Courses
In the seven years since the Sustainable Food Project was founded, Yale has produced a bumper crop of undergraduate, graduate, and professional coursework related to food and agriculture. These courses are offered in a range of disciplines, including economics, psychology, African studies, classics, and political science.
Here you can find the full list of courses in food, agriculture, and the environment being offered in the fall 2010 semester. Look out for our official course brochure in the dining halls – you can also find it here (pdf).
Fall 2010 courses in food, agriculture, and the environment:
American Studies – Anthropology – Architecture – East Asian Studies – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – Economics – Engineering and Applied Science – Environmental Studies – Ethics, Politics, and Economics – Forestry and Environmental Studies – Geology and Geophysics – History – Psychology – Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
American Studies
AMST 002
American Consumer Culture in the Twentieth Century
Jean-Christophe Agnew
TTh 1.00-2.15
Skills WR, Areas Hu
An interdisciplinary introduction to twentieth-century American consumer culture, exploring the rise (and fall) of mass consumption and its impact on the experience of family, faith, citizenship, community, gender, race, ethnicity, and politics. Topics include the changing moral valuations of consumption; the effect of consumerism on ritual life; the Americanization of immigrants and the marketing of race and ethnicity; consumer culture's reciprocal relations with literature and the arts; the politics of consumer resistance; suburbanization; and the consumer model of citizenship.
AMST 247/HLTH170/HIST147/HSHM202
Media and Medicine in Modern America
John Warner and
Gretchen Berland
TTh 10.30-11.20, 1 HTBA
Areas Hu
Relationships between medicine, health, and the media in the United States from 1880 to the present. The changing role of the media in shaping conceptions of the body, creating new diseases, influencing health and health policy, crafting the image of the medical profession, informing expectations of medicine and constructions of citizenship, and the medicalization of American life.
AMST 270/HIST170
Women in America: From the Colonial Period to 1900
Rebecca Tannenbaum
MW 10.30-11.20, 1 HTBA
Survey of the history of women and gender roles from the English settlement of the North American coast to 1900. Emphasis on work and family roles, social and political movements, and regional, racial, and cultural variation.
AMST 419/ER&M450/HIST152J
Land, Homelands, and American Indian Histories
Alyssa Mt. Pleasant
T 1.30-3.20
Skills WR, Areas Hu
Investigation of American Indian nations' relationships with their homelands, from creation traditions through the colonial period to late twentieth-century land claims litigation. Significant themes include American Indians' inscription of meaning onto the landscapes they know as their homelands, and contestation over these lands in the post-contact period.
Anthropology
ANTH 116
Our Place in Nature: Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Richard Bribiescas
MW 11.35-12.50
Areas Sc, So
Introduction to human and primate evolution, primate behavior, and human biology. Topics include a review of principles of evolutionary and population biology, the evolution of primates and people, and current thinking about the evolution of human behavior.
ANTH 171/ARCG171
Great Civilizations of the Ancient World
Anne Underhill
TTh 1.00-2.15
Areas So
A survey of selected prehistoric and historical cultures through examination of archaeological sites and materials. Emphasis on the methodological and theoretical approaches by which archaeologists recover, analyze, and interpret the material remains of the past.
ANTH 270
Evolution and Human Behavior
David Watts
MW 4.00-5.15
Areas So
A critical overview of evolutionary accounts of the behavior of modern humans. Background on the evolution of social behavior, foraging, and mating systems, with examples from various nonhuman species. Detailed examination of evolutionary hypotheses about selected aspects of human behavior, such as mate choice and intergroup aggression, and associated controversies.
ANTH 438/ANTH638
Culture, Power, Oil
Douglas Rogers
T 1.30-3.20
Areas So
Study of the production, circulation, and consumption of petroleum in order to explore topics in globalization, empire, cultural performance, natural resource extraction, and the nature of the state. Case studies include the United States, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and the former Soviet Union.
ANTH 456/ARCG456/ARCG856/ANTH856
Reconstructing Human Evolution: An Ecological Approach
Andrew Hill
W 1.30-3.20
Areas So
Methods for obtaining data relevant to ecological factors that have affected human evolutionary change, such as changes in climate, competition with other animals, and availability and kinds of food supply. Evaluation of techniques for obtaining ecological data in such fields as geology, paleobotany, and paleozoology. Ethnographic, primatological, and other biological models of early human behavior.
ANTH 475/ANTH875
Issues in Primate Behavioral Ecology
David Watts
Th 2.30-4.20
Examination of current and historically important topics in the study of primate behavioral ecology, including mating systems, sexual selection, and influences on reproductive success; feeding competition, predation, group living, and the evolution of social relationships; life history strategies; and insights gained by combining behavioral data with noninvasive hormonal and genetic sampling. Prerequisite: ANTH 270a ora comparable course in Biology.
