Winter 2023 Sustainable Food Systems Courses – Sustainable Food Systems Initiative

Winter 2023 Sustainable Food Systems Courses

Interested in taking a food systems course next semester? See below for a sampling of course offerings for winter semester 2023

**Note that you do not need to minor in Food & Environment or pursue a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Food Systems to enroll in these courses**


UNDERGRADUATE

Much Depends on Dinner | ALA 264 – 002 (3 credits)
Margot Finn | M/W 4:00PM – 5:30PM

This seminar is designed to introduce students to some of the major topics and approaches in food studies today. We’ll discuss arguments for and against local and organic production, vegetarianism, and GMOs. We’ll explore nutritional myths and controversies. We’ll visit the archives and create a public exhibit featuring primary sources about what we can learn from food history. And we’ll investigate labor conditions in the food industry and food insecurity in the U.S.

Food in the Ancient World | CLARCH 382 – 001/CLCIV 382 – 001 (3 credits)
Laura Motta | M/W 1:00PM – 2:30PM

This course examines patterns of food production and consumption in the ancient Mediterranean world in order to observe the organization and symbolic construction of communities through time. Manners of eating and drinking – or starving – in Greek, Hellenistic and Roman society will be focus for attention.

Climate Change and Sustainability: Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century
ENVIRON 111 – 001/CLIMATE 172 – 001/EARTH 172 – 001/GEOG 111 – 001 (4 credits)
Michela Arnaboldi | T/Th 1:00PM – 2:30PM

This course explores impacts of modern human society on land, ocean, and atmosphere, considering all aspects relevant to a sustainable future. Throughout the semester, students work on a sustainability pledge to apply class material to everyday life.

Plants and People | EARTH 262 – 001/ENVIRON 262 – 001 (3 credits)
John Benedict | M/W 10:00AM – 11:30AM

This course examines the relationship between plants, people, and the environment; focusing on economically important plants. Plants are important for survival, aesthetic, and environmental purposes and have had significant impacts on human history, society, and environment. Today plants are critical for our future. Topics include foods, fibers, drugs, and ornamentals.

Environmental Ethics-Living Well with Nature | ENVIRON 376 – 001 (3 credits)
Rolf Bouma | T/Th 10:00AM – 11:30AM

This course explores what we do and why we do what we do to the world around us.  Without ignoring the theoretical, this course will focus on ethics as it bears on practical, everyday things: using energy, eating food, building houses, flying to far-away destinations, hiking in wild places, watching birds….  Our effects are far reaching: climate change, industrial agriculture and CAFOs, pollution and ecological restoration, biodiversity and species extinctions, wilderness, genetic engineering of plants and animals. We will ask “what is a good way to live in nature?”

Environmental Activism: Citizenship in a Republic | ENVIRON 390 – 001 (3 credits) 
Virginia Murphy | T/Th 1:00PM – 2:30PM

This course defines environmental activism as a social movement designed to affect positive and sustainable environmental change. We will articulate an overarching set of values to which people can respond, as well as a shared set of symbols, heroes, slogans, and other cultural referents.

Exercise, Nutrition and Weight Control | MOVESCI 241 – 001 (3 credits)
Peter Bodary | M/W 1:00PM – 2:30PM

Study of body mass regulation including the understanding of food, digestion, metabolism and different intervention strategies such as a diet and exercise.  Students learn assessment and prescription principles and techniques.

Should we eat meat? | UC 154 – 001 (3 credits)
Margot Finn | M/W 1:00PM – 2:30PM

This first-year seminar is designed to explore three facets of the argument for vegetarianism: sustainability, health, and animal welfare. Is vegetarianism better for the environment? How much better? Would going vegetarian or vegan make most people healthier or thinner? Are there any drawbacks, nutritionally? What we know about conditions for animals in the food industry, and how would a transition to eating less meat and more plants affect rodents, birds, and downstream aquatic life? How can we apply what we’ve learned to improving the food served by UM Dining Services? A hands-on, interdisciplinary approach to multi-dimensional issue of eating meat.

