Master of Arts in Sustainability

Sustainability is key to Hawaii’s ecocultural histories and HPU’s three core values: aloha, pono and kuleana.

Aloha is commonly used as a greeting. The meaning actually refers to the sharing of breath giving life (hā). Aloha is thus a communal experience and reflects an individual’s connection to the land (‘āina). MASUST students learn about the importance of how an ecocultural rootedness is important to sustainable futures and solutions. Students complete a Professional Paper (thesis), which involves conducting primary research in local communities.

Pono means righteousness. Sustainability studies at HPU equip students to contemplate the challenging sets of interdependencies between natural and human systems. Hawaii’s unique marine and terrestrial eco-systems are our living laboratory. MASUST students are tasked with developing pono solutions to the various environmental, economic and social problems in Hawaii – and beyond our reefs.

Kuleana refers to responsibility, stewardship and a deep caring for something. HPU’s MASUST students utilize the graduate studies experience to discover and/or refine how their personal kuleana intersects with the world’s greatest needs. The Professional Paper positions students to explore their sustainability passions across geographic landscapes (e.g. coastal, urban and rural) and from a transdisciplinary perspective.

The MASUST experience also enables students to take on an internship with a local organization, to study abroad, and to select from a variety of elective courses (2) from other M.A. programs (e.g. Marine Science, MBA, Organizational Development & Change, Public Health, Strategic Communication).

Students who successfully complete the Master of Arts in Sustainability program will develop knowledge, skills, and experiences in the following areas:

·         Systems Thinking - students will identify relationships and interdependencies within complex human-natural systems and analyze those connections through the use of systems thinking diagramming and other holistic tools.

·         Strategic & Futures Thinking - students will identify, formulate, and evaluate scenarios, interventions, and strategies that address sustainability across social, economic, environmental and cultural realms, intra- and intertemporal contexts, and local and global scales, despite uncertainty and access to limited information through project-based learning, case study analysis and research projects.

·         Collaboration - students will effectively use interpersonal as well as oral, and written communication skills to elevate sustainability issues among a diverse set of social actors through systems analysis and project-based learning; engage and collaborate with actors from academia, government, business, community and other institutions via research, internships, or practical. Model and advocate for sustainable behaviors at the personal, program, university, and community levels through participation in sustainability practices, policy making, citizen science, advocacy, volunteerism, or community outreach.