Creative Curriculum
A transition that provides Hampshire's extraordinary faculty and intrepid students time and resources to develop and experiment with courses and projects that spark discovery and solve problems in the connections among mind, art, science, health, enterprise, and social change in the anthropocene era, and challenge students in every discipline to consider their role in human survival.
Hampshire's Living Building
The R.W. Kern Center is a multifunctional building serving as a living laboratory, where students and the public study its systems and performance, tied to measures for sustainability.
Food, Farm, and Sustainability
The Hampshire College Farm and its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program provide our campus and community members with organic local produce and meat, as well as rich educational opportunities. Whether exploring agriculture, animal behavior, or green design, Hampshire students and faculty use the farm as a hub for investigating the intellectual, political, and scientific issues surrounding food production.
National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education Grant
In partnership with Holyoke Community College and the University of Massachusetts, Hampshire received funding for “Application of Clean Energy Technology to Sustainable Agriculture Practice.” The grant included support for clean energy infrastructure and course development, and fostered collaboration across the institutions.
Proposed projects at Hampshire College include a moveable greenhouse with heat pump technology, as well as a solar array at the Hampshire College Farm that will provide power for new climate-controlled root and vegetable storage facilities, a mobile refrigeration unit, and a tractor that will be converted from diesel to battery power.
Sample Areas of Study
Recent Courses at Hampshire
- Agriculture, Ecology, and Society
- Vernal Pools: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
- Chemistry and the Physics of Solar Energy and Energy Storage Technology
- Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming
- Hot War: the Impact of Climate Change on International Peace & Security
- Innovations for Change: Problem Solving for the Future
- Sustainable Landscaping Practicum
- Sustainable Water Resources
- The Future of Food
- U.S. Climate Law and Policy
- Agriculture, Food, and Human Health
- Crafting a Sustainable Design Lens
- Designing the Post-Suburban Community
- Economics and the Environment
- Kitchen Ecology
- The Microbial Farm
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Zero Impact House
Sample Student Projects
- Agricultural Systems Thinking: Re-designing urban farming systems that are radically inclusive of marginalized communities
- Imagine the Earth: Illustrating Environmental Science and Philosophy
- Profit vs. People: A Case Study in the Environmental and Social Impact of Big Oil; Human Health
- Learning for Our Future: Moving Towards a Sustainable Worldview
- Tropical Reforestation
- Wetland Biogeochemistry and Climate Change
- Ecology and Management of Three Caribbean Fisheries
- Enviro-Education at a School in the Woods: an Ethnographic Journey
- Where the River Runs Dry: An Analysis of the Ecological and Socioeconomic Impacts of Large Dams on the Indus Delta
- Path of the Dharma Farmer: Seeking a Sustainable Spirituality
- You Are Where You Eat: Pedagogy for an Eco-Justice, Health-Oriented Sense of Place
Five College Programs and Certificates