Food Literacy For All | ENVIRON 314 – 001/ NUTR 518 – 001/AMCULT  301 – 011 (2 credits)
Jessica Walker, shakara tyler, Lilly Fink Shapiro | M/W 1:00PM – 2:30PM

This community-academic partnership course offers a unique opportunity for students to gain an interdisciplinary overview of crises and opportunities in today’s food system through a weekly lecture series bringing high-profile speakers to campus from diverse sectors: academia, grassroots movements, public health, farming, and more. The course will be mainly virtual with some in-person sessions.

Evolutionary Applications | BIOLOGY 121 – 002 (1 credit)
Regina Baucom | Fr 11:00AM – 12:00PM

How can evolutionary concepts help us understand human health, agriculture, climate change, biodiversity loss, and human impacts of the natural world? BIO 121 is a mini course that covers a number of topics falling under the broad heading of Evolutionary Applications.

DAAS In Action – Food & Belonging in Diaspora | AAS 498 – 005 (3 credits)
Jessica Walker | M/W 1:00PM – 2:30PM

From urban agriculture to global agribusiness, food is a powerful symbolic and material tool for Black activists, politicians and everyday consumers. Course discussion will focus on the role of anti-blackness in the food system, methods for evaluating its effects, and practices for overcoming it. Readings and case studies explore debates for pay equity within the food industry, the politics and stakes of cultural appropriation, and how food apartheid has shaped urban landscapes.

China Food Crisis | ASIAN 351 – 001 (3 credits)
Miranda Brown | T/Th 4:00PM – 5:30PM

Chinese Food in Crisis: Health, Ecology, and Identity in an Age of Globalization — This course looks at the role that culinary globalization has played in reshaping the Chinese diet, along with its implications for health, the environment, and political identity.

Nutrition and Evolution | ANTHRBIO 364 – 001 (4 credits)
Maureen Devlin | T/Th 11:30AM – 1:00PM

Study of the evolutionary basis of contemporary nutritional patterns, the short and long-term effects of industrialization on human biology during development and adulthood.

Interdisciplinary Environmental Topics: Sustain Living Exp 1st Yr Sem | ENVIRON 155 – 001 (2 credits)
Joseph Trumpey | Fr 8:00AM – 9:50AM

This introductory special topics course seeks to examine environmental problems and issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. Specific topics will vary by term.

Archaeology: Food at UM | ANTHRARC 180 – 001 (3 credits)
Lisa Young | M/W 2:30PM – 4:00PM

Food is an essential part of UM student experience. What did UM students eat in the past and where does the food served on campus today come from?  This seminar examines changes in the food system that has fed UM students in Ann Arbor over the past 150 years and the ways that food is helping the University reach its sustainability goals.  We explore all aspects of the food system from production to waste. This seminar includes a variety of engaged learning experiences, including historical research on early 20th century UM student scrapbooks, a visit to the Campus Farm, and a project with MDining. Students will have opportunities to learn directly from the people who are working to make the university food system more local and sustainable.

German Language: Food Culture Germany | GERMAN 232 – 006 (4 credits)
Iris Zapf-Garcia | T/Th 7:00PM – 9:00PM

Second-Year Course — In this course, students complete the four-term introductory language sequence by selecting one of several “special topics” courses intended as an introduction to the study of an academic discipline, such as Music, Politics and Society, Film, or Science, taught in German. Students should emerge from the course prepared and motivated to do work (or read for pleasure) in German throughout their academic career and beyond. Students are strongly encouraged to arrange their schedules so they can enroll in the section whose topic interests them the most, in order to get the maximum benefit from this course. Interest in the course content is the most effective motivation for language study. More generally, students should be ready by the end of the course to pursue an internship or study abroad in Germany.

Germ Wars, Asthma and the Food Allergy Epidemic | IHS 340 – 001 (3 credits)
Gary Huffnagle | T/Th 1:00PM – 2:30PM

This course introduces the student to the growing epidemic of severe allergic diseases, such as food allergies. Course lectures and discussions will focus on the advances in immunology and public health that have led to a decrease in infectious diseases but have been associated with an increase in hypersensitivity diseases, such as asthma and food allergies.

