SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS Colorado State University, Academic Partner Voyage: Spring 2022 Discipline: Agricultural Sciences/International Education Course Number and Title: AGRI/IE 270 World Interdependence - Population and Food Division: Lower Faculty Name: Andrew Seidl Semester Credit Hours: 3 Prerequisites: None COURSE DESCRIPTION Efforts to feed a growing world population offers an opportunity to understand challenges and potential solutions in a global context. This course explores the patterns and causes of change in population and food throughout the world; world economic interdependence and how it shapes population and food issues; measures of human wellbeing; agriculture and sustainable production and consumption practices; the roles of trade, research, aid, gender, education, government, intergovernmental organizations, and business in lifting people out of poverty; and strategies for improving the world food supply. It casts poverty as the driver of population growth and hunger and looks at international efforts to eliminate global poverty through the lens of the United Nations sustainable development goals. In the context of the Spring 2022 SAS voyage, students will compare and contrast cultural differences in farming systems, food security and insecurity, politics and policies, food waste, and environmental and economic issues in various countries visited on the voyage. Students discussions, assignments and field trips will dive deeper into countries’ efforts toward achieving the sustainable development goals and their progress in measures of human wellbeing. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon the completion of this course, students will be able to: Understand the patterns and causes of change in global population and food production. Evaluate world economic interdependence and its effects on population, food and natural resource issues. Apply measures of wellbeing and the sustainable development goals to evaluate progress and needs across countries. Assess economic principles underlying food production and strategies for improving the world food supply. Examine economic, social and cultural implications of hunger. Discuss problems and potential solutions related to food sustainability and security in countries visited. Identify and apply knowledge of food and society to practices in each of the countries on the SAS Spring 2022 course. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AUTHOR: Gustafson, Raven and Ehrlich, editors TITLE: Population, Agriculture and Biodiversity: Problems and Prospects PUBLISHER: University of Missouri Press ISBN: 978-0826222022 DATE/EDITION: 2020 TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE Embarkation Day — January 5 1: Introductions, syllabus, exploring perspectives on population, food, biodiversity and poverty 2: Population, resources and the environment: The situation in 2019. 3: Food for 10 billion: Possibilities and probabilities 4: Trade’s contribution to food security 5: Feeding the world in the wake of climate change and resource constraints: selecting an appropriate farm level response strategy; Climate change and food security 6: Globalized agriculture and tropical deforestation 7: Rethinking water on a growing, hungry planet 8: Livestock impact on biodiversity; 9: Agriculture and pollution: Sharing the crowded two way street. 10: The impact of agriculture on global biodiversity. 11: Examination review 12: Examination 1: 25% 13: Measuring better to manage better; Measures of human wellbeing 14: Measures of human wellbeing; 15: Greening GDP; Real progress indicator; Ecological footprint calculator 16: Millennium Development Goals Sustainable Development Goals 17: Sustainable Development Goals, Targets and Indicators: 1-6 18: Sustainable Development Goals, Targets and Indicators: 7-12 19: Sustainable Development Goals, Targets and Indicators: 13-17 20: Examination review. 21: Examination 2: 25% 22: Group project presentations, discussion and peer assessments. China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore. 23: Group project presentations, discussion and peer assessments. India, Mauritius, South Africa, Brazil. 24: Group project presentations, discussion and peer assessments. Morocco, Spain, Ireland. 25: FINAL CLASS. Synthesis and discussion of lessons learnt and future steps. Disembarkation Day — April 20 FIELD WORK Semester at Sea® field experiences allow for an unparalleled opportunity to compare, contrast, and synthesize the different cultures and countries encountered over the course of the voyage. In addition to the one field class, students will complete a Comparative Experiential Project that span multiple countries. Field Class & Assignment STUDENTS: Field Class proposals listed below are not finalized. Confirmed ports, dates, and times will be posted to the Spring 22 Courses and Field Class page when available. Field Class attendance is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Do not book individual travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of your field class. Field Classes constitute 20% of the contact hours for each course. A moveable feast: Agri-food in the Mekong Delta Upon completion of this field course, the successful student should gain skills to: Evaluate world economic interdependence and its effects on population, food and natural resource issues. Apply measures of wellbeing and the sustainable development goals to evaluate progress and needs across countries. Assess economic principles underlying food production and strategies for improving the world food supply. Examine economic, social and cultural implications of hunger. Discuss problems and potential solutions related to food sustainability and security in countries visited. Identify and apply knowledge of food and society to practices in each of the countries on the SAS Spring 2022 course. Proposed: Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The Mekong Delta is a network of distributaries in southwestern Vietnam, between Ho Chi Minh City and Cambodia. The river itself starts in the Himalayas and passes through China, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia before reaching Vietnam. More than half of Vietnam’s rice and fish comes from the delta region. Life in the area revolves around water, from the famous floating markets to the vast agricultural industries. An amazing variety of fruits, flowers and livestock grow in the region. The Mekong River Delta is the rice basket of Vietnam, providing the sustenance for millions. It is vital to the Vietnamese economy and diet and provides an excellent example of agri-food and natural resource based economic development. We will paddle through the Can Gio UNESCO biosphere reserve, visit a coconut processor family business, perhaps a street food tour, and visit the Me Taw floating markets during our day in the delta. Evaluation will be on the basis of engagement in the trip and in the post trip debrief/class discussion and a brief (~2 page, single spaced, 11 pt font) reflective paper on your observations on the following guiding questions: About what proportion of the food you observed appeared to be from local (Vietnamese) sources and what proportion appeared to be imported? About what proportion of the food you observed was fresh and what proportion packaged or processed? About what proportion of food sellers and producers were female, male, children or adults? Did there appear to be well defined gender and age roles in the agricultural supply chain? How do you think the diets of the local people you saw today are the same or different from your diet? The typical diets of people in your home country/town? The field class will be worth 20% of your course grade with the reflective paper comprising 75% of the points for the field class. Comparative Experiential Project The CEP is the required comparative assignment that span multiple countries. The Comparative Experiential Project constitutes at least 5% of the grade for each course. For IE 270, the comparative experiential project will comprise 10% of the course grade. In every port of call you and all local people will engage in eating. Food and food consumption choices may include home gardens or farming, outdoor markets, grocery stores, and restaurants. Available food may be fresh or processed, locally produced or imported. Prices may be fixed, or negotiation, bartering and exchange may be the norm. For this comparative experiential project, please observe how local people obtain their food. In at least five ports of call, visit an outdoor market and a grocery store and note the following: relative prices of goods common to both locations (be specific, if possible), differences and similarities in the types of goods on offer, and a sense of any observable similarities or differences in the gender, age, ethnicity, and/or likely economic situations of buyers and sellers across both locations. Provide a qualitative assessment of the state of the site (e.g., cleanliness, maintenance). Provide a one-two page, single spaced comparative analysis of your findings. Pictures are encouraged and are not included in your page limits. METHODS OF EVALUATION Performance on the following work will comprise the evaluation: 1) Examinations (2): 50%; 2) Group project: 20%. 3) Comparative experiential project: 10% 4) Field class and field class assignment: 20% Exams: Examinations will be in class and will be short answer and essay format, typically consisting of 4-5 multipart questions. There will be no final exam. Exam 1 (25%) covers the first half of the course. Exam II (25%) covers the second half. Group project: The class will have the opportunity to explore