The Food Studies + MBA dual degree program is not accepting applications for the 24-25 academic year. We encourage students to explore Chatham's Master of Arts in Food Studies program, which offers courses and opportunities to explore the many business aspects of food and agricultural systems.

Through this program, students earn both the Master of Arts in Food Studies and the Master of Business Administration. It includes core courses in both business and food studies, and courses that provide breadth and depth in food studies, business, and sustainable business. The degree requires 53 credits, and is designed to be completed by full time students in five semesters (includes fall, spring, and summer semesters). An optional first summer is offered for students who require prerequisites or simply want more time to take classes.

Students are expected to maintain full-time enrollment.

Each student also completes a thesis or project in Food Studies. The common preparatory courses provide all students with disciplinary training in natural and social sciences and business. Students gain a holistic understanding of food systems and traditional business skills. Internships and directed study in community settings are encouraged. Graduates will be uniquely prepared to work in various aspects of food systems in the real world. Students meet all of the requirements for both the Master of Arts Food Studies and the Master of Business Administration. Please refer to those programs for details.

Admission Requirements

Priority Deadline for Fall - February 1 (all application materials must be received by this date for first consideration of fellowships/assistantships)
Regular Application Deadline for Fall: June 15
Regular Application Deadline for Spring: November 1

Admission to the Dual Degree MAFS-MBA program will be based on:

• Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university
• Overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale (Applicants with less than a 3.0 who show extreme promise through other achievements may be granted conditional admission)
• Proficiency in written and oral communications, college level math, and computer usage including word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and the Internet are required
• Completed application form, including:
  • Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
  • Curriculum vitae, résumé and/or additional information concerning professional or volunteer activities
• Two letters of recommendation from faculty and direct work supervisors that describe the applicant's:
  • Capacity for independent thinking
  • Written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to thrive in a collaborative, interdisciplinary academic setting
• In approximately 500 words, please explain why you are interested in pursuing this degree. How will the degree impact your future personal and career goals?
• Students must complete pre-requisite courses in Financial Accounting, Business Statistics and Introduction to Microsoft Excel prior to beginning the program

Learning Outcomes

Food Studies

Interdisciplinary breadth: Graduates will have the ability to articulate and integrate knowledge and skills across and within a variety of disciplines, particularly as these skills relate to the historical and contemporary organization of food provision and consumption.

Systems knowledge: Graduates will have a command of food systems as a conceptual and practical tool for understanding the connections between agriculture and food production, social configurations, cultural meanings, and environmental conditions. This goal includes understanding and applying various research methods to real-world problems.

Experiential learning: Graduates will form a direct relationship with the subject matter – the production of food – by participating in a wide variety of practical and applied situations. Mastery of technique, while significant in its own right, will connected back to intellectual growth by evaluating its benefit to specific communities and by incorporating the experience into project outcomes.

Community building: Graduates will work as liaisons and collaborators in community-based projects, both in directed coursework and in internship and field experiences. Emphasis will be on task negotiation, network development, social interaction, and cultural acumen.

Communicative competence: Graduates will demonstrate ability to use history, ethics, culture, and empirical data to document and evaluate food systems through oral, written, and multi-modal means of representation.

Methodological depth: Graduates will design and carry out research projects after evaluating the effectiveness and applicability of various social scientific methods. By implementation, students will articulate research questions, assess the strengths and weaknesses of different research design and collection methods. Includes the ability to address cultural and ethical issues, evaluate existing studies and

Technical competence in food production: Students will gain basic experience in growing, producing, and cooking food. From soil testing to knife skills, graduates will grasp the specific material competencies related to agriculture and cooking.

Comprehensive awareness of sustainability: Graduates will be versed in the complexities of defining and enacting sustainable practices related to food production and consumption. Using a systems analysis, they will be able to map the relationships between environment, social life, and sustenance.

Business Administration

In master’s level programs, knowledge of the key content areas of business is assumed. Students without previous business courses take the Foundation Courses. Graduates of master’s level programs acquire a depth of knowledge in these areas that exceeds that of the typical bachelor’s degree graduate. Graduates of the MBA program are able to demonstrate that they possess business–specific content outcomes and business–related professional skills outcomes.

