Academic Programs

The University of Notre Dame strives to provide leading sustainability training in and outside the classroom on the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Just Transformations to Sustainability is proud to support and develop educational programs for students that extend beyond the Notre Dame campus in South Bend. Undergraduate students can pursue a variety of sustainability-related majors and minors across the University's seven colleges and schools. The Notre Dame Graduate School and Notre Dame Law School offer professional degrees related to sustainability.

Undergraduate academic programs

Graduate and professional academic programs

For Undergraduates

Minors

Sustainability

Sustainability lies at the intersection of humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Rooted in the tenets of Laudato si', the Sustainability minor aims to train future professionals who will address the most pressing issues of climate change and sustainability. The program's focus is empowered by emphasizing each student's disciplinary expertise coupled with interdisciplinary collaboration.

Resiliency and Sustainability of Engineering Systems

The minor in Resiliency and Sustainability of Engineering Systems prepares students from all disciplines to recognize the impact of their design decisions on built and natural engineering systems and be adept at working closely with planners, decision makers, and the general public towards a sustainable and resilient global development.

Energy Studies

The Energy Studies minor prepares students to become successful leaders who understand the complexities of the world's energy challenges. Students draw from technical and non-technical coursework to better understand pathways to move our country and the world toward a more sustainable energy future.

Energy Engineering

The Energy Engineering minor, offered by Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, underscores the vital and contemporary importance of energy and highlights its significance to many engineering and non-engineering disciplines. By pursuing this minor, you will develop a strong background in topics related to energy and be better prepared for professional jobs or graduate studies in the field.

Environmental Earth Science

The Environmental Earth Science minor will provide you with an introduction to the disciplines of Earth and Environmental sciences. It provides a foundation in the physical sciences, with emphasis on processes that occur near or at the surface of Earth and the impact of human activity on such processes.

Majors

Architecture

The undergraduate Architecture program is a 5-year program rooted in the principles of traditional architecture and their application to contemporary issues and problems. Students can concentrate in Architectural Practice and Enterprise, Furniture Design, or Preservation and Restoration

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Environmental Earth Sciences

Civil Engineering focuses on the dynamic relationship between infrastructure and the Earth system, planning for sustainability and resiliency through their work designing, building, and renewing the structures and infrastructure that drive our modern world.

Environmental Engineering focuses on the interface between humans and the environment, particularly through water management, remediation, treatment, and regulations.

Environmental Earth Sciences provides training on the geologic processes of Earth systems, the environment, and planetary systems.

Environmental Science

Environmental Science provides training on the physical and biological sciences, particularly through a firm foundation in basic ecological principles.

Graduate Degree and Certificate Programs

GLOBES Certificate in Environment and Society

The GLOBES Certificate Program, open to Ph.D., Law, and terminal master's students, will provide interdisciplinary training in environment and society, particularly through research in environment, global health, and sustainability.

Energy and Environmental Law

Open to law students, this program of study focuses on environmental law and its relation to energy, natural resources, and land use law.

Sustainable Development Master of Global Affairs

A major within the Master's of Global Affairs, the Sustainable Development program develops professional skills to design, manage, and evaluate programs and policies that promote inclusive, sustainable solutions.

Ph.D. in Sustainable Development

Within the Keough School of Global Affairs, this STEM-designated doctoral program develops scholarship and policy-relevant research within the disciplines of climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental governance, and development policy.