Sustainable Food Systems, MS

SFS Graduate Program Overview

Food Security, Sustainability, and Justice

The Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems prepares students to tackle the social and ecological complexities that create food insecurity.

Food is a human right

Food is a fundamental human right and central to sustainable, equitable, and just community development. Food is more than nutrients - it is an ecological relationship and an expression of cultural values.

Are you ready to engage the complex social and ecological dynamics of local food systems? Are you looking for ways to contribute to innovative initiatives and social movements for food security, sovereignty, and justice?

Clark’s Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems will help you build the knowledge, skills, and experience you need to connect your career and your values. Our graduates work across the globe - in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors - to enhance sustainability and justice within food systems.

By taking foundational courses in social and environmental science and developing expertise in project management and monitoring and evaluation, students are prepared to transform institutions and systems to produce equitable and sustainable outcomes. Our dynamic studio courses and Global Learning Collaboratives provide hands-on experiences and know-how to take action.

Complex challenges require authentic community engagement

Environmentally and socially just food systems require diverse forms of knowledge and abilities. Students learn from practitioners, policy-makers, and community members to work across intellectual, professional, and individual differences toward shared visions of sustainable and equitable food systems.

STEM Designated Program. If you are an international student with a Master’s in Sustainable Food Systems, you may be eligible to work in the US for up to 36 months on Optional Practical Training (OPT).

SFS Program Requirements

Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems

The master’s degree in SFS requires 10 graduate course units. Students will take the following:

These include Core Courses (2 units), Sustainability Studies (1 unit), Social Change and Institutional Transformation (1 unit), Fundamental Skills (2 units), Methods of Inquiry and Subject Matter Electives (1.5 to 2 units), Intersectionality (0.5 to 1 units), Common Seminar (0.5 units) and one Experiential Learning unit.

Core Courses (2 units)

• SSJ 30121 - Food Systems: Place, Politics and Policy  
• SSJ 328 - Food Security and Climate Change  

Sustainability Studies (select 1 unit)

• SSJ 367 - Climate Change Adaptation  
• SSJ 365 - Cities, Regions, Climate Change & Health  
• SSJ 332 - Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  
• SSJ 334 - Planning and Zoning for Community Developers  
• SSJ 30701 - Beyond the Population Bomb: Rethinking Population and The Environment in an Era of Climate Change  
• SSJ 30245 - Natural Resource Management  
• SSJ 30205 - Climate Change, Energy and Development  
• SSJ 30117 - Place-Based Ecological Knowledge  

Social Change and Institutional Transformation (select 1 unit)

• SSJ 3xx - Climate Change and Social Justice
• SSJ 30297 - Refugees, Forced Migration, and Belonging  
• SSJ 341 - Nongovernment Organizations: Catalysts for Development  
• SSJ 309 - Policy Analysis  
• SSJ 30115 - Community Power, Community Change  
• SSJ 30247 - Development Economics, its Discontents and Alternatives  
• SSJ 30101 - The Political Economy of Food and the Ethics of Eating  

Fundamental Skills (select 2 units)

• Project Management
  • SSJ 361 - Project Management for Social Change  
• Monitoring and Evaluation
  • SSJ 319 - Quantitative Methods and Statistics For Evaluators  
  • SSJ 30281 - Community Needs and Resource Analysis  
  • SSJ 30229 - Program Monitoring and Evaluation Fundamentals  
  • SSJ 30203 - Program Evaluation for Youth and Community Development Initiatives  
• Spatial Analysis
  • SSJ 388 - Advanced Vector GIS  
  • SSJ 376 - Spatial Database Development  
  • SSJ 310 - Intro to Geographic Information Science  
  • SSJ 30393 - Social Applications of GIS  
  • SSJ 30306 - GIS for International Development  
  • SSJ 30274 - Computer Programming for GIS  
  • SSJ 30262 - Web Mapping and Open Source GIS  
  • SSJ 302 - Python Programming  

