- Campuses :
- Twin Cities
- Crookston
- Duluth
- Morris
- Rochester
- Other Locations
Sustainable Ag Minor Undergraduate Courses
Required Undergraduate Courses
Core Courses (Required)
AGRO 4888 Issues in Sustainable Agriculture (2 cr) Agroecology, sustainable practices, production economics, environmental quality, holistic resource management, healthy food/water, rural communities. Meet sustainable-agriculture advocates, including farmers, faculty, and representatives of non-profit sustainable-agriculture organizations.
ANSC 3203 or Agro 3203. Environment, Global Food Production, and the Citizen (3 cr) Ecological and ethical concerns of food production systems in global agriculture--past, present, future. Examines underlying ethical positions about how agro-ecosystems should be configured. Decision cases, discussions, videos, and other media.
XXXX 4096 Professional Experience Program: Internship (1-3 cr) Professional experience in your field's firms or government agencies attained through supervised practical experience; evaluative reports and consultations with faculty advisers and employers. View detailed internship information here.
AGRO 4660 Senior Capstone: Leadership, Decision Making and Problem Solving (2 cr) Professional leadership and decision making from ethical, technical, societal and personal reflection perspectives. Linked to undergraduate internship and other experiential learning opportunities. Problems, decision-centered cases, interviews.
Elective Undergraduate Courses
Foundational Clusters: Select one course from each of the following clusters. Other courses may be substituted with the approval of the minor adviser and coordinator. This course list is for the 2003-4 school year, during that time the course list will be updated for Fall 2004.
Land and Public Policy Courses
AGRO 4103 or APEC 4103 or FSCN 4103. World Food Problems (3 cr) Multi-disciplinary look at problems of and possible solutions for food production, storage, and utilization in developing countries. Presentations and discussions introduce conflicting views on population, use of technology, and ethical and cultural values held in various parts of the world.
APEC 3041. Economic Development of U.S. Agriculture (3 cr) Economic, political, social, and technical forces that have shaped the development of U.S. agriculture; the role of agricultural development in national economic development in the United States with implications for developing countries.
GEOG 3361. Land Use, Landscapes and the Law (3 cr) Landscapes are political statements. They reflect how individuals, organizations, and governments have exercised the legal rights that they possess to produce goods and provide services.
PA 5002. Introduction to Policy Analysis (1.5 cr) Process of public policy analysis from problem structuring to communication of findings. Commonly used analytical methods. Alternative models of analytical problem resolution.
RHET 1315. The Land in American Experience (3 cr) Land in America as idea and as actual space. History of cultural values and the meanings land holds for us. Contrasting views of land, especially those of certain Native American peoples. Rise of the conservation movement and the urbanization of U.S. space.
Agriculture / Environment and Natural Resources Courses
AGRI 3001. Pests and Crop Protection. (3 cr) Introduction to biology/identification of insects, weeds, and diseases that affect agricultural crops. Management of these organisms based on principles of integrated pest management.
AGRO 1103. Crops, Environment, and Society. (4 cr) Plants that supply food, fiber, beverages, and medicine to humans. Plant identification, plant physiology, plant breeding/biotechnology, plant ecology, and crop culture/management.
AGRO 5999. Agroecosystems Analysis (Summer Field Course) (3 cr) This is a field-based "immersion" course that introduces students to the concept of the agroecosystem and their analysis with an underlying emphasis on sustainability. Students visit a number of farms of various types in Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, as well as other historic and cultural sites of significance to this region. There is considerable time for discussions with the farmers and students prepare oral and written analyses based on their observations and conclusions.
ANSC 1101. Introductory Animal Science (4 cr) Fundamental concepts of animal breeding, physiology, nutrition, and management as they apply to the production of beef, dairy, horses, poultry, sheep, swine, and other livestock.
GEOG 3355. Environmental Quality (3 cr) The quality of the human environment depends on 1) how humans make decisions about how to act, 2) how they act, and 3) how they evaluate both. In the United States, this process is best described as "disjointed incrementalism" in which governments, organizations, and individuals play distinct and important roles.
HORT 4072. Growing Plants Organically: What it Means to Be Green (3 cr) Science and ethics of organic cultivation. What is meant by "green" from a legal, scientific, and ethical perspective? Explore original literature on an organic practice, prepare a written report, and lead a class discussion.
NRES 3021. Managing Vegetation Across Ecosystems (3 cr) Application of ecological concepts such as succession/competition to ecosystems under management. Wetlands, riparian zones, urban interfaces, agriculture, agroforestry. Northern/boreal conifer, hardwood forests, grasslands (prairie). Emphasizes management objectives, methods, and impacts. Evaluating practices for sustainability. Integrating social issues. Regional (Great Lakes area), national, and global case studies.
SOIL 1125. The Soil Resource (4 cr) Basic physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil. Soil genesis classification and principles of soil fertility. Soil survey information used to make a land-use plan. WWW used for lab.
SOIL 2125. Basic Soil Science (4 cr) Basic physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil. Soil genesis classification, principles of soil fertility. Use of soil survey information to make a land-use plan. WWW used for lab preparation information.
SOIL 3221. Soil Conservation and Water Quality Impacts (3 cr) Historical causes/consequences of accelerated soil erosion. Wind/water erosion. Soil conservation techniques. Strategies to optimize soil conservation. Consideration of economic, political, and sociological influences on soil conservation planning.
Citizen / Science and Society Courses
AGET 5212. Safety and Health Issues in Agricultural Work (3 cr) Safety/health issues in food production, processing and horticultural work environments using public health, injury control, and health promotion frameworks: regulation, engineering, and education. Traumatic injury, occupational illness, ergonomics, pesticide health effects, biotechnology, air contaminants.
GEOG 3371. Introduction to Urban Geography (3 cr) Character, distribution, development of cities in present-day world. Internal/external locational relationships.
PLPA 1001. Microbes, Plants, and People: The Social and Economic Impact of Plant Disease (3 cr) The positive and negative effects of microorganisms on plants and their ultimate effects on human history, economics, and society.
RHET 3371. Technology, Self, and Society (3 cr) Cultural history of American technology. Social values that technology represents in shifts from handicraft to mass production/consumption to modern transportation, communication, and bioengineering. Ethical issues involved in themes of power, work, identity, and our relation to nature. How technology conditions our way of thinking.
SCAG 1501. Biotechnology, People and the Environment (3 cr) Basic concepts in genetic engineering as a foundation for studying the impact of biotechnology on agriculture, medicine, industry, and the environment. Controversial aspects of biotechnology related to public policy issues are discussed.
SOC 3451. Urban Community (3 cr) Social, economic, and political organization of the urban community focusing on racial inequality/segregation, urban enclaves, social reproduction, and civic participation of elites and residents. Cross-national comparisons, including United States, Europe, and East Asia.
