B.S. in Sustainable Living
Courses
SL 210 Ideal Human Relationships: The Basis of Harmonious Relations is Connecting Self-Knowledge with the Experience of the Self in Others — Giving is the Basis of Receiving
From friendships to business partnerships, marriages to parent-child connections, society is a network of relationships. This class will explore the various categories of human relationships and how each can be mutually rewarding and sustainable. Students will learn how to draw on their own inner reservoir of energy to give the maximum to others without being overshadowed by circumstances. We will also look at conflict resolution and how to turn perceived enemies into friends. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 215 Critical Thinking: Accessing the Field of Pure Knowledge and Infinite Organizing Power as the Basis of Action, Achievement, and Fulfillment
Effective thinking is the extreme opposite of jumping to conclusions. This course will teach students to analyze a situation and understand its circumstances. They will learn to focus on the most useful information and then use it in a fair and logical way. The class will also explore the difference between fundamental, primary, and secondary choices. Much of the class time will be devoted to exercises that center on important issues in one’s own life. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 275 Planning a Sustainable Family Farm: Natural Law as the Basis of Intelligent Planning
Although farming, like any business, has to manage the uncertainties of the market, it also has to deal with unpredictable weather and biological factors such as pests. That’s why intelligent planning is essential for success with a family farm, especially when it aims to minimize damage to the natural environment. Students will learn the basics of economic investments, farm assessment and inventory, and principles of planning, as well as what and how much to produce and how to produce it. In addition, they will be exposed to best management practices, investment evaluation, and the relationship between margin, earnings, and costs. This foundational knowledge will enable them to plan a family farm with an elevated level of confidence. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 276 Biointensive Mini-Farming: Gaining Proficiency in Sustainable Farming to Create Vital Land, Individuals, and Communities
This “hands-on” course helps students learn a method of farming that they can implement themselves as a livelihood and/or teach to other individuals and communities, thereby helping to establish truly sustainable, ecological, and economical food production systems. They will cultivate their own 100 square-foot double-dug bed, grow 60/30/10 (carbon/calorie/vegetables) crops from seeds, and learn how to transplant, care for, and harvest them. They will also learn to calculate the amount of land, water, and resources needed to grow and provide the daily caloric and dietary allowance for a family and a community, and will discover the caloric value of different crops. In addition, students will gain knowledge in low-tech growing techniques, farming skills, and the history and philosophy of Grow Biointensive Organic Sustainable Gardening and Mini-Farming. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 277 Market Mini-Farming 1
This course is the first in a six-month track on sustainable agriculture. The Market Mini-Farming track was created to give students in-depth hands-on knowledge and experience of truly sustainable, holistic, “whole diet” food production. Students will learn to grow a diversity of vegetable crops, and how to use compost materials from seed to harvest. Natural beekeeping hands-on skills are also part of this track. Produce from the student farm will be sold every Saturday at the Fairfield Farmer’s Market, and the income generated will go back to the Abundance Student Farm. This first course will focus on planning, greenhouse work (starting seedlings), and crop study. The overall aim of this track is to make students able to establish a human-scale vegetable mini-farm that is ecologically and economically sustainable. Prerequisite: consent of SL Dept. head and teaching faculty
SL 278 Market Mini-Farming 2
In this second block of the Market Gardening track, the students will join the Grow Biointensive Mini-Farming course (SL 276) to gain more insights and practical knowledge about sustainable food production. Prerequisite: SL 277
SL 279 Market Mini-Farming 3
Students will be engaged daily at the Abundance Student Farm on individual projects (including being in charge of specific crops), group projects (farm improvements, etc), beekeeping, and general farm productivity to provide and abundance of fresh produce to the Fairfield Farmer’s Market. CSA. Prerequisite: SL 278
SL 280 Artisanal Foods and the Slow Food Movement: Returning to Real Food Based on Natural Systems of Preparation
Artisanal foods are lovingly handcrafted with traditional methods, and the Slow Food movement promotes the concept as a response to the fast food industry. More than just preparing food slowly, artisanal food is all about quality, attention to detail, uniqueness, avoidance of synthetic ingredients, minimal processing, and sustainability in a way that enhances the pleasure and sensuality of life. This course will explore food and culture, the local production of foods that have a ‘taste of place’, and the creation of a local food economy. Using examples from France and Italy, it will examine public policy and marketing that makes artisan foods a normal part of life in these countries. Finally, students will cook and share meals that reflect what they are learning in class. The overall result will enrich their knowledge of quality prepared food as it applies to both the home and the commercial environment. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 281 Market Mini-Farming 4
In this course students will run the farm four hours a day, plus one hour of theoretical crop study. Field trips, including the Seed Savers Exchange Annual Conference, will be part of this course. Prerequisite: SL 279
SL 282 Market Mini-Farming 5
