Search result: Catalogue data in Spring Semester 2015

Agroecosystem Science Master Information
Minors
Agricultural- & Food- and Environmental Economics
NumberTitleTypeECTSHoursLecturers
752-2123-00LRisk Awareness, Risk Acceptance and TrustW3 credits2VM. Siegrist
AbstractThe course provides an overview about risk perception and acceptance of new technologies. In addition, the most important findings of the research related to decisions under uncertainty are presented.
ObjectiveStudents know the most important theoretical approaches in the domains of risk perception and acceptance of new technologies. Furthermore, students understand the paradigms and the research results in the domain of decision making under uncertainty.
751-1710-00LAgri-Food Marketing Information W2 credits2GD. Barjolle, O. Schmid
AbstractThis course explores how market research is used by the actors in the value chains for positioning and promotion of food (course held in english).
ObjectiveThe objective of the course is to highlight how research marketing techniques can be mobilized for developing supply chains, in order to create and distribute value.
Students will be invited to discover advanced tools in marketing research (retailer and consumer panel data analysis, Likert scales. conjoint analysis and contingent valuation...), illustrated by a set of up date case-studies presented by professional invited lectures. This approach will allow students to be informed about present discussions in the Swiss agri-food supply chains.
ContentSome lectures are focused on methods presentation. Students then choose a mini-case, which they will carry out in groups of 5-6 students. Various issues are the key points of the mini-cases: construction of a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for sustainability standards, ethical claims or origin-based labels; marketing and promotion of PDO-PGI products; marketing and promotion of organic products, collective promotion on Swiss products in Switzerland and abroad; produits du terroir and gastronomy; short supply chain; public procurement.
Lecture notespaper copies of the presentations are distributed during the lecture.
752-2110-00LMultivariate Statistical Analysis Restricted registration - show details W3 credits2VC. Keller, V. Visschers
AbstractThe course starts by introducing some basic statistical concepts and methods, e.g. data exploration, the idea behind significance testing, and the use of the statistical software SPSS. Based on these fundaments, the following analyses are discussed: regression analysis, factor analysis and variance analysis.
ObjectiveStudents will learn to use multivariate analysis methods and to interpret their results, by means of theory and practice.
ContentThis course provides an introduction into the theories and practice of multivariate analysis methods that are used in the fields of food sensory science, consumer behavior and environmental sciences. The course starts by introducing some basic statistical concepts and methods, e.g. data exploration, the idea behind significance testing, and the use of the statistical software SPSS. Based on these fundaments, the following analyses are discussed: regression analysis, factor analysis and variance analysis. During the course, theoretical lectures alternate with practical sessions in which data are analyzed and their results are interpreted using SPSS.


Agenda

19.02 Introduction to the course and basic concepts of multivariate statistics (Keller and Visschers) in Room HG D5.2

26.02 Introduction into SPSS
Exercise 1a: Data description (Visschers)

05.03 Data handling and exploration,
Exercise 1b: Data exploration (Visschers)

12.03 Basic Statistical Tests (Visschers)

19.03 Exercise 2: Basic Statistical Tests (Visschers)

26.03 Regression analysis (Keller)

02.04 Exercise 3: Regression analysis (Keller)

3.4-12.4 Easter Holiday

16.04 Variance Analyis (Keller)

23.04 Exercise 4: Variance Analysis (Keller)

30. 04 Reliability Analysis (Visschers)

07.05 Principle Component Analysis (Keller)

14. 05 Ascension Day, no lecture

21.05 Exercise 5: PCA and Reliability Analysis (Visschers)

28.05 EXAM (Room will be announced)
LiteratureField, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (4th Edition). Sage Publications. ISBN: 1-4462-4918-2
or
Field, A. (2009) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (3rd Edition). Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-1-84787-907-3
or
Field, A. (2005). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (2nd Edition). Sage Publications. ISBN: 0-7619-4452-4
Prerequisites / NoticeThis course will be given in English.
851-0594-02LInternational Environmental Politics: Part IIW4 credits2VT. Bernauer
AbstractThis course focuses on a selected set of important research topics in the area of international environmental politics.
ObjectiveBecome familiar with analytical approaches and research results in selected areas of political science and political economy research on international environmental politics.
ContentThe issues covered include, for example, the relationship between poverty, economic growth and environmental quality, the question whether environmental degradation can lead to political violence (e.g. civil war), the role of environmental regulation in international trade disputes, international negotiating processes in areas such as climate change mitigation, and the role of civil society in global environmental governance.

