An Interdisciplinary Approach to Creating an Introductory Accounting Course on Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance Issues

ABSTRACT This article introduces and advocates for an interdisciplinary approach to incorporating sustainability reporting into accounting education through a thought piece of a university’s experience with a piloted interdisciplinary accounting course. Leveraging faculty expertise from accounting, management, and the natural sciences departments, we developed an accounting course around sustainability issues to build shared understandings of these concepts and constructs. The result was that students were able to build an expanded vocabulary around sustainability and develop competencies in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and other sustainability metrics that are often disclosed in financial and sustainability reports. Through an interdisciplinary approach, students were able to appreciate the nuanced and reciprocal interactions between business, society, and the natural environment. JEL Classifications: M4.