Core Course (Required for PhD Students / Optional for Graduate Students)

AGRO/ENT 5321. Ecology of Agricultural Systems. (3 cr) Agroecology as the scientific investigation of agricultural systems. Formal methodologies of systems inquiry are developed and applied to problems in agricultural ecosystems. 

In this course, we view agriculture as the result of interactions between people and the ecosystems that surround them.  Thus, the course takes a holistic perspective on the ‘ecology of agriculture’: we explicitly consider humans as members of agroecosystems.

As the course unfolds, we explore useful methods and conceptual frameworks for viewing agriculture from a holistic, "systems" perspective, and have some practical experiences in doing so.  In as result, we aim to help our students deal with the complex, tangled webs of problems and opportunities that arise when ecology meets agriculture.

An essential feature of the course is the application of systems thinking and agroecology to agricultural problems through a service-learning component.  Students will work on a "live" sustainable agriculture problem, such as local food system development, in partnership with local community organizations.  Although focused on sustainable agriculture, the course is likely to be useful for students interested in "the human factor" ­ how people and their institutions interact with ecosystems - in any field of environmental studies or management.

Course requirements:  service-learning work; occasional short writing assignments, periodic reports on service-learning project, final project report; roughly 50 pages of reading per week; preparation for and participation in class discussions.

The course instructors published an article about this course in the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education:

New Concepts in Agroecology:  A Service-Learning Course