Sustainable Living Exit Exam - to be taken shortly before graduation
Next Exam Opportunities: Sat Dec 1st and 8th, 1.15 to 4 pm
Register with Department Administrator, Leanne Hays
Exam Format
The exit exam consists of an oral and a written section. Oral: This will consist of SL faculty members sitting with students in a relaxed, group setting and asking them to define ten
terms chosen by faculty from each of the categories below. Students will define each term and explain how it relates to sustainability. The whole conversation will take about an
hour. Following this is an individual written exam in which students have to write a paragraph on another 10 topics and also one longer essay question. The whole exam is ‘closed
book.’
Desired value of this exercise for the SL faculty
This exercise will help give us an idea of how well we are teaching key concepts about sustainable communities, from the local to the global level. It is not intended to be the only
such measure – course grades, the senior project, and post-graduate activities are also indicators, among others. But a pass is required for graduation.
Desired value for the student
The principal value is to help you as the student to bring together the knowledge you have learned here into a sense of wholeness – to truly own the knowledge. It will also be of
great value to have the core tenants of sustainability in your head, at your disposal, and to be able to discuss them intelligently without having to go back to your notes to “look it
up.” This should be of considerable benefit to you whatever you do after graduation – go on to post-graduate education, seek a job, start or help with a sustainable community, or
even just use the knowledge in your personal life. We strongly recommend you prepare for this exam.
Philosophical fundamentals
normative
regeneration
first principles
worldview paradigm
sustainability revolution
anthropocentric
reductionism
holism
mechanistic
ecocentric
resilience
critical thinking
systems thinking
post-humanist
The Great Work
biotic community
Land Ethic
Mother Culture
Gaia theory
biophilia
intrinsic value
hidden curriculum
philosophy of technology
environmental ethics
neo-liberal capitalism
myth of progress
sustainability indicators
social capital
Ecology
ecology
place based ecology
first and second laws of thermodynamics
resilience
photosynthesis
respiration
ecosystem
trophic level
biome
biosphere
carrying capacity
mass extinction
greenhouse effect
community
over-harvesting
greenhouse gases
ecological footprint
biodiversity
ozone
succession
heterotroph
climate change
autotroph
mutualism
ecological niche
competitive exclusion
food web
primary producer
omnivore
biomass
keystone species
biosphere
symbiosis
energy flow
hydrological cycle
carbon cycle
geological time scale
Agriculture
organic agriculture
sustainable agriculture
ecological soil fertility
substitution organic agriculture
desertification
compost
Green Revolution
living soil
crop rotation
monoculture
open pollination
Dust Bowl
Conservation Reserve Program
hybrid crop
industrial organic agriculture
nutrient cycling
free-range
heirloom variety
nitrogen fixation
salinization
eutrophication
GMO
humus
green manure
hardpan
CAFO
regeneration
Maharishi Vedic agriculture
perennial agriculture
paddock rotation
food miles
Grow Biointensive
season extension
fiber
hydroponics
compost tea
locavore
irrigation methods
CBE, Maharishi
spontaneous right action
consciousness (TM-based)
consciousness (intellectual-based
unified field
Maharishi effect
transcendental consciousness
cosmic consciousness
god consciousness
unity consciousness
three-in-one structure of
knowledge
consciousness-based education
relative vs. absolute
self-referral
object referral
subjective knowledge
objective knowledge
collective consciousness
the world is my family
Maharishi Vedic agriculture
Maharishi Vedic architecture
Commerce and Policy
policy
public trust
resilience
regeneration
precautionary principle
world population
global regenerative capacity
climate change
greenhouse gases
cap and trade
carbon tax
transition towns
demand / supply side energy efficiencies
carbon credit
globalization
localization
natural capitalism
ethical consumerism
external costs
triple bottom line
full cost accounting
community organization
cradle to cradle
slow food
feed-in tariffs
trade tariffs
free trade
fair trade
neo-liberal capitalism
steady-state economics
eco-tourism
microcredit
socially responsible investing
resource wars
cost/benefit analysis
land grab
food security
appropriate technology
Built Environment
thermal mass
biomimicry
passive solar design
low emmisivity
active solar design
natural building materials
sick building syndrome
LEED
Living Building Challenge
Building Biology
sustainable building materials
solar water heating
heat pumps
sustainable design
low VOC building materials
grey water
heat transfer modalities
geothermal
built environment and human comfort
aesthetics
urban planning
ecocities
place-making
Social Aspects
equity
community
ecological literacy
environmental justice
sustainable development
intergenerational equity
debt for nature swap
biopiracy
indigenous people
stakeholders
community organizing
white privilege
patriarchy
eco-feminism
tragedy of the commons
hegemony
matriarchy
cooperative communities
Energy
substitution
efficiency
active solar
passive solar
geothermal
concentrated solar
hydroelectricity
nuclear power
benefits of non-renewable energy
clean coal
biodiesel
ethanol
primacy of solar energy
energy flows in nature
energy flows in the human
ecology
on or off grid
net zero energy
net zero carbon
hybrid / electric vehicles
energy and transportation
energy and human settlement
fossil fuels
free energy
peak oil
peak coal
carbon footprint
embodied energy
carbon sequestration
wind energy
renewable energy
sustainable energy
R-value
Design
Permaculture
ZERI
Biomimicry
Innovation process
Cradles to cradle
Aesthetic design
Transition Towns
Energy Descent planning
social design
organizational development
integrated system design
Some Key Names in Sustainability
Henry D. Thoreau
John Muir
Helen and Scott Nearing
Alice Waters
Carlo Patrini
Bill Molison
Masinoba Fukuoyoka
Sir Albert Howard
John Jevons
Vandana Shiva
Black Elk
Chief Seattle
Al Gore
Van Jones
Rachel Carson
Donella Meadows
E.F. Schumacher
Michael Pollan
Wendel Berry
David Orr
Hunter Lovins
Armory Lovins
Richard Douthwaite
Lester Brown
Rob Hopkins
Aldo Leopold