Mutual Aid, Past, and Future

In "Beginning to End Hunger," M. Jahi Chappell quotes the Brazilian sociologist Herbert Jose "Betinho" de Souza, who said "I'm not some stupid optimist. I'm an active optimist." Chappell goes on to argue that active optimism—the notion that problems can be solved if we act on them with critical knowledge—is precisely what is needed to end hunger. This course will embrace the practice of active optimism by engaging students in place-based efforts to address food systems issues at COA. In this advanced course, students will form project teams and work collaboratively to build on on-going campus food systems initiatives. During week one of the course, students will select project teams and work with the instructor to develop a reading list and schedule tailored to the groups' needs. Thereafter, class time will be dedicated to discussing readings, developing and peer-reviewing research plans and materials, presenting progress-reports, collecting and analyzing data, and facilitating community input and outreach activities. Depending on their project, students may focus more or less on data collection and analysis, policy development, or program implementation. Students will be evaluated based on their participation (including self-directedness and professionalism), the quality of the processes and outputs of their projects, and their ability to work collaboratively with classmates and the campus-community (in particular, community-partners including COA’s dining managers, farm managers, Food Systems Working Group, and the Cabinet).

This course is designed to provide an overview of the use of international law in solving transnational environmental problems and shaping international behavior. We examine, as background, the nature and limitations of international law as a force for change. The course will then explore customary law, the relationship between soft and hard law, enforcement of international law, implementation mechanisms, and the effectiveness of multilateral environmental agreements. Special attention is given to existing international environmental law frameworks addressing climate change, Arctic and Antarctic development, ozone depletion, biological diversity, forest loss, export of toxic chemicals, and the host of issues raised by the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development and subsequent environmental fora. Students will also consider the interface between international environmental law and other important international forces such as the Bretton Woods institutions, human rights frameworks, and international development entities. Students will be evaluated on the quality of their classroom comments and several analytical problem sets given during the term. Students will also be asked to complete a major research project examining the effectiveness of a treaty or a proposed international environmental legal arrangement.

The global demand for food and fiber will continue to increase well into the next century. How will this food and fiber be produced? Will production be at the cost of soil loss, water contamination, pesticide poisoning, and increasing rural poverty? In this course, we examine the fundamental principles and practices of conventional and sustainable agriculture with a primary focus on crops. By examining farm case studies and current research on conventional and alternative agriculture we develop a set of economic, social, and ecological criteria for a critique of current agricultural practices in the United States and that will serve as the foundation for the development and analysis of new farming systems. Evaluations are based on two exams, class presentations, participation in a conference on potato production, and a final paper.

This three-credit integrated class will include fieldtrips, travel, on-campus classes, and independent project work. The class will explore the history of humans' relationship with apples (and fruit more generally) to explore the thousands of years of observing, eating, planting, and selecting that lay behind our love of apples. Students will learn about everything from the evolutionary history and geographic distribution of the Malus species to the history of apple cultivars in America. By 1900 there were perhaps 20,000 named varieties of apples in North America, and we will look at that explosion of diversity and then its loss in the 20th century. Students will work with trees, harvest fruit, and gain hands-on experience in orchards. The class will travel to the preeminent apple germplasm collection in the world in Geneva, NY, and will have the opportunity to explore the over 6,000 exemplars in the collection. Fieldtrips will also take us to commercial orchards, cider producers, local relict orchards, and conservation collections. Part of the class will be contributing to the work of tracking down, researching, and identifying old historic trees from around downeast Maine. This will require developing research skills, phenotypic identification skills, fruit exploration, and a wide range of other skills. We will also do deep dives on apple genetics, the deep history of agriculture, the introduction of European fruit in North America, changes to farming in Maine, and the conservation of heirloom crops.

The work of the class will include reading, writing, mapping, intensive fieldwork/fieldtrip experiences, hands-on elements, and a major independent research project. The class is appropriate for students with a very wide range of interests, but specific interests could include: history, food studies, horticulture, agriculture, genetics,and cultural heritage. This class will seek to integrate many fields of study to undertake a study of humans’ relationship with their food, the land, and the past through the focus on apples. Students will be evaluated on active participation in class discussion, completion of projects, field journals, written assignments, demonstration of phenotypic identification skills, capacity to learn in field settings, and a major independent project.

This course will take an in depth look at the art and science of fermented and cultured foods. The first half of the class will focus on the microbiology of fermentation with a specific focus on products derived from milk and soybeans. Each week there will be a laboratory portion in which students will explore how the basic fermentation processes and products change with different milk and soy qualities. These small-scale experiences and experiments will be complemented with field trips to commercial enterprises in Maine and Massachusetts. In the second half of the term students will explore the differences in flat, yeast, and sourdough breads. Final projects will focus on a foodway of choice and will culminate in presentations that explore the historical and cultural context in which these different cultured foods were developed and how these microbial-mediated processes enhance preservation, nutritional and economic value, and taste. Evaluations will be based on class participation, short quizzes, a lab report, journal, and a final project.

In the last decade the plight of wild and domesticated bees has pervaded the media and public discourse, yet bees remain largely misunderstood in our society. This course examines the interconnected relationship between humans and bees and asks what bees can teach us about ourselves and our food systems. Through readings, fieldtrips, and guest lectures, students will examine the social, economic, and political dimensions of human-bee interactions, investigating topics such as: historical and contemporary beekeeping practices; the political economy of honey; the role of pollination in agriculture and agroecosystems; domestication and human-animal relationships; biodiversity loss in agricultural systems; pollinator conservation and policy; and cooperation and decision-making in human and bee societies. A truly human-ecological course, Bees & Society integrates the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences to examine the applied problem of protecting pollinators in a time of abrupt environmental change. Students will be evaluated based on: (1) participation in class discussions, fieldwork, and field trips; (2) a series of short reflection papers; and (3) a final class project. For their final project, students will develop two native bee conservation workshops—one for elementary school students and one for farmers and gardeners—and host the workshops at COA’s farms.