Undergraduate and Graduate Instruction

SYLLABI

The Syllabi below have been provided by instructors who teach courses in ecological economics, or incorporate themes from the field into their courses. To view and download a syllabus, click on the links below.

Energy, Ecology, & Economy – John Sorrentino

Ecological Economics Short Course – Kyle Gracey & Erin Lennox

Ecological Economics – Rich Howarth

Environmental & Resource Economics – John Gowdy

Introduction to Ecological Economics – Eduardo Rodriguez & Michael Wironen

Economy, Technology, and Sustainability – Faye Duchin

The Political Economy of the Environment (Graduate) – James Boyce

The Political Economy of the Environment (Undergraduate) – James Boyce

Political Economy for a Finite Planet – Eric Zencey

Seminar in Ecological Economics – Phil Warsaw

TEXT BOOKS

An Introduction to Ecological Economics by Robert Costanza and John H. Cumberland, 2nd Edition 2014. CRC Press

Ecological Economics, Principles and Applications by Herman Daly and Josh Farley. 2nd Edition, 2011. Island Press

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: A Contemporary Approach, by Jonathan M. Harris and Brian Roach , 4th Edition 2017. Routledge

Ecological Economics: An Introduction by Michael Common and Sigrid Stagl, 2005. Cambridge University Press

Microeconomics in Context by Goodwin, Harris, Nelson, Rajkarnikar, Roach and Torras.  4th Edition 2019. Routledge

Macroeconomics in Context by Goodwin, Harris, Nelson, Rajkarnikar, Roach, and Torras. 3rd Edition, 2019. Routledge

Developed for Boston University’s Global Development and Policy Center’s Economics in Context Initiative, these free teaching modules integrate economics, the environment, and contemporary issues. Designed for use as stand-alone supplements in undergraduate or graduate-level courses, the modules are available as PDFs free of charge.

K-12 INSTRUCTION

• Reframing the Curriculum: Design for Social Justice and Sustainability. (S. Santone, 2018). This book offers a practical, hands-on guide to weaving the concepts of healthy communities, democratic societies, and social justice into academic disciplines at any grade level. The free Facilitator Guide provides an overview of educational strategies to teach sustainability and social justice, and includes suggestions for structuring workshops, courses, or other facilitated settings. 

• Economics for a Changing World: An open-access platform from CORE,  a “global community of learners, teachers and researchers” offering well-organized instructional units with texts, graphics, and more. Aimed at secondary- and post-secondary audiences, the materials focus on “the economics of innovation, inequality, environmental sustainability, and more.”  

• Education for Sustainable Development Sourcebook. This guide from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provides a strong launching point for understanding sustainability and its curricular implications. 

• Education for Sustainable Development: An Integrated Curriculum (PDF, 5MB). This guide from Virginia Tech University offers resources for elementary-, middle- and high school.

• Sustainability and Economics 101: A Primer for Elementary Educators (Santone, S.) Journal of Sustainability Education. This article introduces educators to basic principles of ecological economics along with teaching ideas. While aimed at elementary educators, the content is applicable across grades.

• This set of five high school lessons from EconEdLink focus behavioral economics and the difference between how traditional economists view the world and how people behave in reality. 

• Envisioning the Good Life. These informational resources from the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economic offer clear explanations of economic concepts in a sustainability context.