Cornell Sustainability Courses
Cornell's commitment to sustainability in its education curriculum is evidenced by the broad course list below. These courses have been identified by instructors, college administrators, or by an independent review of course content. We encourage faculty, departments, schools, and colleges to bring other sustainability courses to our attention, by emailing atkinson@cornell.edu.
The following 734 courses are categorized as sustainability-focused and sustainability-related according to nationally recognized STARS v2.1 guidelines. Some of these courses are cross-listed in multiple departments and will appear more than once in the list.
Interested students should review course websites, contact the instructor, and discuss options with their advisor.
We update this list as a courtesy to the Cornell community, but we may not capture the most recent course changes. Please refer to the authoritative Courses of Study and check with the relevant department.
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All | Ecology | Economics + Business | Energy Environmental Justice | Policy | Sustainable Design |
| Dept | Course # | Title | F | Sp | Su | Credit | Level* | Pre Reqs | Faculty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARCH | 1611 / 5611 | Environmental Systems I: Site and Sustainability | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Staff | |
| ARCH | 2616 / 5616 | Environmental Systems II: Building Dynamics | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| ARCH | 2102 | Design IV | ~ | X | ~ | 6 | Related | ARCH 1501, ARCH 1502, and ARCH 2101, or permission of instructor | Staff |
| ARCH | 2614 / 5614 | Building Technology I: Materials and Methods | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| ARCH | 4601 | Ecological Literacy and Design | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | J. Elliott | |
| ARCH | 5113 | Core Design Studio III: Engaged Practices | X | ~ | ~ | 6 | Related | ARCH 5112, enrollment limited to M.Arch. students | Staff |
| ARCH | 3100 | Elective Design Studio | X | X | X | 6 | Related | Staff | |
| ARCH | 3311 / 6311 | Tales of Two Cities | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | ARCH 2301 and ARCH 3301, or permission of instructor | Staff |
| ARCH | 3301 | Architectural Analysis II: Architecture, the City, and Landscape | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | ARCH 2301 or permission of instructor | Staff |
| ARCH | 4101 | Design VII | X | X | ~ | 6 | Related | ARCH 3102 | Staff |
| ARCH | 5101 | Design IX | X | X | ~ | 6 | Related | ARCH 4102 | Staff |
| ARCH | 4102 | Design VIII | X | X | ~ | 6 | Related | ARCH 3102 | Staff |
| ARCH | 5402 | Architecture, Culture, and Society | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| ARCH | 4621 | Sustainable Architecture: The Science and Politics of Green Building | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | J. Ochshorn | |
| ARCH | 4619 | Special Topics in Environmental Systems and Conservation | X | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | ARCH 1611, ARCH 2613, and ARCH 2616 or permission of instructor | Staff |
| ARTH | Ecocriticism and Visual Culture | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | Rickard | ||
| BEE | 3299 | Sustainable Development | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | B. Richards | |
| BEE | 4750 / 5750 | Environmental Systems Analysis | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | BEE 2510 or BEE 2600 | L. Anderson, V. Srikrishnan |
| BEE | 4760 | Solid Waste Engineering | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | BEE 3500 or CEE 3510 | D. Haith |
| BEE | 4110 / 6110 | Hydrologic Engineering in a Changing Climate | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | CEE 3040 or ENGRD 2700; one hydrology course (BEE 3710) at the 2xxx level or higher or permission of | S. Steinschneider |
| CEE | 2550 / 5051 | AguaClara: Sustainable Water Supply Project | X | X | ~ | 1-3 | Focused | Permission | R. Richardson |
| CEE | 4410 / 6410 | Retaining Structures and Slopes | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | CEE 3410 | T.D. ORourke |
| CEE | 6200 | Water-Resources Systems Engineering | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | CEE 3230 and CEE 5930, or BEE 4750 | P.M. Reed |
| CEE | 4750 / 6750 | Concrete Materials and Construction | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | K. Hover | |
| CEE | 6020 | Seminar - Water Resources and Environmental Engineering | X | ~ | ~ | 1 | Focused | Staff | |
| CEE | 7020 | Environmental and Water Resources Systems Analysis Research | X | X | ~ | 1-6 | Focused | permission | Staff |
