Student Perceptions of Sustainability Education and the Role of Literature: A Study at Varendra University

This study examines the application of literature to shift sustainability education towards the challenge of transcending technical competence to instill more profound ethical engagement and critical ecological awareness. We argue that literary fiction-via empathy, ethical reflection, and critique-is an important pedagogical tool for advancing sustainability consciousness in higher education. The study applied a mixed-methods approach to integrate a systematic review of ecocritical and ESD literature with a descriptive questionnaire sent to 35 students and alumni representing various departments (e.g., English, CSE, Business) of Varendra University in Bangladesh. Evidence indicates high sensitivity among students to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and they are very much in favor of mainstreaming sustainability into all university studies. More critically, the majority placed literature as good or even better than science or business courses in instilling sustainability values, uncovering its power for making abstract policy emotionally compelling, human concerns and actionable learning experiences. This analysis confirms that literary involvement is able to bridge the gap between purely intellectual understanding and the necessary moral commitment. The study concludes by advocating for mass interdisciplinary curricular reform, stressing that the systematic incorporation of eco-literature in secondary and tertiary education is needed to produce ethically conscious, socially committed, and environmentally responsible graduates.