ANTH 541/F&ES836/HIST965/PLSC779
Agrarian Societies
Michael McGovern,
James Scott, and
Elisabeth Wood
Th 1.30-5.20
Architecture
ARCH 344
Urban Life and Landscape
Elihu Rubin
T 1.30-3.20
Areas Hu
The built environment as a text tool for constructing narratives of human activity, aspiration, and struggle. Methods of viewing the ordinary landscape of the twentieth-century American city: pulling apart its historical layers, examining social meanings, and observing its function today. Modes of inquiry include video, public presentations, field trips, photography, and writing.
East Asian Studies
EAST 408/SOCY395/EP&E308
Wealth and Poverty in Modern China
Deborah Davis
W 1.30-3.20
Areas So
The underlying causes and consequences of the changing distribution of income, material assets, and political power in contemporary China. Substantive focus on inequality and stratification. Instruction in the use of online Chinese resources relevant to research. Optional weekly Chinese language discussions. Prerequisite: a previous course on China since 1949.
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
E&EB 160
Diversity of Life
Wendy Clement
TTh 2.30-3.45 KBT 102
Areas Sc
A survey of the diversity of organisms on Earth with a focus on their evolutionary history, biology, and adaptations to their environment.
E&EB 220/EVST223/E&EB520
General Ecology
David Post
MWF 10.30-11.20
Areas Sc
The theory and practice of ecology, including the ecology of individuals, population dynamics and regulation, community structure, ecosystem function, and ecological interactions at broad spatial and temporal scales. Topics such as climate change, fisheries management, and infectious diseases are placed in an ecological context. Prerequisite: MATH 112a or b or equivalent.
E&EB 275
Biological Oceanography
Mary Beth Decker
TTh 11.35-12.50 OML 201
Areas Sc
Exploration of a range of coastal and pelagic ecosystems. Relationships between biological systems and the physical processes that control the movements of water and productivity of marine systems. Anthropogenic impacts on oceans, such as the effects of fishing and climate change. Includes three Friday field trips.
Economics
ECON 170
Health Economics and Public Policy
Howard Forman
TTh 2.30-3.45
Areas So
Application of economic principles to the study of the U.S. health care system. Emphasis on basic principles about the structure of the U.S. system, current problems, proposed solutions, and the context of health policy making and politics. After introductory microeconomics. May not be taken after ECON 467a.
ECON 186
European Economic History, 1700–1815
Timothy Guinnane
TTh 1.00-2.15
Areas So
European economic growth and development from the late seventeenth century through the first stages of the British industrial revolution. The role of institutional development, trade and imperialism, agricultural improvements, and industrialization. Particular attention to comparisons between Britain and other parts of Europe. After ECON 115a or b or 121a or b, and ECON 116a or b or 122a or b.
ECON 300/INTS358
International Trade Theory and Policy
TN Srinivasan and
Ernesto Zedillo
MW 9.00-10.15
Areas So
Theories of comparative advantage, factor abundance, and product differentiation as reasons for trade between countries. The relationship between trade and aggregate welfare; historical and contemporary issues in globalization and trade policy. After intermediate microeconomics.
ECON 320
Economic Policy in Latin America
Eduardo Engel
WF 2.30-3.45
Areas So
The economic, social, and political impact of reforms implemented in Latin America during the 1990s. Review of the inward-oriented development model pursued from the 1950s to the early 1980s; the debt crisis of the 1980s and the policy consensus that followed. Prerequisites: introductory microeconomics and introductory macroeconomics.
ECON 453
Antitrust Law and Economics
Staff
F 2.30-4.30
Areas So
The character, logic, and economic effects of U.S. antitrust laws, drawing on legal and economic analyses. Major areas of antitrust law: price fixing and other horizontal restraints of trade, vertical restraints of trade, monopolization, and mergers. After intermediate microeconomics or equivalent. Preference to students who have completed ECON 200b.
ECON 465/EP&E224
Debating Globalization
Ernesto Zedillo
M 2.30-4.20
Areas So
Facets of contemporary economic globalization, including trade, investment, and migration. Challenges and threats of globalization: inclusion and inequality, emerging global players, global governance, climate change, and nuclear weapons proliferation. After two terms of introductory economics. Preference to seniors majoring in Economics or EP&E.
ECON 476
Topics in International Economics
Miguel Ramirez
W 1.30-3.20
Areas So
Recent developments in international economics. Trade policy and market structure; the economics of trading blocs such as the EEC and NAFTA; the economic consequences of continued U.S. external deficits; globalization and inequality; exchange rates, interest rates, and volatility; speculative capital flows and exchange rate policies; and financial crises and the prospects for the European Monetary Union. Prerequisites: intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics or equivalents.
Engineering and Applied Science
ENAS 443/ENVE443/F&ES380
Greening Business Operations
Thomas Graedel and
Marian Chertow
MW 1.00-2.15
Engineering, environmental, and financial perspectives applied to selected industries. Methods from operations management, industrial ecology, green chemistry and engineering, and accounting and finance are used to investigate sustainability approaches and the relationship between environmental and economic considerations. Tools include discounted cash-flow analysis, life-cycle assessment, and environmental cost accounting. Field trips to companies.
