MICROBIO 494FI Social Equity of the Microbiome

Students will engage in meaningful literature research and dialogue about whether organic standards are meeting the needs of both environmental and community sustainability. We will also consider the benefits of sustainable agriculture, both in the sense of conservation of land and soil as limiting natural resources, as well as the sense of community with the farm and food production as the center of family and local community life. In exploring these wide-ranging issues, students will have the opportunity to reflect on and integrate their Gen Ed learning experience from various courses as well as practice Gen Ed learning objectives at a more advanced level as they seek meaningful solutions to complex and ever evolving societal problems.  Students will work in small groups to explore these solutions allowing them to participate in shared learning experiences as they apply prior knowledge from various Gen Ed courses and social experiences to solve challenging real-world problems.  Satisfies one of three required modules of the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-MicBio or BS-MicBio majors.