Course Goals and Objectives:
By the end of the course students must be able to:
By the end of the course students must be able to:
- Understand how problems of sustainability can be analyzed using both neoclassical economics and family & consumer sciences theoretical perspectives.
- Characterize the role of environmental, economic and social systems in the quality of life for individuals and families.
- Identify various measures used to describe standard of living, quality of life and value for consumers.
- Understand the ambivalent relationship between sustainability and marketing.
- Discuss how current issues in sustainability can impact consumption patterns.
- Explore economic, design, and sociological systems that seek to address the impact of consumption on sustainability.
- Analyze the link between socio-ecological problems and consumer behavior.
- Evaluate different consumption strategies based on their relevance for sustainable development.
- Conceptualize sustainable consumption/production paths and strategies for attaining such paths.
Textbook:
The text for the course is by a historian and focuses on the origin of “consumers”. We use this text to create a stage for our discussions.
deVries, J (2008). The Industrious Revolution: Consumer Behavior and the Household Economy, 1650 to the Present. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
The text for the course is by a historian and focuses on the origin of “consumers”. We use this text to create a stage for our discussions.
deVries, J (2008). The Industrious Revolution: Consumer Behavior and the Household Economy, 1650 to the Present. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.