Graduate Specialization

Students who are enrolled in any graduate program at MSU are eligible to complete the MSU Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS) Graduate Specialization.  The requirements for the SAFS Graduate Specialization are 9 credits: 3 credits of required courses and 6 credits of elective courses.

Students that registered before Fall 2021 can elect to finish the original EFFS program, or the updated graduate SAFS specialization requirements.

Required Courses (3 credits)

  • CSS 824: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Field Tour (parallel with CSS 224)
    Field trip visits to farm and food system operations in Michigan; offered in Fall, with an October 31 end date. Please see CSS 224 page for additional field trip information.
  • CSS 826: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Capstone Seminar
    Temporarily suspend for Spring 2022 - back in Spring 2023! Readings, lectures, and discussions in SAFS topics. Students may present on their own work.

Elective Courses (6 credits)

One agricultural science course (3 credits)

  • CSS 424: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems: Integration and Synthesis (3 credits)
  • CSS 431: International Agricultural Systems (3 credits)
  • CSS 442: Agricultural Ecology (3 credits)
  • ENT 479: Organic Pest Management (3 credits)
  • ENT 848: Biological Control of Insects and Weeds (3 credits)
  • HRT 486: Biotechnology in Agriculture: Applications and Ethical Issues (3 credits)

One social science course (3 credits)

  • ABM 400: Public Policy Issues in the Agri-Food System (3 credits)
  • AFRE 861: Agriculture in Economic Development (3 credits)
  • CSUS 463: Food Fight: Politics of Food (3 credits)
  • CSUS 811: Community, Food and Agriculture: A Survey* (3 credits)
  • CSUS 823: Contemporary Issues in Animal-Human Relationships (3 credits)
  • CSUS 838: Participatory Modes of Inquiry (3 credits)
  • CSUS 848: Community Based Natural Resource Management in International Development (3 credits)
  • CSUS 855: Political Ecology of Food (3 credits)
  • CSUS/FW 858: Gender, Justice and Environmental Change: Issues and Concepts (3 credits)
  • GEO 410: The Geography of Food and Agriculture (3 credits)
  • HNF 406: Global Foods and Culture (3 credits)

For more program information, advising, questions regarding course substitutions, and funding opportunities, contact Dr. Katherine Alaimo, alaimo@msu.edu, SAFS Program Director and graduate advisor.

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