IE 270 World Interdependence-Population and Food

Overview of Course

Exploring the difficulties of growing and effectively delivering sufficient food for a growing world population provides opportunities to identify challenges and potential solutions in a global context. This Fall 2026 course will explore the patterns and causes of change in population, food production, and urbanization. Critical factors to be explored include measures of human wellbeing; the relationship of agriculture with 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 in the context of climate change. 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. Students will examine the sustainability of agriculture, wildlife, fisheries, livestock, soil and water in the countries we visit, pros and cons of technology and biotechnology, and economic implications of hunger.

In the context of the Fall 2026 SAS voyage, students will compare and contrast the cultural differences in farming systems, food security and insecurity, politics and policies, food waste, and environmental and economic issues of the 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.