The Great Lakes mini course | EARTH 112 – 002 (1 credit)
Jenan Kharbush | T/Th 10:00AM – 11:00AM

This minicourse focuses on environmental issues in the Great Lakes. Topics include the formation and geology of the Great Lakes, hydrology and dynamics of water levels, effect of invasive species on food webs and fisheries, and pollution, particularly the role of nutrients in causing toxic algal blooms.

Nutrition in the Life Cycle | PUBHLTH  310 – 001 (3 credits)
Olivia Anderson | M/We 10:00AM – 11:00AM

Nutrition in the Life Cycle will cover nutritional needs of individuals during critical stages of development. Students will learn about the biological basis for nutritional requirements in normal development and maintaining health in adulthood. Consequences of over- and under-nutrition and how to identify and address these issues will be discussed.

Food Literacy for All Discussion | ENVIRON  305 – 003 (1 credit)
Jessica Walker | W 9:00AM – 10:00AM

This special topics course seeks to examine environmental problems and issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. Must be enrolled in Food Literacy for All concurrently. 

GRADUATE

Black Agrarian Cooperatives and Grassroots Movements | EAS  501 – 009 (3 credits)
Shakara Tyler | T/Th 2:30PM – 4:00PM

This course will explore Black Agrarian Cooperatives and the connections to grassroots movements from historical and contemporary lenses. The goal of this course is to develop an analysis of food, farm, land, and environmental cooperatives as anti-capitalist strategies and practical implementations of justice. The course will examine historical and current case studies of Black cooperative philosophy and practice and how they operate in grassroots movement settings. Students will develop an understanding of the historical and contemporary factors that shape the emergence of Black agrarian cooperatives as acts of sociopolitical and socioeconomic resistance, community self-determination, and empowerment. Students will analyze grassroots case studies, policy landscapes, and community discourses connected to Black agrarian cooperative formations.

Nutrition in the Life Cycle | NUTR 510 – 001 (3 credits)
Olivia Anderson | M/W 10:00AM – 11:00AM

Nutrition in the Life Cycle will cover nutritional needs of individuals during critical stages of development. Students will learn about the biological basis for nutritional requirements in normal development and maintaining health in adulthood. Consequences of over- and under-nutrition and how to identify and address these issues will be discussed.

Maternal and Child Nutrition | NUTR 540 – 001 (2 credits) 
Suzanne Cole | Fr 8:30AM – 10:30AM

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the nutritional requirements of pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Main topics include: physiologic and metabolic adaptations of pregnancy and lactation, maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, composition of human milk and formula, feeding practices of infants and toddlers, and the nutrient requirements of infants, children, and adolescents. At the conclusion of this course, students will have gained a sufficient foundation in maternal and child nutrition to better understand the relevant scientific literature.

Evaluation of Global Nutrition Programs | NUTR 633 – 001 (3 credits)
Andrew Jones | Th 12:30PM – 3:30PM

This course will provide students with an understanding of the principles of program evaluation with an emphasis on global nutrition programs.  The course will create a space for discussion and practice in which knowledge can be applied to current global nutrition issues through research and critical analysis.

Weight Bias & Health | NUTR 622 – 001 (2 credits)
Kendrin Sonneville | W 1:00PM – 3:00PM

This course is designed to introduce students to the pervasiveness and consequences of weight bias. Students will be introduced to weigh-inclusive alternatives (e.g. Health at Every Size) to weight-normative approaches common in public health and health care and will examine issues such as size diversity through a social justice lens.

Physical Activity and Nutrition | NUTR 651 – 001/KINESLGY 513 – 002 (3 credits)
Jeffrey Horowitz, Peter Mancuso | M/W 8:30AM – 10:00AM

Students will learn about the impact of physical activity on the nutrition requirements in active individuals and special populations with chronic disease. Students will also learn how to use exercise and diet modification for weight loss and maintenance through lectures and hands on activities.