Environmental Studies
EVST 215
Scientific and Environmental Writing
Carl Zimmer
T 9.25-11.15
Skills WR
An intensive workshop in writing about science and the environment for a broad audience. Translating complex subjects into elegant prose, conducting interviews, handling controversies, researching articles, and finding one's voice. Readings include exemplary works ranging from newspaper articles to book excerpts.
EVST 260
Structure, Function, and Development of Vascular Plants
Graeme Berlyn
MW 9.00-10.20 GML
Areas Sc
Morphogenesis and adaptation of trees from seed formation and germination to maturity. Physiological and developmental processes associated with structural changes in response to environment are discussed from both a phylogenetic and an adaptive point of view. After MCDB 120a.
EVST 261/G&G261/F&ES261
Minerals and Human Health
Brian Skinner and
Ruth Blake
TTh 11.35-12.50
Areas Sc
Study of the interrelationships between Earth materials and processes and personal and public health. The transposition from the environment of the chemical elements essential for life. After one year of college-level chemistry or with permission of instructor; G&G 110a recommended.
EVST 424 /PLSC420
Rivers: Nature and Politics
James Scott
W 3.30-5.20
Areas So
The natural history of rivers and river systems and the politics surrounding the efforts of states to manage and engineer them.
EVST 285/F&ES285
Political Ecology: Nature, Culture, and Power
Amity Doolittle
T 1.30-3.20
Areas So
Study of the relationship between society and the environment. Global processes of environmental conservation, development, and conflicts over natural resource use; political-economic contexts of environmental change; ways in which understandings of nature are discursively bound up with notions of culture and identity.
EVST 386
Environmental History of the Middle East
Alan Mikhail
M 3.30-5.20
Skills WR, Areas Hu
Exploration of how one writes an environmental history of the Middle East. Consideration of what environmental history is; questions of method, sources, and historiography. Topics include irrigation, forestry, agriculture, animal technology, gender and nature, gardens, colonialism, environmentalism, and disease.
EVST 398
Energy, Climate, Law, and Policy
John Wargo
M 1.30-3.20
Areas So
Overview of the legal norms governing patterns of energy use and associated adverse effects on climate stability, environmental quality, and human health. Focus on U.S. law and policy, with some consideration of relevant international treaties. Special attention to building efficiency and to land-use regulation and urban growth, particularly coastal prospecting and development.
Ethics, Politics, and Economics
EP&E 221
Health Care Challenges in the Twenty-First Century
Howard Forman
W 1.30-3.20
Areas So
Ethical, policy, and political challenges inherent in the current health care system of the United States. Lessons that can be learned from health care systems in other developed and emerging markets.
Forestry and Environmental Studies
F&ES 012
Urban Ecology in New Haven
Gordon Geballe
TTh 9.00-10.15
Methods from ecosystem ecology, landscape ecology, and industrial ecology applied to questions of how cities work and how they can be more sustainable. Guest speakers, community projects, and field trips in New Haven. Application of theory to New Haven and to cities around the world. Enrollment limited to freshmen. Preregistration required; see under Freshman Seminar Program.
F&ES 245/PLSC146/EVST245
International Environmental Policy and Governance
Benjamin Cashore
Areas So
The development of international environmental policy and the functioning of global environmental governance. Critical evaluation of theoretical claims in the literature and the reasoning of policy makers. Introduction of analytical and theoretical tools used to assess environmental problems. Case studies emphasize climate, forestry, and fisheries.
Geology and Geophysics
G&G 205
Natural Resources and Their Sustainability
David Evans
Jay Ague
TTh 9.00-10.15
Areas Sc
The formation and distribution of renewable and nonrenewable energy, mineral, and water resources. Topics include the consequences of extraction and use; depletion and the availability of substitutes; and economic and geopolitical issues. Recommended preparation: introductory chemistry and geology.
History
HIST 010
Postwar America at Home: 1945–1960
Cynthia Russett
TTh 2.30-3.45
Skills WR, Areas Hu
Ways in which American culture took shape in the years after World War II. Focus on domestic culture and society during the years when unprecedented prosperity vied with fears of Armageddon. Enrollment limited to freshmen. Preregistration required; see under Freshman Seminar Program.
HIST 140/HSHM215
Public Health in America, 1793–2000
Naomi Rogers
MW 11.35-12.25, 1 HTBA
A survey of public health in America from the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 to AIDS and breast cancer activism at the end of the past century. Focusing on medicine and the state, topics include quarantines, failures and successes of medical and social welfare, the experiences of healers and patients, and organized medicine and its critics.
Psychology
PSYC 419
Food Policy and Science
Kelly Brownell
M 1.30-3.20
Areas So
The science on food and nutrition is connected with pressing policy issues. Topics include hunger, obesity, and the impact of food production and consumption on the environment.
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
WGSS 120
Women, Food, and Culture
Maria Trumpler
TTh 1.30-2.20
Areas So
Interdisciplinary exploration of the gendering of food production, preparation, and consumption in cross-cultural perspective. Topics include agricultural practices, cooking, pasteurization, kitchen technology, food storage, home economics, hunger, anorexia, breast-feeding, meals, and ethnic identity.