| CEE | 7050 | Research in Environmental Engineering | X | X | ~ | 1-6 | Related | Staff | |
| CEE | 7073 | Civil and Environmental Engineering Materials Project | ~ | ~ | ~ | 1-3 | Related | Staff | |
| CEE | 1165 | Climate Change and You, the Engineer | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | Freshman and Sophomores | E.A. Cowen |
| CEE | 4565 / 6565 | Waste Water Processes and Resources Recovery | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | BEE 2510, CEE 3510 | A. Gu |
| CHEME | 4610 | Concepts of Chemical Engineering Product Design and Lean Manufacturing | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | CHEME 3230, CHEME 3240, CHEME 3320, CHEME 3900 or equivalent | A. Woltornist |
| CHEME | 4630 | Practice of Chemical Engineering Product Design | ~ | X | ~ | 5 | Related | CHEME 4320 | T. Hanrath, R. Yang |
| CHEME | 6440 | Aerosols and Colloids | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | D.L. Koch | |
| CHEME | 6664 | Hydrokinetic and Aerodynamic Energy Module | X | ~ | ~ | 1 | Focused | Corequisite: CHEME 6660 | R. Barthelmie |
| CHEME | 6672 | Electric Power Systems Module | X | ~ | ~ | 1 | Related | Corequisite: CHEME 6660 | L. Anderson, E. Bitar, Staff |
| COGST | 1111 | Making a Difference by Design | X | ~ | X | 3 | Related | H. Kao | |
| CRP | 1101 | The Global City | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | V. Beard | |
| CRP | 3840 / 5840 | Green Cities | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | S. Schmidt | |
| CRP | 3072 / 5072 | Land Use, Environmental Planning, and Urban Design Workshop | X | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 4770 / 6770 | Seminar on Issues in African Development | X | X | ~ | 2 | Focused | N. Assie-Lumumba | |
| CRP | 1100 | The American City | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | T. Campanella | |
| CRP | 5640 | Building Materials Conservation | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | J. Chusid | |
| CRP | 2000 | The Promise and Pitfalls of Contemporary Planning | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | CRP 1100 | J. Minner |
| CRP | 4080 | Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) | X | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 5190 | Urban Theory | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | N. Kudva | |
| CRP | 3850 | Special Topics in Planning | X | X | ~ | 1-4 | Spec | Staff | |
| CRP | 6890 | Special Topics in Environmental Planning | X | X | ~ | 1-4 | Spec | Staff | |
| CRP | 5071 | City and Regional Planning Workshop | X | X | ~ | 4 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 5250 | Introductory Methods of Planning Analysis | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | introductory statistics and principle of economic analysis at the level of ECON 1110 | J. Carruthers |
| CRP | 5560 | Creating the Build Environment | X | ~ | ~ | 1.5 | Focused | S. Charles | |
| CRP | 3860 / 6860 | Planning for Sustainable Transportation | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | N. Klein | |
| CRP | 3900 / 7850 | City and Regional Futures: Planning Practice, Policy and Design | X | X | ~ | 1 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 3853 / 6690 | Special Topics in Land Use and Environment | X | X | ~ | 1-4 | Spec | Staff | |
| CRP | 5530 | Land Use and Spatial Planning Methods | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Working knowledge of GIS is preferred | J. Minner |
| CRP | 5630 | Problems in Contemporary Preservation Practice | ~ | X | ~ | 1-4 | Related | Staff | |
| CRP | 5820 | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | T. Campanella | ||
| DEA | 3590 / 6500 | Problem-Seeking through Programming | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| DEA | 3030 | Materials for Design and Sustainability | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | DEA 1110 and DEA 1150 | R. Gilmore |
| DEA | 2201 | Magnifying Small Spaces Studio | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | DEA 1101 and DEA 1150 | L. Beaman |
| DEA | 2020 | Introduction to Sustainable Design | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | L. Beaman | |
| DEA | 4401 | Adaptive Reuse Studio: Recycling the Built Environment | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Focused | two DEA studio courses at 2000 and 3000 level, DEA 3050 | R. Gilmore |
| DEA | 6200 | Studies in Human-Environment Relations | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | DEA graduate students | J. Loebach |
| DEA | 3500 / 6520 | The Ambient Environment | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | DEA 1500 | S. Kalantari |
| DEA | 2510 | History of Design Futures | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | R. Militello | |
