This spring, I’m excited to launch a new graduate course at George Washington University, Creating Sustainable Museums. Designed for those new to the topic, the course combines theory with practice to explore how museums can address sustainability through financial stability, social equity and access, and environmental responsibility.

At the heart of the course are three core texts that introduce students to sustainability’s principles, history, and practical applications. We begin with Jeremy Caradonna’s Sustainability: A History, a compelling exploration of sustainability’s roots in the 18th-century deforestation crises and the consumer revolution. Caradonna introduces key figures like John Muir and Gifford Pinchot and influential movements such as the Club of Rome. He also explains foundational terms like lifecycle analysis, greenwashing, carbon footprints, and B Corporations. By tracing sustainability’s evolution, the book helps students understand that this is not just a modern buzzword but a framework deeply embedded in our history and practices (although it becomes very dense in the second half of the 20th century).

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