Sustainability is about choices made within specific environmental, economic, social, and cultural contexts. Sustainability scholarship involves creating, integrating and harnessing new knowledge to protect and improve social and natural systems and their interactions. The Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS) is an interdisciplinary department that addresses contemporary issues of sustainability in agriculture, recreation, natural resources, and the environment. The Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS) was formerly called the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies (CARRS).
Consistent with its mission to assist in the development of sustainable communities, the department offers three undergraduate majors linked by a common core in community sustainability. These three majors - Environmental Studies and Sustainability (ESS); Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SPRT); and Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education (AFNRE) – share a set of courses centered on community sustainability. The CSUS graduate program offers two graduate majors: Community Sustainability (MS and PhD) and Sustainable Tourism and Protected Areas Management (MS and PhD). In both undergraduate and graduate programs, CSUS embraces international as well as domestic applications, engagement, and opportunities.
Undergraduate
CSUS undergraduate programs are designed to educate scholars and practitioners who are able to create, integrate and harness new knowledge to protect and improve both social and natural systems. We offer a core curriculum in community sustainability that supports three majors: Environmental Studies and Sustainability (ESS), Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SPRT), and Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education (AFNRE).
More information about Undergraduate Programs
News
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MSU welcomes East African fellows to participate in State Department program
Published on May 25, 2018
Michigan State University is happy to welcome 11 fellows from East Africa to East Lansing for the month of May to participate in the United States Department of State Professional Fellows Program.
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Faculty gift honors family commitment to higher education
Published on May 14, 2018
John Kerr and Kimberly Chung, faculty members in the Department of Community Sustainability, have given a $375,000 gift to create a teaching assistantship named in honor of John's parents, Malcolm and Ann Kerr.
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First-generation college Latina Alondra Alvizo named CANR Outstanding Student Leader
Published on April 24, 2018
Faculty members, academic advisers and club advisers nominated 10 seniors for the 2018 College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) Outstanding Student Leader Award.
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Jordan named chair of Department of Community Sustainability
Published on March 8, 2018
Dr. Rebecca Jordan has been named chair of the Department of Community Sustainability in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University.
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Flint water crisis: Hearing the community's concerns
Published on February 22, 2018
Steven Gray, an assistant professor in the MSU Department of Community Sustainability, conducted a series of sessions in which Flint residents could share their concerns and ideas for potential solutions.
Graduate
CSUS offers two graduate degree programs: one in Community Sustainability (CSUS) and the other in Sustainable Tourism and Protected Areas Management (STPAM). Both programs offer Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. CSUS is for students who want an advanced degree related to community sustainability and are interested in interdisciplinary research. STPAM is for students who want an advanced degree related to parks, recreation and tourism with an emphasis on sustainability.
More information about Graduate Programs