In this course students will continue to perfect their food-growing skills with more emphasis on seed-saving techniques. Prerequisite: SL 281
SL 283 Market Mini-Farming 6
This is the last block of the Market Mini-Farming track. Together with full farm operation and production, students will learn about weeds and what they tell us, herbal preparations, and Maharishi Vedic Agriculture. Prerequisite: SL 282
SL 285 The Local Economy Network: Engaging Local Natural Laws to Establish a Strong Local Economy
Does an economy based on consumption of local production have a place in a world increasingly preoccupied with globalization? A growing number of economists think it does. This course will explore current thought about creating community wealth through the local provision of basic products and services such as energy, food, water, building materials, clothing, and artisan products. Students will research the local community to develop a wiki that showcases local economy solutions like the Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign. This hands-on work, combined with the foundational knowledge of local economics, will thus equip them with the know-how for setting up a local network vital to maintaining a sustainable community. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 320 Sustainable Woodworking: Using Natural Law to Promote Knowledge of Creation and Safety in Working with Wood
In this hands-on course students will learn the basics of working with wood. Safety will be a high priority as they learn how to use power and hand tools, techniques for gluing and joining wood, and sharpening. They will also learn tree identification, the uses for different woods, and the structure of the living tree and how it relates to the creation of wooden structures, both solid and plywood. The course will also cover sustainable ways to grow, harvest, and dry woods, and will include field trips to lumber mills. Overall, this class will teach students to be comfortable with the basics of working and designing with wood and to understand which environmental factors to consider when planning woodworking projects. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 326 High-Performance Green Building: Shaping the Future with Regenerative Design
Re-thinking the built environment is a prerequisite for a sustainable world. Buildings account for 50% of the energy flowing through the American economy, generating huge amounts of waste in the process. This course will thus feature regenerative design with buildings that create energy, purify wastes, and harvest rainwater. TOPICS INCLUDE renewable energy systems, day lighting, use of local and natural materials, rainwater harvesting, and on-site waste treatment. In addition, students will get hands-on experience building energy simulation software and using local materials like straw bale, earth block, and natural clay plasters. The result will be fundamental knowledge about how to construct buildings that, like trees, give back more than they take from the environment. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 327 Building Biology: Learning to Restore the Balance between Nature, Ourselves, and the Built Environment
Are sustainable and green building practices always healthy? Not necessarily, as students will learn in this course, which examines the link between building practices and occupants’ health and well -eing. Founded in Germany over 30 years ago, Building Biology not only encompasses sustainable and green practices, but also goes beyond them. It focuses on “building for life,” or how to optimize living conditions by applying healthy building and remodeling principles to living spaces. Students will find out how current construction practices impact the health of occupants and will gain skills to identify, analyze, and solve problems dealing with electromagnetic radiation, high-frequency radiation, indoor air quality, and water quality. They will also learn about natural building and remodeling practices through home inspections, case study reviews, and teleconferences with Building Biologists from around the country. The course looks at healthy buildings from different perspectives: 1) elements– how air, water, matter, and energy impact the indoor environment, including health risks and remedies, 2) design — what design features promote a healthy building, and 3) standards — applying Building Biology Healthy Home Standards. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 330 Bio-Cultural Ethics: Preserving Cultural Integrity by Awakening the Field of Pure Consciousness as the Foundation of All Right Action
This course discusses the biological aspects of treating all people fairly regardless of economics, geography, or lifestyle. Is it ethical to genetically engineer a tomato and then sell it without informing the public? Is it appropriate to learn about medicinal herbs from native healers and then patent the active ingredients? Is it fair for the United States, with five percent of the world’s population, to use 25 percent of the world’s raw materials? Often questions of fairness extend to other life forms, and some issues are particularly difficult and nuanced: Damming waterways, for instance, generates clean, renewable energy, but it can also flood villages, upset ecosystems, and destroy fisheries. This class will teach students to think deeply and consider all sides of bio-cultural dilemmas, arriving at equitable, workable solutions. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 335 Philosophies of Sustainability: Locating the Deepest Levels of Natural Law in the Foundations of Sustainable Thinking
This course will break down the meta-concept of sustainability into its constituent parts: its social, environmental, and economic aspects, as well as how the concepts of democracy, technology, and spirituality relate to sustainability. This course will start out with an overview of the sustainability movement as presented in The Sustainability Revolution by Andres Edwards. Supplemental readings will address aspects of the philosophies of sustainability left out by Edwards’ summary, including anthropocentrism, capitalism, and others. Through films, reading assignments, lectures, and discussions, students will formulate their own definition of sustainability to make the abstract concept of sustainability practical to their everyday lives. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 348 Sustainable Landscape Architecture: Using the Techniques of Natural Law to Create a Functional, Sustainable Built Environment
