Interested in learning more about agriculture and/or food? Got an individual agriculture/food related project that you’d like to complete? This Student-Originated Studies (SOS) will support students pursuing individual work in agricultural and food related topics. Topics may include on-farm internships and/or research projects. Twelve credits of this SOS will focus on individualized learning goals.The remaining four credits will be earned through common work and a required weekly group meeting to help form a peer support group for your ILC. This program is ideal for self-motivated students with an interest in agriculture and/or food systems.

Students will hold in-program internships or research projects that will be 25-30 hours per week in scope. All students will come together as a class once a week to discuss each students progress on fulfilling their designated contract learning objectives. The common work will potentially include a group meeting one day a week, maintenance of a detailed field journal to capture research, field and on-farm learning, weekly readings and seminar, group discussion papers, and a final paper and presentation. In the required weekly group meetings, students will explore timely issues relevant to small scale, local, and direct market farming, and food related topics. These issues may include, but are not limited to, appropriate scale technology, nutrient cycling, water use and law, food production regulations, finances, farm and crop planning and farm business planning, sustainable production practices and other relevant issues decided upon by the group. Students’ individual projects/internships will provide the foundation for exploring relevant farming topics and give a richer and broader basis for discussion.