InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Future of Food > Student Materials > Section 1: Introduction > Module 1: Introduction > Module 1.1: The Future of Food: Course Overview
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
showLearn More
hideHide
These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »
show Download
hideHide
The student materials are available for offline viewing below. Downloadable versions of the instructor materials are available from this location on the instructor materials pages. Learn more about using the different versions of InTeGrate materials »

Download a PDF of all web pages for the student materials

Download a zip file that includes all the web pages and downloadable files from the student materials

For the Instructor

These student materials complement the Future of Food Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: January 11, 2018

Module 1.1: The Future of Food: Course Overview

Introduction

This course, The Future of Food, provides introductory-level learning perspectives on human and environmental systems of food and resource use, in order to understand challenges and opportunities. The goal of the course is to understand and be able to apply an integrated perspective on the environmental and human dimensions of environmental issues related to food production and consumption. The content of the course addresses both environmental and human systems of food and resource use to an equal extent. In the case of the first (environmental systems), you will learn about the geosystems and agroecology of soil, nutrients, crops, water, and climate that form the fundamental basics of food-growing environmental systems. In the case of the second (human systems) you will learn about factors such as population and the roles of culture, social interactions, economics, and politics. These multiple perspectives are integrated into the framework of "Coupled Natural-Human Systems" (the CNHS is used beginning in 1.2 (also called Coupled Human-Natural Systems or CHN). We will focus on current environment-food systems, while also including the past trajectories and future trends of food systems. The course also blends information and analysis of local-scale environment and food systems with a focus on the regional, national, and global scales, and asks you as a learner to apply this knowledge in a Capstone Project that you assemble over the course of the semester in collaboration with other students. The course features active learning in both online and classroom settings and a wide variety of learning materials and methods.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »