This course is a multi-faceted real-life case study that allows students to experience the effects of business and government initiatives on various stakeholder groups with a particular focus on the effects that pertain to sustainability—environmental sustainability, sustainable ways of life, and commercial sustainability. Before engaging in the case study, students will learn frameworks for evaluating the morality of sustainability-related efforts, and students will become familiar with the backgrounds and efforts of the Bahamian government and the various other businesses and groups with which we will meet.

During the trip, students will meet with representatives of stakeholder groups at various levels, including government officials in populated islands (New Providence, the highest-populated island, pop. 250,000, and the hub of Bahamian commercial activity) and rural islands (Central Andros, an emerging commercial island, pop. 9,000, and South Andros, a rural, recondite island with limited commercial activity, pop. 400). In addition, students will meet with and interview managers and business owners responsible for sustainability efforts, who will show us the results of their initiatives, explain why they are engaging in those efforts, and discuss their successes and failures. These managers and owners include those spearheading the Blue Project at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, those leading the Bahamian Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) in Central Andros, owners of Small Hope Bay Lodge (an environmentally sustainable resort) in Central Andros, owners of Caerula Mar Club (an upscale, foreign-owned resort) in South Andros, fishing guides in South Andros, and various other business owners and residents on each island. On each island, students will engage in the top-grossing commercial activity on those particular islands, explore the effects of those activities on other groups on the island, and both experience and discuss with various stakeholders what those stakeholders are doing to ensure sustainability across the Bahamas.