Advancing Sustainability Education through a Cross-Disciplinary Online Course: Sustainability and Human Rights in the Business World

Abstract

The increasing threats of climate change, resource depletion, and human rights crises have led us to realize the impendent need for advancing sustainable development education and to reevaluate the effectiveness of our current strategies and approaches to sustainability and social responsibility education in higher education. Therefore, the purpose of this study was first, to discuss the importance of sustainability education; second, to propose an effective model for sustainability education through a case study of a cross-disciplinary asynchronous online team-teaching model; and third, to discuss the outcomes of the course based on students’ perceptions of various aspects communicated through course evaluations. The course model created by the authors introduces students to the language and evolving norms of the sustainability, social responsibility, and human rights movements. It further challenges students to integrate the concepts and tools to which they are introduced into projects in which they design a non-governmental organization (NGO) and analyze a business entity. This study will help educators better understand the urgency for advancing sustainability and human rights education and its effective approaches and strategies. Furthermore, it will inspire them to adopt them as viable pedagogical approaches to effectively implement into a curriculum.