Graduates of the MBA program will be able to:

• Recognize problems in business settings and propose solutions
• Use strategic analysis and integration
• Apply creativity and innovation in business practice
• Apply quantitative methods to real–world business situations
• Evaluate the impact on business of the global environment
• Identify and understand the ethical obligations and responsibilities of business
• Communicate effectively in written materials to relevant publics
• Communicate professionally in spoken words in one–on–one or business presentation situations
• Work with a team of colleagues on projects
• Demonstrate project management skills
• Demonstrate leadership skills through the ability to set direction and work with others
• Understand a specific area of business practice in depth
  • Information on Concentrations in the MSUS + MBA program can be found here
    

Curriculum

+Requirements

Students must meet all of the admission requirements for both the MAFS and MBA programs, and complete any prerequisite associated with either program. A total of 53 credits are required to earn the dual degree:

The MBA portion of the program consists of the following 24 credits
BUS570	Global Business This course introduces students to international business and management by studying cultural influences, government, and business structures in our global economy. Students also learn about trade relations, international finance and legal and labor agreements. Also covered, are topics on information needs, production systems, marketing and promotion, and career planning.	3
BUS576	Sustainable Human Capital Cultivate theoretical understanding and ethical and practical skills for managing human capital. Explore individual, group, and organizational levels of analysis focusing on topics of motivation, communication, group dynamics, decision making, culture, power, and politics. Analyze the effectiveness of tools for talent acquisition and development, such as compensation, feedback, and assessment.	3
BUS672	Corporate Finance and Governance This course focuses on financial-analytical tools and methods for making effective business and policy decisions. Topics include setting financial health benchmarks, assessing financial performance, interpreting financial data and making informed recommendations that protect the interests of all stakeholders. The principles of good corporate governance provide assurance of long-term business viability.	3
BUS577	Business Analytics This course explores the strategic transformation of raw data into information and intelligence. Students learn to source and integrate datasets, apply analytical methods, and communicate insights from modeled findings. Enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), data warehouses, and Big Data are critically examined through cases and hands-on projects.	3
BUS652	Managerial Accounting This course examines accounting information that is used in managerial decision making within the organization. Focus is on interpretation of financial statements, cost accounting, financial planning and analysis, the development of internal controls, and constructing budgets.	3
BUS618	Economics for Managers This course teaches how economic tools and techniques can be used to solve business problems. Economics describes why firms do what they do and points to business strategies. The course focuses on economic applications. The course provides an understanding of how economics influences marketing, management, and other business-related decisions.	3
BUS671	Marketing Management This course takes the Chief Marketing Officer’s (CMO) perspective to explore marketing as a core business practice. Discussions focus on theories and principles for interfacing with customers, competitors, partners, and the external environment. Concepts are applied to planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods and services.	3
BUS698	Strategy and Entrepreneurship "Develop strategies to gain and sustain competitive advantage. Examine the goals of an organization, the social, political, technological, economic, and global factors in the business environment, industry structure, market dynamics, and firm strengths and weaknesses. Develop and implement strategy across industries, and as an entrepreneur, through case analyses and simulations. " Pre-requisites Complete the following course: BUS671 Marketing Management	3
Required Core Total: 24
The FST portion of the program consists of the following 29 credits
FST508	Food Systems Examines philosophical, sociological, economic, and cultural issues related to the production and consumption of food. From Agrarianism to the Green Revolution, explores the transformations of industrialization, technology, and migration. Provides foundation in food systems and commodity chains as concepts and methodological tools for uncovering the relationship between communities, agriculture, markets, and consumers.	3
FST509	Food Access If food is a basic human right, how do societies create universal access to food? What is the moral ethical basis for making citizens food secure in an age of global inequality? To what extent does providing food access need to consider culturally appropriateness, nutrition, and sustainability, and justice?	3
FST510	Food, Culture, History Provides an overview of food and diet in transnational history, emphasizing cultural impact of modernity of food gathering, farming, plant biology, the body and consumption, health, taste, and cuisine. Topics include the development of agriculture, the causes of famine, the disruptions of colonialism, global exchange, industrialization, migration, and commercial economic dominance of the food system.	3
FST511	Research Methods Introduction to social science research methods applicable to the study of food and culture. Practicum includes ethnography, interviews, focus groups, survey research, oral history, textual analysis, cultural mapping, and visual methods. Applied approach to research: students will produce data for practical use in existing community or commercial projects.	3
FST698	Thesis/Project Course provides supervision and research guidance for Masters thesis or projects in Food Studies. Students will have instruction in data analysis, writing for public presentation and publication, professional development workshops, and community development issues.	1
FST520	Basic Agroecology Through working on Chatham's Eden Hall Campus farm as well as neighboring farms, students will integrate best practices for sustainable agriculture with theory encountered in class. Topics will include basic principles of soil fertility, biodiversity, agriculture history, effects of both conventional and organic agriculture, and the politics surrounding the issues.	3
