undergraduate bulletin - LaGrange College

THE OIKOS PROGRAM
A MINOR PROGRAM IN SUSTAINABILITY
INTRODUCTION
The Oikos Program is an interdisciplinary minor program on the theme of sustainability. The
program is sponsored by the departments of Biology, Political Science, Religion and Philosophy,
and Sociology and Anthropology. Oikos is the Greek word for ―house.‖ It is the root word for
both ―ecology‖ and ―economics,‖ and thus points to the dual aspects of ecological and social and
responsibility that are central to the sustainability theme. The uniting theme across disciplines is
how we might contribute to a just, sustainable, and peaceful future.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Using the expertise unique to each academic discipline, students explore the root causes of
injustice, ecological degradation, and social conflict.
Students explore creative responses to these realities and imagine possibilities for future social
policy.
Students from various disciplines form a coherent learning community around a common
theme.
Oikos students engage in genuine servant leadership: i.e., they work to understand the
systemic roots of social problems and engage in transformation of the world in which they
live.
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Mastery of the Oikos curriculum is demonstrated by the following:
Completion of each course with a grade of C- or better and a GPA of 2.0 or better in the
minor.
Successful completion and defense of a senior research project that explores in depth a
sustainability theme and relates that theme to the students major field of study. This project
will be evaluated by the student‘s major advisor and the Oikos director. (See discussion on
OIKS 4000 below.)
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The advisor for the program is the Oikos Program Director. The Oikos minor requires successful
completion of the five (5) courses described below (16 semester hours in total) with a grade of
C- or better in each course and a GPA of 2.0 or better in the minor.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS (OIKS AND OTHERS)
SOCI 1320 Oikos Seminar on Social Justice. (3)
An introduction to issues of diversity and social justice in the United States. The course provides
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