MSFS-515: Sustainability, Climate, and Systems Thinking

Students will develop fluency in systems thinking tools and apply them to major environmental and social issues intersecting with food systems. The course will also offer a deep dive into the subject of sustainability within the context of related crises - climate change, ocean acidification, and biodiversity loss. Students will be exposed to modeling, life‑cycle assessment, policy analysis, fieldwork, and systems artifacts to evaluate and design evidence‑based interventions that emphasize equity, feasibility, and reveal unintended consequences.

This course provides a forum for exploring the social, cultural, political, and economic issues that arise when considering what it means to live and work sustainably in our dramatically changing world. Emphasis will be placed on food system contributions to global warming, the way that a changing climate will impact the food system and the food we can eat, and identifying leverage points for reducing the negative consequences of these crises. The final class project will be a substantial contribution to the School’s What We Eat research project, as well as tools and practices suitable for use in later MSFS courses and the Capstone.