| DEA | 3770 | Enabling Design: The Intersection of Age, Ability, and Design | X | ~ | ~ | 1 | Related | E. Greenhouse | |
| DEA | 2040 | High Performance Buildings | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | Y. Hua | |
| DEA | 2422 | Making Green: Sustainable Product Design Studio | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Focused | DEA 1101 or equivalent, minimum of one course on sustainability | J. Elliott |
| DEA | 2550 | Design Strategy and Management | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | Staff | |
| DEA | 2700 | Healthy Places: Design, Planning and Public Health | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | N. Wells | |
| DEA | 6610 | Environments and Health | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | N. Wells | |
| ECE | 5555 | Stochastic Systems: Estimation and Control | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | ECE 3100 | E. Bitar |
| ENVS | 4960 | Internship in Environment and Sustainability | X | X | X | 1-3 | Focused | Staff | |
| FSAD | 4021 | Textile and Apparel Production in India | X | ~ | ~ | 2 | Related | permission | D. Green |
| FSAD | 3250 | Color and Surface Design of Textiles | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | FSAD 1140 and FSAD 1350 | M. Conroy |
| FSAD | 4440 | Global Fashion Management | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Related | FSAD 1350 or FSAD 2310, and economics course | T. Lewis |
| INFO | 2770 | Excursions in Computational Sustainability | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | basic knowledge of probability theory and calculus | C. Gomes |
| LA | 7010 | Urban Design and Planning | X | ~ | ~ | 5 | Related | graduate standing | Staff |
| LA | 4070 / 6070 | Emerging Dimensions in Urban Ecology and Sustainable Practices | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | J. Cerra | |
| LA | 3170 / 5170 | Design and Environmental Systems | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Focused | J. Cerra | |
| LA | 4020 | Capstone Community Design Studio | ~ | X | ~ | 5 | Focused | Staff | |
| LA | 3160 / 6160 | Site Engineering | X | ~ | ~ | 5 | Focused | permission | V. Aymer |
| LA | 6020 | Integrating Theory and Practice II | ~ | X | ~ | 5 | Related | graduate standing | Staff |
| LA | 3010 | Integrating Theory and Practice I | X | ~ | ~ | 5 | Related | Staff | |
| LA | 1410 | Grounding in Landscape Architecture | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Staff | |
| LA | 4010 | Urban Design Studio | X | ~ | ~ | 5 | Related | Staff | |
| LA | 5010 | Composition and Theory I | X | ~ | ~ | 5 | Related | Staff | |
| LA | 6900 | Methods of Landscape Architectural Inquiry | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | graduate standing | M. Goula |
| LA | 6010 | Integrating Theory and Practice I | X | ~ | ~ | 5 | Related | graduate standing | Staff |
| LA | 2020 | Medium of the Landscape II | ~ | X | ~ | 5 | Related | Staff | |
| LA | 5020 | Composition and Theory II | ~ | X | ~ | 5 | Related | Staff | |
| MATH | 3620 | Dynamic Models in Biology | ~ | X | ~ | 4 | Related | 2 majors-level biology courses and completion of math requirements for biological sciences major | S. Ellner |
| NTRES | 2470 | Green Cities: Creating the Living City | ~ | ~ | X | 3 | Focused | A. Kudryavtsev | |
| NTRES | 4520 | Land Use and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Nilgiris | ~ | X | ~ | 3 | Focused | CRP 3750, enrollment limited to students admitted to the Nilgiris Fields Learning Center study abroa | S. Wolf |
| PADM | 5320 | Public Systems Modeling | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | Enrollment limited to MPA Students. Others by permission of instructor. | P. Loucks |
| PLHRT | 4910 / 4920 | Creating the Urban Eden: Woody Plant Selection, Design, and Landscape Establishment | X | ~ | ~ | 8 | Related | enrollment limited to: Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture majors | N. Bassuk |
| PSYCH | 1500 | Introduction to Environmental Psychology | X | ~ | X | 3 | Related | G. Evans | |
| SOC | 6440 | Urban Structure and Process | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | enrollment limited to sociology graduate students only | E. York Cornwell |
| SYSEN | 5100 | Model Based Systems Engineering | X | ~ | ~ | 4 | Related | enrollment in group-based project with strong system design component approved by course instructor. | D. Schneider |
| SYSEN | 5700 | Special Topics in Systems Engineering | X | X | ~ | 1-6 | Spec | Staff | |
| SYSEN | 6410 | Multiobjective Systems Engineering Under Uncertainty | X | ~ | ~ | 3 | Related | students with graduate standing and programming experience, CS 4210 or ENGRD 3200, ORIE 3310, CEE 5 | P.M. Reed |