Conservation of Biological Diversity | EAS 517 – 001 (4 credits)
Sheila Schueller | M/W 11:30AM – 1:00PM

The world is in the midst of a period of environmental change that is unprecedented in the history of human life. This course examines the causes and consequences of one of the most prominent forms of change in the modern era – loss of biological diversity and its impacts on the ecological functions performed by natural ecosystems.The goals of the class are to (i) detail the scientific evidence for why Earth’s biological resources are being depleted, (ii) outline how these changes are likely to impact ecosystems and the services they provide to humanity, (iii) describe the social and economic trade-offs we are likely to face as a result of biodiversity loss, and (iv) study the current and emerging management strategies that are used to curb changes in our planet’s biological resources.

Food Service Management | NUTR 585 – 001 (2 credits)
Patricia Ramos | Th 8:00AM – 10:00AM

This course examines the principles of food systems management, defying and applying management theories and functions in food and nutrition settings.  Human, material and facility management will be discussed. Students gain an understanding of the tools available for managing effective and efficient food and nutrition organizations.  Purchasing and inventory techniques will be examined.  Using the foodservice systems model as a guide, it shows students how to transform the human, material, facility and operational inputs of the system into outputs of meals, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and financial accountability.  This course will cover cost control, methods that are specific to managing food service operations, including food waste and theft.

Cellular Biotechnology | BIOLCHEM 504 – 001/MICRBIOL 504-001/ANATOMY 504-001/BIOMEDE 504-001 (3 credits)
Andrew Putnam | M/W 12:00PM – 1:30PM

Biotechnology is a rapidly evolving, multi-disciplinary field that impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives from the food we eat to the medicine we take. dThis course covers basic scientific and engineering principles behind this growing field, along with entrepreneurial aspects of translating innovative biotechnological solutions into new products.

Environmental Epigenetics and Public Health | NUTR 660 – 001 (2 credits)
Dana Dolinoy | Th 1:00PM – 3:00PM

This course examines the principles and applications of epigenetics and epigenomics as they relate to human nutrition, environmental exposures and disease etiology. Lectures will address epigenetic mechanisms, environmental epigenomics, and policy implications. Examples and case studies will evaluate these  processes using both animal and human examples drawn from the primary literature. Students will also be introduced to current laboratory methods and emerging technologies for examining epigenetics and epigenomics.

Water Policy and Politics | EAS 558 – 001 (3 credits) 
T/Th 11:30AM – 1:00PM

This course provides a foundation in the legal and institutional dimensions of U.S. water policy, and an in-depth examination of the political challenges of water sustainability and equity. Course topics include perspectives from local, state, national, international contexts. Students will gain substantive expertise in the landscape and key levers of U.S. water policy and politics, strengthen their policy analysis skills, and work toward solutions to complex socio-environmental problems.

Food Literacy For All | NUTR 518 – 001/EAS 639 – 03 (2 credits)
Jessica Walker, shakara tyler, Lilly Fink Shapiro | Tu 6:30PM – 8:00PM 

This community-academic partnership course offers a unique opportunity for students to gain an interdisciplinary overview of crises and opportunities in today’s food system through a weekly lecture series bringing high-profile speakers to campus from diverse sectors: academia, grassroots movements, public health, farming, and more. The course will be mainly virtual with some in-person sessions. 

Transformative Food Systems Seminar | EAS  556 – 001/NUTR  563 – 001/URP 536 – 001 (1.5 credits)
Lesli Hoey, Meha Jain | Fr 2:30PM – 4:00PM

This course aims to build students’ “equity competency” – the knowledge, skills and values needed to recognize and address historical and persistent structural inequities that pervade today’s food systems. Drawing on multiple knowledges; experiential, systems-based and peer learning; field trips; speakers; critical reflection and discussion; and project-based learning, students will: a) learn key definitions associated with structural racism and strategies for addressing equity in the food system, b) reflect on their identities, values, implicit biases, and leadership styles, c) study inequities across various food systems dimensions, scales, and geographies, d) explore diverse career pathways for catalyzing food systems change, and e) practice interpersonal, communication and organizational leadership skills needed for collective action and policy advocacy. The goal is to prepare reflective, visionary and strategic food systems scientists and leaders who use systems thinking, collaboration, and an ethics of justice.

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