• Organizational Change and Leadership
  • SSJ 335 - Strategies for Community Organizing  
  • SSJ 341 - Nongovernment Organizations: Catalysts for Development  
  • SSJ 345 - CDP Practice: Reflection and Deliberate Practice  
  • SSJ 31118 - Non Profit Resource Development  
  • SSJ 30296 - Nonprofit Management  

Methods of Inquiry and Subject Matter Electives (select 2 units)

• Research Methods and Design
  • SSJ 30291 - Qualitative Research Methods  
• Human Rights and Mobilities Inquiry
  • SSJ 347 - Human Rights Strategy, Tactics, and Practice  
  • SSJ 330 - Theory and Methods in Genocide and Human Rights Studies  
  • SSJ 30108 - Research Methods for Forced Migration  
• Climate Change and Justice Inquiry
  • SSJ 30334 - Special Topics   (Climate Narratives)
• Independent Research Options
  • SSJ 399 - Directed Study  
• Development
  • SSJ 395 - Culture, Environment, and Development  
  • SSJ 333 - Development Mgmt in Developing Countries  
  • SSJ 329 - Property and Community  
  • SSJ 30204 - Advanced Community Development Finance and Research  
  • SSJ 30112 - Housing Policy and Practice  
• Global and Community Health
  • SSJ 377 - Approaches to Global Health  
  • SSJ 308 - Health (in)Equity: Social Determinants and Policy Solutions  
• Refugees, Migrants, and Human Rights
  • SSJ 30235 - Trafficking: Globalization and Its Illicit Commodities  
  • SSJ 30231 - Humanitarian Assistances in Complex Emergencies/Disasters  
  • SSJ 30107 - Forced Migration and the City  
• Education, Youth, and Development
  • SSJ 314 - Education and Youth in a Global Context  
  • SSJ 340 - Fundamentals of Youth Work  
  • SSJ 30365 - Global Issues in Education  

Intersectionality (0.5 to 1 unit)

• SSJ 31119 - Intersectional Justice Movements  
• GEOG 340 - Graduate Seminar in Critical Mobilities  
• PSYC 325 - Intersectional Psychology  

 Common Seminar (0.5 units)

• SSJ 30180 - Principles and Ethics in Community Engagement  

Experiential Learning (1 unit)

• SSJ 30113 - Farming for Multispecies Justice: Urban Food Security, Racial Capitalism, and Abolitionist Agroecology Studio  
• SSJ 398 - Internship  

12 Unit MA/MS Degree - Research or Practice Track Requirements

 For the master’s degree requiring 12 graduate course units with the Research Option, students will take 12 courses in the following categories:

1. Two required core courses
2. One course each in Sustainability Studies, Social Change and Institutional Transformation, Fundamental Skills, Intersectional Analysis, Principles and Ethics in Community Engagement, and Experiential Learning
3. Three courses in Methods of Inquiry & Subject Matter Electives
4. Two units of substantive research, one directed study (SSJ 399 ) and one thesis course ( SSJ 397 ).

For the master’s degree requiring 12 graduate course units with the Practice Option. Students will take 12 courses in the following categories:

1. Two required core courses
2. One course each in Sustainability Studies, Social Change and Institutional Transformation, Intersectional Analysis, and Principles and Ethics in Community Engagement
3. Two courses in Methods of Inquiry & Subject Matter Electives
4. Three courses in Fundamental Skills
5. Two units of Experiential Learning

Sustainability and Social Justice Program Faculty

David Bell, Ed.D.

Ramón Borges-Méndez Ph.D
Nigel Brissett, Ph.D.
Cynthia Caron, Ph.D.

Timothy Downs D.Env.
Anita Fábos, Ph.D.
Jude Fernando, Ph.D.
Ellen Foley, Ph.D.
Denise Humphreys Bebbington Ph.D.

Eman Lasheen, Ph.D.
Ken MacLean, Ph.D.

Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger Ph.D.
Margaret Post, Ph.D.
Laurie Ross, Ph.D.

Morgan Ruelle, Ph.D.