We’ve had our fun with the word “sustainability” over the months (uh, years), but I’ve recently come to suspect that it’s much more than just a blue-state buzz word.  In many ways, it’s a new (or REnewed way) of thinking about all aspects of living .  Where once “sustainability” was an uncompromising mandate to all, today it seems more like a mere option among many.

And Emory University may just agree with me.  (A more modest and slightly less ridiculous person would probably say “I with it”.) Judd points to an article in the Emory’s student newspaper “The Emory Wheel” announcing a new minor at the university…

Emory will introduce a sustainability minor this fall, the culmination of growing student and faculty interest throughout the last several years.

The sustainability minor, which will be an undergraduate program offered through the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts (ILA), requires the completion of two core courses and four electives. The courses that count toward the sustainability minor will be interdisciplinary; requirements can be satisfied through several departments, including anthropology and economics.

Peter Wakefield, senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies for the interdisciplinary studies major, said sustainability is an “emerging” subject that has to be defined in part by students.