The Food Systems Graduate program offers a transdisciplinary, cohort educational model.

The PhD in Food Systems combines a comprehensive investigation of food systems and a commitment to developing methods for solving the current problems of the food system.

Every year, the food systems cohort will work together to address problems and devise potential solutions through an oral competency examination. Students then move towards disciplinary depth and mastery by designing a course of study with a dissertation committee and developing a research proposal as part of a qualifying exam.

A student’s course of study in the PhD program will integrate a comprehensive understanding of food systems with focused disciplinary inquiry. Students draw from each other’s skills and experiences to foster a more rich and diversified learning environment. The program curriculum integrates humanities, social and natural science approaches to understanding complex and interdependent food systems of varying scope and scale.