Prerequisites: If you did not attend the course International Environmental Politics in the autumn semester you can still attend the course International Environmental Politics: Insights from Recent Research in the spring semester. However, I suggest you do so only if you already have a fairly good knowledge of social sciences research on international environmental issues (e.g. if you have already taken one or more classes in environmental economics and/or environmental politics). Alternatively, you can watch the screencasts of the HS 2014 version of the International Environmental Politics course and complete the mandatory reading assignments for that course to acquire the necessary background for being able to keep the pace in the spring semester course: Link. Login: with your nethz username and password. You should watch those podcasts and complete the reading assignments before the course starts. The slides and other teaching material for Part One are available at Link (materials, login with your nethz username and password and select the appropriate items).
Lecture notesSlides and reading material will be available at Link (teaching, materials). They are password protected. Your Nethz username and password are needed for login.
LiteratureAssigned reading materials and slides will be available at Link (teaching, materials-login, international environmental politics, part two). Log in with your nethz name and password. Logistical questions concerning access to course materials can be addressed to Thomas Bernauer at Link. All assigned papers must be read ahead of the respective meeting. Each meeting consists of one part where we discuss the contents of the assigned papers, and another part where we present/discuss new/ongoing research that extends beyond the contents of the read papers. Following the course on the basis of on-line slides and papers alone is not sufficient. Physical presence in the classroom is essential. No podcasts for this course will be available. Many books and journals covering international environmental policy issues can be found at the D-GESS library at the IFW building, Haldeneggsteig 4, B-floor.
Prerequisites / NoticeIf you did not attend 'International Environmental Politics: Part One' you can still attend Part Two. However, I suggest you do so only if you already have a fairly good knowledge of social sciences research on international environmental issues (e.g. if you have already taken one or more classes in environmental economics and/or environmental politics). Alternatively, you can watch the screencasts of the HS 2014 version of Part One and complete the mandatory reading assignments for that course to acquire the necessary background for being able to keep up in Part II: Link. Login: with your nethz username and password. You should watch those podcasts and complete the reading assignments before the course starts. The slides and other teaching material for Part One are available at Link (materials, login with your nethz username and password and select the appropriate items).
751-1652-00LFood Security - from the Global to the Local Dimension Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 20.
W2 credits2GM. Sonnevelt, D. Barjolle
AbstractBased on the complex nature and interactions of various driving forces such as e.g. poverty, resource scarcity, globalization and climate change, global food security depends on manifold aspects. To study food security, one must understand aspects such as the availability of, the access to and the adequate use of food as well as the stability of the economic, ecologic and political system.
ObjectiveThis year, the course focus on the role of Agroecology as a concept to support food security. Agroecology, once the exclusive domain of food sovereignty and ecology movements, it has begun to be promoted enthusiastically in both developed and developing countries by non-government organizations, international development organizations and others seeking more sustainable food production and consumption systems. The course will elaborate potential and bottlenecks of the concept for global food security.

A more detailed program will be uploaded in early 2015.
ContentThe main block of the course is a three-days workshop/seminar at the FAO headquarter in Rome during the week of 06.04.-10.04.2015 (exact dates will be announced in early 2015).
In February and March 2015, two preparatory events (each lasting +/- two hours) will be held at ETH Zurich. Exact date and time will be announced in early 2015.
Lecture notesBooks and Articles.

