New integrative courses, professional skills seminars valued by students

Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:00:00 -0500

The two new integrative courses and two professional skills seminars that were developed explicitly for our IGERT have had pronounced positive impacts on students. For example, the PIs who lead the course on Food Systems and Poverty Reduction concepts and themes have received notes from students saying that the course had been life/career-altering for them. Similar good things have been said by students about the capstone integrative course where there is a focus on multidisciplinary discussions around food system problems, as well as work on a group writing project. At least one of the trainee group papers is being submitted to a leading journal for review. Similarly, the first of the two professional skills seminars has prompted students to think about crucial issues that commonly fall between the cracks in disciplinary coursework. The second seminar, in which they develop their dissertation research proposal, has helped to accelerate students' progress through their PhD program