ASU Farm Courses

Spring 2026 | Session C
Cross-listed: PHI 394 / SOS 394

Overview:
Feeling the weight of climate anxiety? This new interdisciplinary course explores how cultivating virtues such as mindfulness, gratitude, grit, hope, courage, environmental humility, and environmental stewardship can help us respond to ecological crises with resilience and care. Through engaging lectures, discussions, and experiential learning, students will examine the theory and practice of environmental virtues, gaining tools to foster personal well-being and community flourishing in the face of climate change. We might even spend time learning on a farm!

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Spring 2026 | Session C
Cross-listed: HUL 494/598, ITA 494/598, JUS 494/598, SST 494/598

Overview:
What does an accessible food community look like; and who is included? This hands-on Humanities Lab examines issues of accessibility, equity, and inclusion in local food systems, urban farms, and school gardens. Students will engage in fieldwork and community collaborations to understand how access to fresh, local food affects public health and sustainability. Through volunteering, site visits, and creative projects, participants will explore how to make food systems more equitable and resilient.

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Spring 2026 | Session C
Cross-listed: PUP 591/498

Overview:
Food touches everything and everyone. Behind every bite lies a complex system shaping who grows, processes, distributes, and ultimately accesses food. This small, discussion-based seminar unpacks how planning regulations, economic policies, and historical inequities have built today’s food landscapes and who they advantage or exclude. Through readings, student presentations, and applied research projects, participants will move from analysis to action, connecting food systems to sustainability, equity, and urban planning practice.

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Spring 2026 | Session C
Cross-listed: SOS 494/598

Overview:
This course explores Indigenous food systems and Native American agriculture across North America, with a strong focus on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities in the United States. Students will examine sustainable and Indigenous food systems, food sovereignty, and food security while investigating the relationships between food, Indigenous and environmental health, sustainability, and food policy. Through critical discussion and interdisciplinary perspectives, the course encourages students to understand what it means to indigenize food systems today and support resilient, culturally grounded food futures.

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Overview:
This course engages students in hands-on work at a local small-scale farm while investigating the systemic challenges of our current food supply. Student teams will co-design interventions, develop a collaborative case study, and explore educational strategies around food, health, and sustainability.

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Overview:
This lab connects ASU students with local elementary schools to support garden-based learning. Through these partnerships, students analyze food justice issues, contribute to school curricula, and propose model policies for making school gardens a statewide priority.

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Overview:
Students collaborate with agricultural stewards from Arizona, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Italy to research global strategies for protecting biocultural heritage. The course includes multimedia storytelling, podcasting, and an optional winter break study abroad program in Puerto Rico.

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Overview:
Students explore Native Hawaiian relationships to ʻāina (land), wai (water), and mea kanu (cultivated plants) through cultural, ecological, ethical, and historical perspectives. The course combines hands-on stewardship, moʻolelo (story) sharing, and field visits to regenerative cacao farms, fishponds, and working ranches. Participants learn from farmers, cultural practitioners, and community leaders about Indigenous knowledge, agroecology, aquaculture, and climate resilience. Reflection and ethical engagement are guided by ASU’s Principled Innovation framework.

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