Agroecology STOCKSCH 378

May 18 – August 14, 2020 * 3 credits

NOTE: if you do not have all of the prerequistes for this class, please request permission to enroll from the instructor at; rebel@umass.edu

Course Description

This introductory course explains agriculture by its fundament: the ecological principles and interactions that allow us to produce food. In contrast to similar courses, we do not start with conceptual basics and end up with a criticism of modern, resource-demanding farming; we trace humanity from the moment it started to modify ecosystems for seeding plants (in short, when humans first did agriculture) and finish with contemporary farming with all its meanders and opportunities. Through the achievements humans have made and the mistakes we have committed, we learn how nature is modified to become an agroecosystem, what distinguishes an agroecosystem from its environment, what consequences diverse interventions have, and how these consequences can be measured. The course links universal concepts with the environment of each student. Compliant with the transdisciplinary nature of agroecology, we avoid a strictly natural scientific approach but put the very actor and beneficiary of agriculture into the spotlight: the farmer.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will understand how the organisms that compose an agroecosystem interact with each other and with their environment; how human interventions affect these interactions and vice versa; what sustainable farming means; and how this sustainability can be measured. In this context, the term sustainability (which is commonly used but scarcely defined) will be related to its significance for the historically most relevant agroecosystem models. The facilitated concepts will be supported by discussions, movie clips, experiential learning (miniature experiments), and outdoor research. This will allow the students to connect the course content with their socio-economic and environmental reality. Therefore, students who successfully complete this course, will not only understand what agroecology is about and why it has evolved; they will also be able to apply this knowledge in their community agroecosystems.

Learning Goals

• To feel familiar with the term “agroecology” in its most interdisciplinary meaning;
• to recognize the significance of historic processes for the (un-)sustainability of farming systems;
• to comprehend why agroecology has arisen as a discipline;
• to obtain an in-depth comprehension of the interactions between humans, other organisms in an agroecosystem, and their abiotic environment;
• to understand the relevance of these interactions for agricultural production and for the conservation of the environment;
• to count with core tools to detect unsustainable farming practices; and
• to comprehend how political and socio-economic developments affect farm management and design.

Specific Learning Outcomes

Students completing the “Agroecology” course will be able to:

• determine and assess resource and energy inputs and outputs in agricultural systems and their significance for nutrient cycling, energy flows, and population dynamics;
• plan interventions in these processes for sustainably producing food and other agricultural goods;
• relate universal agroecological concepts with their own environment;
• measure the sustainability of agroecosystems at a basic level;
• contemplate the significance of actual and historic socio-economic and political developments for global and local food systems; and
• interact collaboratively with their peers in discussions and assignments, constructing arguments collectively.

Instructor

Roland Ebel, Ph.D.

Email: rebel@umass.edu (for emergencies only)

For routine correspondence use email within the course website.

Recommended textbook

Gliessman, S.R. 2014. Agroecology – The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems. Third Edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC, Taylor and Francis Group.

Selected chapters of this standard work of agroecology are embedded in the course content. The possession of the book is not mandatory but highly recommendable.

Students with Disabilities

If you anticipate barriers related to the format or requirements of this course, please discuss this with your instructor so that joint solutions can be found to ensure your full participation. If you are on campus and require disability-related accommodations, please register at:

http://www.umass.edu/disability/current.html.

Course format

The course is split into ten units, each of which lasts one or two weeks. Every unit concludes with a quiz (exam). Successfully completing the quiz is no requirement for advancing to the subsequent unit but highly recommendable. Every second unit, there will be a graded discussion, where students are encouraged to participate actively. While each student can do the quizzes at their own pace, discussions are held simultaneously. Additionally, there will be a mandatory homework activity, where students can choose between an experiential assignment and a research project.

Quizzes

Students are required to complete a quiz (exam) at the end of each unit. There are only three attempts per quiz. Class notes and the textbook may be used during the quizzes. Yet, each quiz is timed, and the quiz will automatically close and submit the answers once time expires. Quizzes will remain open until the last day of class. The maximum grading score (of all quizzes) is 600 out of 1000 points.

Discussions

There will be a graded forum when every second unit is finished. Students are encouraged to participate actively and with at least two posts in each of these discussions. There is no minimum size requirement for each post, but it must be pertinent, thoughtful and directly related to the topic being discussed as well as to the arguments of other students. Discussion participation is required during a determined period. The total grading value of the discussions is 200 points.

Homework

The homework assignment is mandatory but there are two modalities students can choose from: At the end of the first unit, students must decide whether they realize their homework activity in form of an experiential assignment or a research project. The homework is worth 200 points.

1. a) Experiential assignment

A low-stake experiential assignment will be released midst the course. In this experiment, students will work with real plants, collect data, and interpret the result.

b) Research project

The course-long research project consists of investigating diverse aspects of a real farm. There are universal guidelines, but the focus of the research project adapts to the interests of each student. Instructions will be given throughout the course and the results must be presented during the last course week. There will be a constant opportunity to discuss progress with the instructor.

Grading

A 1000-point system is used to calculate the final grade for the course.

• Quizzes: 10, each worth 60 points = 600 points
• Discussions: 5, each worth 40 points = 200 points
• Homework (experiential assignment OR research project): 1, worth 200 points

Table 1: Percentage of totally achievable points, correspondent letter grade and number of points to be earned.

Behavior Expectations

You are held responsible for keeping up with the instructional materials, preparing well for quizzes and discussions, and for proper on-line class behavior. The complete formal Code of Student Conduct that is in force at the University of Massachusetts Amherst can be accessed at:

http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/studentcode/ .

Additionally, a fairness code will be agreed between the professor and students in the first lecture.

Academic Honesty

No form of cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or facilitating of dishonesty will be condoned in the University community. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to:

Cheating – intentional use or attempted use of trickery, artifice, deception, breach of confidence, fraud and/or misrepresentation of one’s academic work

Fabrication – intentional and unauthorized falsification and/or invention of any information or citation in any academic exercise

Plagiarism – knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own work in any academic exercise. This includes submitting without citation, in whole or in part, prewritten term papers of another or the research of another, including but not limited to commercial vendors who sell or distribute such materials

Facilitating dishonesty – knowingly helping or attempting to help another commit an act of academic dishonesty, including substituting for another in an examination, or allowing others to represent as their own one’s papers, reports, or academic works

Sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty. Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed academic dishonesty should bring such information to the attention of the course instructor as soon as possible. Formal definitions of academic dishonesty, examples of various forms of dishonesty, and the procedures which faculty must follow to penalize dishonesty are contained in the Academic Honesty Policy:

http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/downloads/AcademicHonestyPolicy.pdf .

Inclusivity Statement

The community of students, staff, and professors represents a rich diversity of cultural, ideologic, and spiritual backgrounds. Hence, all of us are committed to providing an atmosphere for learning that respects diversity. As a lecturer, I am committed to:

• be honest;
• be proactive and critical, sharing my opinions, values, and beliefs;
• appreciate the opportunity to learn from each other in this community;
• respect everybody’s points of view and beliefs independently from their ethnical, racial, sexual, religious, cultural and political background;
• communicate in a respectful manner;
• act according to institutional and governmental laws;
• and contribute to a positive atmosphere on the online campus.