Professors at The Citadel Developing Courses to Help Students Address UN Sustainable Development Goals

By Maria Aselage, The Citadel

Poverty, inequality and climate change are some of the many challenges we face in our world today. To help find solutions to these important issues, two professors at Sullivan Foundation partner school The Citadel—one from the School of Business and one from the School of Engineering—are collaborating on new courses to be offered next fall.

The classes will address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), guidelines for all countries to create a more sustainable future for the planet.

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The new cooperative initiative is called Bridging Undergraduate Innovation Laboratories to Design for Sustainability (BUILDS). To help fund the program, VentureWell awarded a $30,000 grant to Dr. James Bezjian, a professor of entrepreneurship, and Dr. Jeffery Plumblee, a professor of engineer leadership and program management. VentureWell’s grant program helps institutions across the country develop or sustain courses and programs that encourage STEM innovation.

Bezjian and Plumblee will use the money to collaborate on a series of project-based classes. The students will explore global challenges within the framework of the UNSDG, the professors said.

“They will work in groups to identify a challenge that they would like to address, develop viable solutions to their chosen challenge and prepare to take next steps at the culmination of the courses,” said Plumblee.

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These courses will utilize The Citadel’s Innovation Lab and its Humanitarian Development Lab.

“In addition to addressing these important goals, our collaboration will teach business students more about technology development and engineering students more about innovation and business,” Bezjian said. “It’s a holistic approach to learning that will benefit Citadel students as well as assist the greater community.”

This article has been edited slightly from the original version appearing on The Citadel’s website.