The way our built environment looks and feels is a product of human consciousness as manifested through the design and layout of the individual elements of Natural Law. Using the MUM campus as a case study, you will learn how to implement the basic landscaping components of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda design in a way that minimizes the ecological impact of a site while maximizing its ecological value and aesthetic appeal. In the process, you will learn drawing techniques of the discipline, how to read a topographic map and use it to build a scale model, and how to choose appropriate trees and plants for specific locations and purposes. The result will be a deeper understanding of how to create environments that are efficient, beautiful, productive, and enjoyable in a sustainable way. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 350 Environmental Planning and Landscaping: Applying Natural Law to Sustainable Landscapes to Integrate Energy, Economy, Transportation, Mass Culture, and Food Production Systems
A built environment should have the stability, diversity, resilience, and beauty of a natural ecosystem. More than this, it should align our consciousness with all the Laws of Nature. Students will study all the factors that go into a sustainable landscape, including consciousness, energy, economy, transportation, mass culture, and food production systems. The course will combine classroom and project-based learning to ensure integration of the core principles and practical skills with the Vedic perspective of life. Students will work in groups to design a fully sustainable eco-village for less than one thousand inhabitants. The course will combine the use of Vedic principles with “green” planning and development to provide the ideal environment for people to grow in consciousness and fulfillment. Students will learn how to combine the micro-environmental properties of a landscape with aesthetically pleasing structures that incorporate useful plants for managing rainwater and delivering perennial food crops. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 351 Alaska Village Design: A Cross-Cultural Experience of Sustainable Development Planning
This course will take place in Angoon, a village in southeast Alaska that has been occupied by Native American Tlingit and Haida people for over 1000 years. Working in cooperation with members of the village, students will help them rethink how it is provisioned, and implement a plan to create a more sustainable, effective, and productive environment. In developing the plan, students will determine how to sustainably provide the village with water, food, energy, and building materials in ways that create prosperity in the village. They will then work with the villagers to execute some part of the plan. The result will be not only increased knowledge about cross-cultural sustainable development but also practical experience in how to design and manage it. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 398 Sustainable Living Internship: Experiencing On-the-Job Application of Natural Law at Environmental Places of Business
This course offers students the opportunity to work on farms, at green companies, or with environmental organizations and apply knowledge from the classroom to real-life situations where sustainability is at the forefront. Venues range from the MUM campus and farms to the Fairfield area, other areas of Iowa and out-of-state locations. While all internship credits may be taken at one location, it is advisable to distribute the internships among several places of employment to get the broadest possible experience, greatly adding to a student’s sustainability credentials and post-graduate employment potential. (4 credits per month, maximum of 16 credits toward the Sustainable Living major) Prerequisite: consent of instructor and the Academic Standards Committee and BIO 341
SL 405 Ecology: Observe How Living Organisms Maintain Perfect Orderliness in Their Physical Environment by Efficient Use of Energy, Nutrient Recycling, Maintenance of Biodiversity, and Intelligent Self-Organization
This course integrates the core principles and practical applications of ecology from the perspective of human consciousness. Students will learn how the Laws of Nature evolved the biosphere to provide a support system for the miraculous complexity of life. They will use their deep experience of consciousness to appreciate the power and majesty of nature, the primal forces that manifest creativity and intelligence in the universe. The course will expose the processes that make life what it is: so much more than a series of intricate, dynamic structures interlinked through constant flux and transformation. Much of the course is project based, so students will spend time in the field or perform research aimed at adding value to real-world developments. The course covers ecosystems functioning, speciation and interactivity, social interaction, natural selection, and adaptation in nature. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 411 Natural Beekeeping
Organic honeybee keeping is an important art and science of sustainable living, and even more so today. Students will learn about the Biodynamic beekeeping method, based on Rudolf Steiner’s teaching, which is holistic method that emphasizes the well-being of the bee colony as a super organism and its natural life cycle, rather than maximizing honey and pollen production. The first three days are taught by Gunther Hauk, who has over 30 years of experience in this type of beekeeping and is the founder and co-manager of Spikernard Farm, a 610-acre honeybee sanctuary in Illinois. Students will learn how to set up and manage a small Biodynamic apiary, assemble hives, become familiar with special terminology and practices, harvest honey, setting up an organic certifying agency, and more. Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 415 Exotic Tropical Fruit Production: Enjoying the Fruit of Tropical Laws of Nature
