Graduate work in this thematic area focuses on understanding recreation and tourism as integral parts of communities, economies, and natural environments. Coursework, research, and outreach in this area addresses the motivations, preferences, and participation patterns of tourists and recreationists, the role of business, government, and non-government organizations that comprise and service tourism systems, the role of tourism in community development (domestically and internationally), and the interaction between tourism/recreation activities and a community and its natural, agricultural, historic, and cultural resources.<br>The Doctor of Philosophy in Community Sustainability is designed to enable students to generate new knowledge in complementary fields responsive to rapidly changing conditions in our natural environment and agricultural systems. The CSUS graduate program is designed for students interested in issues of community sustainability in either a domestic or international context. Broadly speaking, faculty, academic staff, and graduate students working in this graduate program tend to focus their work on community food and agricultural systems, natural resources and the environment, tourism and recreation systems, education and civic engagement, and international development. These themes are very broad and they overlap not only with each other but also with issues around sustainable tourism and protected area management, the focus of the department's other MS and PhD graduate programs. We apply our work in these areas in both domestic and international settings, with numerous faculty and graduate students working in the context of international development.