We will compose a document of the material presented and elaborated during the workshop for distribution after the event.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe Lecture is held in English and is limited to 20 MSc-students preferably from agriculture, environment and food sciences.
751-2102-00LHistory of Food and AgricultureW3 credits2VP. Aerni
AbstractKnowledge about the history of food and agriculture is crucial to understanding the emergence of modern agriculture and public resistance to industrial farming. The lecture discusses the evolution of agriculture and its impact on social structures, human health and the environment from an anthropological, a cultural, a political and a technological point of view.
Objective- to become familiar with the milestones of the history of food and agriculture
- to understand innovation in agriculture as one of the major forces of change in the history of mankind
- to learn how perceptions, politics and policies in food and agriculture are shaped by social, technological and environmental change
- to be able to embed the current debate on the food crisis and climate change into a historical context
ContentThis lecture starts with the Neolithic revolution and its cultural and environmental impact on humankind. In this context, it will discuss the transition from hunter-and-gatherer societies to societies that rely more upon the domestication of nature (agriculture and pastoralism) (Keeley 1996, Diamond 1999).
The various forms of domestication of plants and animals and their economic, political and environmental implications for society will be discussed using examples from different parts of the world (Stone et al.2007).
The emergence of civilization based on agrarian law will be discussed by using the example of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire (Weber 1891, Love, 1996).
Subsequent innovations such as the three-field system in medieval times, the introduction of new plants and animals during the colonial period, and scientific and technological breakthroughs in plant breeding, agricultural practices and food preservation in the 19th century gave a major boost to agricultural productivity, food availability and agro-biodiversity. These prior developments also laid the foundation for industrial agriculture at the beginning of the 20th century (Kingsbury 2009). The global implications resulting from change in food preferences and agricultural innovation will be illustrated by using selected examples of innovations in food and agriculture (Braudel 2002, Pendergast 2010).
Public resistance to industrial agriculture manifested itself in the early 1920s with counter-movements such as biodynamic farming (Kingsbury 2009) but also with organized lobbying groups that fought against change caused by refrigeration and cheap food (Freidberg 2009). Applying science to plant and animal breeding also caused a cultural divide in biology departments at universities between those who changed nature (plant breeders) and those who wanted to preserve it (botanists, ecologists) (Anker 2001).
The period during and after the two World Wars changed the business of agriculture entirely. Food security became a matter of national security and thus justified state intervention on all levels in the production of food from farm to fork. This also helps explain why the Green Revolution was largely a public sector initiative that cared more for productivity increases on the supply side than for consumer preferences on the demand side (Aerni 2007). After the end of the Cold War, attention shifted from the supply side to the demand side and thus from food security to food safety.
Food safety concerns were largely due to distrust of industrial agriculture and this led to major policy shifts in the way agricultural subsidies and resources were allocated and how food safety was managed and monitored. While the public sector largely withdrew from investing in productivity-related agricultural research, the private sector started to invest more. This led to the growing need to engage again in public-private partnership, as had been the case in the 19th century. Despite the Agreement on Agriculture of the World Trade Organization, agricultural trade remains highly restricted and the growing vertical integration of the food supply chain tends to concentrate market power with global retailers. They have designed private standards that are meant to protect consumers from unsafe food and promote good agricultural practices abroad, as well as ethical trade. Yet, the increasing importance of south-south trade in agriculture and the global food crisis might again shift more power back to producers (Aerni 2009).
Lecture notesLink
LiteratureAerni, Philipp (2011) Food Sovereignty and its Discontents. ATDF Journal 8(1/2): 23-49.
Aerni, Philipp (2011) Do Political Attitudes Affect Consumer Choice? Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Study with Genetically Modified Bread in Switzerland. Sustainability 3: 1555-1572.
Aerni, Philipp (2009) What is sustainable agriculture? Empirical evidence of diverging views in Switzerland and New Zealand. Ecological Economics 68(6): 1872-1882.
Aerni, Philipp. 2007. Exploring the Linkages between Commerce, Higher Education and Human Development: A Historical Review. ATDF Journal 4(2): 35-47.
Anker, Peder (2001) Imperial Ecology: Environmental Order in the British Empire, 1895-1945. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Braudel, Fernand (2002) The Wheels of Commerce. Civilization and Capitalism 15th -18th, Volume II. Phoenix Press, London.
Cook, Harold (2008) Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Fagan, Brian (2001) The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History. Basic Books, New York.
Morgan, Dan (1979) Merchants of Grain: The Power and Profits of the Five Giant Companies at the Center of the World's Food Supply. iUniverse, Inc: Lincoln, NE.
Diamond, Jared (1999) Guns, Germs and Steel. Norton, New York.
Freidberg, Susanne (2009) Fresh: A Perishable History. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Freidberg, S. (2007). Supermarkets and imperial knowledge. Cultural Geographies, 14(3): 321-342.
Kingsbury, N. (2009) Hybrid: the History and Science of Plant Breeding. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Love, John (1986) Max Weber and the Theory of Ancient Capitalism. History and Theory 25(2): 152-172.
Stone, Linda, Lurquin, P. F. and Cavalli-Sforza (2007) Genes, Culture, and Human Evolution: A Synthesis. Blackwell, Malden, MA.
The Economist, 2008. Hunters and Gatherers: Noble or Savage, Dec. 19th.
Keeley, Lawrence, H. (1996) War Before Civilization. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Pendergast, M. (2010) Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and how it transformed our World. Basic Books, New York.
Weber, M. (1891) Die römische Agrargeschichte in ihrer Bedeutung für das Staats- und Privatrecht. Stuttgart.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe 2-hour course will be held as a series of lectures. The course materials will be available in form of an electronic Reader at the beginning of the semester.
The class will be taught in English.
Students will be asked to give a (a) presentation (15 Minutes) or write a review paper based on a article selected from the electronic script, and (b) they will have to pass a written test at the end of the course in order to obtain 3 credit points in the ECTS System. In the final mark (a) will have a weight of 40% and (b) 60%.
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