Chatham University
ER-6: Sustainability-Focused Courses

Sustainability Focused courses

1. FST 514 - Fair Trade (3)
Exploring the role of global trade agreements, government policies, international labor standards, and social movements in determining global food production and distribution. Examines historical food exchanges, debates over genetic modification, and strategies of multinational corporations, environmental concerns, and development scenarios. Case studies include coffee, chocolate, green beans, and aquaculture.

2. FST 517 - Sustainable Systems (3)
Students work collectively to collaborate with one client on a real world problem to provide an analysis of a complex food-related public policy issue. Projects include business plan for food-based social enterprise; production/distribution models for urban farm operations; researching solutions for bringing fresh food into low-income, historically disadvantaged communities.

3. FST 520 - Growing Sustainably (3)
Using Chatham’s Eden Hall Campus gardens as well as neighboring farms as a case study, students will integrate best practices for sustainable agriculture with theory and research analysis in the classroom. Topics will include basic principles of soil fertility, biodiversity, agriculture history, effects of both conventional and organic agriculture, and the politics surrounding the issues.

4. FST 520L - Growing Sustainably Lab (1)
Through working on Chatham’s Eden Hall Farm as well as neighboring farms, students will integrate best practices for sustainable agriculture in ongoing projects. Lab component will include work with the western regional office of Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, farm-to-table initiatives, ongoing regional vermiculture and composting, and garden market development and maintenance for a variety of community partners.

5. FST 530 - Sustainable Culinary Basics (3)
Covers the fundamental concepts and skills of classical cookery focusing on local and sustainable practices. Topics include sourcing local ingredients, flavor profiles, cooking theories. Includes basics and terminology in stocks, soups, sauces, vegetables, starches, meat, and poultry from Eden Hall and field trips to local farms. Techniques include sautéing, roasting, poaching, braising and frying. Class runs 7 weeks and is offered twice.

6. FST 532 - Sustainable Meat Production (3)
As part of sustainable agriculture and culinary knowledge, understanding meat production outside the conventional large scale processing facilities is a critical skill for students who will work with restaurants, farm markets, and other distribution venues. Students will learn butchering, packaging, and cooking techniques at a grass-fed livestock farm and production facility.

7. FST 605 - Food and Climate Change (3)
This course covers the basics of the relationship between climate change and food systems. Using case studies and research projects coursework covers a comprehensive understanding of agriculture, food production and consumption in relation to environmental change, with close attention to the different ways that communities experience such change.

8. SUS 502 Sustainability and Systems (3 cr)
Students develop skills necessary to understand, describe, and communicate complex systems. Working from examples and cases, students will learn how to identify key system drivers and communicate
findings to diverse audiences. In the process, students will learn to solicit useful information
and model systems using formal and informal methods.

9. SUS 503 Understanding Knowledge Across Disciplines (3 cr)
Students explore how individuals and disciplines approach knowledge and how different
types and sources of knowledge can help inform sustainability. They examine different
assumptions about the individual as a decision maker, including the perspectives of
traditional economics, behavioral economics, and anthropology. They explore the differences
and similarities among different academic disciplines including law, physics, literature,
philosophy, and religion. Finally, they explore the role of experts and expertise in planning and
managing sustainability.