COF Minor requirements and course selection

Requirements:
Total Credits: 18

Distribution:
Complete your requirements in studio, liberal arts, and art history electives while you focus on sustainability education and practice by completing 18 credits of classes in any department, generally six 3-credit courses.
Note: The courses you take for the Minor in Sustainability also fulfill the requirements for your LA/HART courses and studio electives.

CORE COURSES 4-6 credits:
ENVI 201 Environmental Forum, offered every spring, 2 credits
The minor is anchored in the
Environmental Forum (ENVI 201), which students take once during their program. This course provides a common experience for all students electing the COF Minor in Sustainability. The Environmental Forum is a required, two credit course that focuses on topics related to sustainability and the environment, encourages dialog between students and invited expert speakers, and provides an integrative thread to the minor. This course has a service-learning component that connects sustainability to the community. For example, students have worked with a variety of organizations ranging from NGOs, community groups, businesses, and federally mandated oversight groups. The Environmental Forum course has a different focus each time it is taught. It can be taken twice to fulfill the core requirements for the Sustainability Minor.
Two credits

HART314 Contemporary Art and Climate Change, offered every fall, 3 credits
In this course you will study contemporary artists working with the conditions of social and cultural experience caused by climate change and reading essays by historians, theorists, and scientists studying the causes and implications of the climate crisis. You will be expected to reflect upon the impact of climate change on your studies and practice as an undergraduate art history major, studio artist, or designer. Prereq: HART 100 or permission of the instructor.

ELECTIVE COURSES (12-14 credits)
Four to five elective courses
from any area of the college. Students will select these courses in consultation with their advisor to form a cohesive and thematic area of study. Twelve credits for MassArt students.

We recommend you take both studios and Liberal Arts and History of Art courses.  Some options for courses that you can take are:

  • Two or three courses in Liberal Arts or History of Art , such as:
      • Sustainability Science (LAMS)
      • Biomimicry (LMS)
      • Man vs. Wild, (LALS)
  • Two studio courses, such as: 
      • TIME: Art and Ecology (SFDN)
      • Objects that Change Lives (CRMX)
      • Sustainable Fashion (FASH)
      • Material Color (2D Fibers)

Other possibilities for credit towards the Minor:

  • Internships in your field with a sustainability practitioner
  • Travel courses, such as: India Now: Exploring Sustainable Crafts
  • Directed Study with a MassArt faculty member
  • COF courses at Simmons, Emmanuel, Wentworth, Mass College of Pharmacy
     

Self Service:
In Self-Service, use the tag “Sustainability Content” to find courses you can apply to the Minor in Sustainability, or take on your own.
Faculty: if you think your course has significant sustainability content and is not tagged in Self-Service, please notify the Director of the Sustainability Minor Jane D. Marsching.

Register:
You need to register for the minor using this form.  There is no deadline for registration.

Program Evaluation:
Once you register, the Minor will appear at the end of your Program Evaluation on Self Service.  There you can see how many courses you need to take and which you have taken.

Prior years:
If you have taken course in prior years at MassArt that you want to apply to the minor credit requirements, you can do that in consultation with the Director of the Sustainability Minor Jane D. Marsching or Jesseca Petriello in ARC (jpetriello@massart.edu)