Valuing Variety: Agrobiodiversity Conservation
The course focused on the topic of agricultural biodiversity conservation, and so was related to my focus areas of food and the environment.
At Indiana University Bloomington
This original course was a seminar for a group of dormitories where courses and other activities are offered to foster community among residents (a “living-learning community”). I taught it in the Collins LLC at Indiana University Bloomington in Spring 2014. The course was selected by a committee of student leaders and faculty advisors, from among several proposed courses.
The course focused on the topic of agricultural biodiversity conservation, and so was related to my focus areas of food and the environment. It was rooted in cultural anthropology but was multi-disciplinary, drawing on political science, history, ecology, biology, and more. The course also carried General Education credit for the Natural and Mathematical Sciences.
I selected the course readings from articles and book chapters, and we also hosted several guest speakers throughout the semester. The course had about 12 students, mostly sophomores and juniors, with many different majors. Students responded to reflection prompts weekly and created their own research projects, based on a topic of interest to them. Several students used their projects as departure points for future work, including study abroad and career development.
Check out the syllabus for Spring 2014:
