Professor: Jean Faye
4 credits
Agriculture has helped humans overcome famine and starvation but has also contributed to climate change. Many species, including humans, face critical challenges due to unsustainable practices. This course explores how agroecology can address current and future climatic effects while providing food, building fertile soils, and preserving ecosystems. It offers a socioecological and political economy framework for engaging in informed discussions. The course aims to equip students with a critical understanding of agricultural production. It introduces students to various agroecological farming practices in developed and developing countries and considers critiques of its limitations and potential romanticism. Lectures cover fundamental components and concepts of agroecology and human-environment relations. Field trips provide hands-on experience in ecology and agronomy. Assignments help students analyze complex social, cultural, and agroecological systems and apply sustainable farming practices, including human-crop-pest-predator interactions and natural farming.