Tree crops have always been a major part of human diet and culture. Tropical fruits are especially rich in diversity and present us with almost unlimited potential for food, medicine, raw materials and crafts, beauty, and a wide range of environmental stewardship. This course, held in a 150-acre organic farm in Homestead, Florida, will explore every aspect of organic cultivation and marketing of exotic tropical fruits, the plant-animal-soil connection, ecological pest and disease control, and the trials and rewards of tropical farming. It also includes field trips to local fruit related sites such as the Spice Park, Fairchild Tropical Gardens, and Kampong, lectures by experts in tropical agriculture, and hands-on experience in the propagation, tending, and harvest of organic tropical fruits, vines and bamboo. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 420 Renewable Energy: Drawing on Nature’s Creative Intelligence to Harness the Sun’s Infinite Capacity to Power Homes and Workplaces, Transportation, and Industrial Production
This course will redefine the understanding of energy, heat, and power by studying state-of-the-art technologies that can generate and use energy from sources that are both renewable and sustainable. The inefficiency of our modern industrial society will be closely examined, with students learning to identify entropy in a system and find huge opportunities for improvements. Classroom sessions will also include films, slide presentations, demonstrations, presentations by students, and outside guest speakers. Besides lectures, films and demonstrations, the course will include field trips, a lab, and a project that will give students a chance to apply these technologies. Many classes will take place in a building that is powered by renewable energy, with students monitoring and operating the building energy systems. Each day, the design principles of systems based on renewable energy will be related to the Laws of Nature that structure our own awareness and govern the universe efficiently and automatically. Prerequisites: Math 170, Math 161, or MGT 314 or 424 (4 credits), and BIO 341
SL 421 Energy Policy for Sustainability: Exploring the Potential of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
This course describes the issues revolving around energy that is not only renewable, but also sustainable, and explores its potential to replace traditional energy resources. In the process, it will identify issues about the provisioning, transportation, and production of renewable energy. Students will review issues concerning social acceptability, environmental impact and risk, and economic consideration of projects related to hydroelectric energy, small hydro, wind power, solar, geothermal, and nuclear energy. Through the use of case studies and critical thinking, they will also identify and study the ways governments have begun to develop local, regional, national, and international policies about these issues. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 422 Solutions to Climate Change
This course incorporates the latest developments in the basic science and facts of climate change. Contentious areas and ranges of opinion will also be evaluated in their socio-economic context and a full range of solutions to climate change will be studied: elevation of world consciousness, improved global stewardship, increased energy efficiency, renewable energy and improved ecosystem management. Students’ main project will be to design their own package of solutions. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
SL 428 Sustainable Living Workshop: Transforming Natural Law into Useful Application
Manifestation of sustainable methodologies for immediate use is the purpose of this repeatable course. Students will work individually or in teams to build and implement technologies such as biodiesel production, photovoltaic panels, hydrogen electrolyzers, biomass heating units, methane digesters, or fuel cells. Projects can also include assisting with sustainable building construction, or production of websites or videos to display real-time building/performance indicators. (4 credits, repeatable) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 429 Sustainable Living Project Prep: Planning Your Personal Contribution to Life in Accord with Natural Law
This course is devoted to preparing students for the Senior Sustainable Living Project (SL 430). Students will meet with faculty to research, discuss, and plan the project to ensure that it will unfold as smoothly as possible. (4 credits) Prerequisite: Good academic standing and consent of instructor Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 430 Senior Sustainable Living Project: Applying Natural Law-Based Knowledge to Real-World Enterprises to Test Principles of Sustainable Technologies
In this final course you will apply what you have learned in the their courses to a special senior capstone project. Under the guidance of faculty, you will design and implement some aspect of a sustainable community, using opportunities in the city of Fairfield, Maharishi Vedic City, Abundance Ecovillage (just north of Fairfield), or the Maharishi University of Management campus itself. The project may be an individual effort, or you may work together in small teams to produce a fitting tribute to the concept of Sustainable Living, one that will prepare you to take on real projects wherever you may choose to work. (4 credits) (Can be repeated multiple blocks for credit) Prerequisite: BIO 341
SL 445 Environmental Law: Connecting National Law with Natural Law to Protect the Environment from Global Warming, Pollution, and Resource Depletion while Creating Abundance for All Nations
