finally, some lessons learned from teaching this course will be offered that might be of use to others attempting such a course.