From local regulations about water quality to global initiatives like the Kyoto Accord, the law is an important tool for regulating our use of the environment. During this course, students will become familiar with international treaties and protocols on global warming, pollution, and endangered species. The class will also study the key features of American environmental law including the Clean Air and Water Act, the Environmental Protection Act, and other current policies and regulations. Perhaps most importantly, students will understand the lawmaking process as a way to use the legal system to bring about positive change and build sustainable communities. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
Biology Courses
BIO 250 Plant Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Plant Life — How Organisms from Bacteria to Fungi to Giant Redwoods Nourish, Enrich, and Integrate the Biosphere
Plants, the source of fixed energy for virtually all life forms, are the principal topic of this introductory course. The photosynthetic groups covered range from cyanobacteria through phytoplankton and seaweeds, to bryophytes, lower vascular plants, gymnosperms, and the flowering plants. Non-photosynthetic bacteria, fungi and fungal-like protists are presented as the great integrators and recyclers of nutrients in the global biosphere. Some basic concepts in the physiology, genetics, anatomy, ecology, and evolution of plants are also included. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
BIO 322 Plant Taxonomy: How the Description, Naming, Identification, and Classification of Plants is Grounded in Their Intelligence and Evolution
The classification of plants ultimately makes use of all that is known about their structure, physiology, genetics, and ecology to arrange them into a logical system for identification and study. This course, which emphasizes the local flora, develops skills in observation and interpretation to name, identify, and classify vascular plants according to evolutionary relationships. (4 credits) Prerequisite: BIO 250
BIO 328 Ethnobotany: How Indigenous Peoples Use Plants for Culinary, Spiritual, Medicinal, and Other Purposes to Maintain Traditional Connections with Natural Law
Plants have met a large proportion of man’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs for ages and continue to do so today, though often in new and less obvious ways. The broad scope of such use is the subject of this course, covering not only food and shelter but also clothing, herbs and spices, ornamentation, medicine, soaps, cosmetics, rope, and rubber, as well as artistic and spiritual uses. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
BIO 338 Organic Agriculture: Nourishing Civilization through Production of Food Based on Features of Natural Ecosystems — Nutrient Recycling, Biodiversity, Maintenance of Healthy Soils, and Full-Cost Accounting
This course will explore how aligning agriculture with Natural Law can be accomplished using the basic principles of Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture such as recitation of Vedic sounds at all stages of food production and the use of Maharishi Jyotish programs to determine the optimal times to plant, perform cultivation techniques, and harvest crops. It also includes general principles of organic agriculture production, such as transplanting, irrigation, fertility, pest management, harvest, storage, marketing, and environmental influences. Specific management requirements for important vegetable and field crops will also be discussed. Students spend approximately half of their time in class learning principles of vegetable production and half of the time applying their knowledge and gaining practical experience in the University’s vegetable gardens and greenhouses or other area organic farms. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
BIO 341 Permaculture Design: Using Nature’s Intelligence to Design and Maintain Cultivated Ecosystems — How to Read the Landscape’s Strategies and Tools for Urban and Rural Homesteads, Food Forests and Orchards, Greenhouse Operation, Natural Buildings, and Alternative Energy Techniques
Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of cultivated ecosystems. It promotes land use systems that work with nature’s rhythms and patterns to create a stable society by utilizing resources sustainably. Through lecture, discussion, observation, field trips, hands-on learning, videos, slide shows, and handouts, students gain the practical skills and theoretical knowledge to design and implement sustainable systems in harmony with the natural world so participants can understand and apply these methods and skills to their home property and local community. Participants will learn principles and methodologies of sustainable design, how to read the landscape’s strategies and tools for urban and rural homesteads, food forests and orchards, greenhouse operation, natural building and alternative energy techniques. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
BIO 375 Earth Science: How Global Geo-Physiology Shapes the Evolving Biosphere, Driven by Its Internal Structures and Processes and Interacting with Life, Air, and Water
The earth is a dynamic, living system, driven by its internal structures and processes, and interacting with life, the air, and water. This course emphasizes the geological and biological processes responsible for landforms and the chemical compositions of soils, the atmosphere, and bodies of water. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
BIO 405 The Sustainable Global Environment: Elevating World Consciousness to Perpetuate Abundance and World Peace — Ideal, Natural Law-Based Solutions to Global Pollution, Natural Resource Depletion, Non-Sustainable Energy Use, Overpopulation, and Loss of Biodiversity
Structuring a living environment that can be maintained on a global scale for all future generations calls for substantial changes in our current way of life. This course provides a broad perspective for transforming the way we think about such issues as population growth, global ecology, land and wildlife resources, renewable energy sources, and sustainable agriculture. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
The content of this page was reviewed in November 2009.
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