FST520L	Growing Sustainably Lab This course is a co-requisite to FST520, Growing Sustainably, and comprises the experiential lab component of the course. Students will engage in sustained research on sustainable agricultural projects, from biodynamic methods to soil or pest management comparatives. Course may be taken up to four times for credit.	1
FST518	Business of Food and Agriculture In this class the student will learn both history and current practices related to food and agriculture as economic enterprises in the United States and the world. Skills include ability to understand strategic management principles including identifying target markets, niche marketing, SWOT analysis and diffusion of innovation theory. Students will be able to develop a business plan including understanding barriers of entry, compiling demographic data, developing feasibility studies, long and short term business goals, define and calculate a breakeven point, and budget formulation.	3
Required Core Total: 20
Electives (choose 9 credits)
FST503	Urban Agriculture The Urban Agriculture course focuses on the practices and models of urban agriculture in a variety of different global contexts with an emphasis on Pittsburgh, PA. The course uses a lens of political ecology to understand the historical, cultural, ecological, and political factors that influence the practice of urban agriculture.	3
FST530	Sustainable Gastronomy This course covers the history of cooking as a profession and a skill set. Emphasis on gastronomy and culinary arts as both integrative creative enterprises and structured labor in specific contexts. The history of public cooking and dining, restaurants, communication of culture and cuisine, and procedures will be covered.	3
FST502	Essential Readings in Food and Agriculture This class provides grounding in essential texts in the contemporary understanding of food and agriculture. Readings include key food histories, journalism, critical nutrition and food industry writers, and agriculture and environmental treatise. Class will meet monthly to analyze texts. Students will contribute to forum and blog discussions throughout the year.	1
FST512	Practical Nutrition Course provides an overview of nutrition as an evidence-based research field, focusing on groups and communities where research is conducted and then applied. Topics include science and politics of food categories; supplements and functional foods; weight and disordered eating, commercial, local, organic, and conventional foods; cuisine, culture, and diet.	3
FST505	Food and Representations Food is elemental to survival, culture, home, and subjectivity - to rituals of love, loss, and celebration. Focusing on representations of food and eating in spiritual narratives, epic texts, myth, novels, and film, this class examines the cultural work food performs along with the varying meanings assigned to food and eating.	3
FST514	Wine, Ciders and Meads This course provides a detailed study of wines, grape varieties, ciders and mead. Offers an exploration of global wine regions and regional traditions for ciders and meads. Experiential components utilize local fruits and honey to produce experimental batches of wines and meads. Includes lab at Eden Hall and fieldwork component.	3
FST515	Writing About Food Students will develop technique and skills for writing about food and culture by studying ethics; journalism; advertising, multimodal and new technology venues; recipe writing; food criticism; writing about food in a variety of genres from history to fiction, magazines, and websites. Course emphasizes both print and online media.	3
FST518	Business of Food and Agriculture In this class the student will learn both history and current practices related to food and agriculture as economic enterprises in the United States and the world. Skills include ability to understand strategic management principles including identifying target markets, niche marketing, SWOT analysis and diffusion of innovation theory. Students will be able to develop a business plan including understanding barriers of entry, compiling demographic data, developing feasibility studies, long and short term business goals, define and calculate a breakeven point, and budget formulation.	3
FST522	GIS: Food and Agriculture This course provides students with a solid foundation of the principles and applications of GIS, an introduction to the desktop software ArcGIS, and demonstrates its use in the public sectors related to food, agriculture, and resource use. Students will have the flexibility to focus on their particular area of interest through project work.	3
FST527	Permaculture Course explores natural systems, aboriginal knowledge and best practices for designing human systems, which reflect care of the earth. It integrates findings of agriculture, horticulture, ecology, alternative energy, community design and green building. Students learn methods of growing and living sustainably, with local examples and applications of permaculture design for Eden Hall.	3
FST531	Sustainable Fermentation Fermentation is an incredible process by which microbes transform foods into more digestible, nutritious, and flavorful versions of themselves. Participants will learn the basic techniques for lacto-fermentation, as well as the process of using starter cultures and wild fermentation via lecture, research, tasting, demonstration, field work and experiential learning.	3
FST602	Global Agriculture This course examines a range of agro-ecological, philosophical, socio-economic, and political issues related to international agriculture and food systems. It provides an introduction to tropical and/or temperate agriculture systems, exploring how choices of production and consumption impact the nature of food, agriculture, sustainability, and communities across locations and scales.	3
FST603	Food Journeys From the Columbian Exchange to eco-tourism food travels the world, the traveler journeys through food, and the citizen consumes place and goods in a journey towards selfhood. This course examines food and geographic movement with an applied emphasis on culinary tourism and writing about food in global and local contexts. Pre-requisites Complete all 2 of the following courses: FST508 Food Systems FST509 Food Access	3
FST607	Sustainable Consumption Eating "sustainably" considers environmental health, local economies and social justice issues. The course explores 3 viewpoints: consumers', including eating behaviors, access and marketing; growers' and producers', including supply chain concerns and food safety; and the institutions' or food business' challenges of incorporating regionally and sustainably sourced food in their operations. Pre-requisites Complete any 1 of the following courses: FST508 Food Systems FST508 Food Systems Complete any 1 of the following courses: FST509 Food Access FST509 Food Access	3
FST609	Dairy: From Pasture to Plate This multi-disciplinary graduate course examines a range of agro-ecological, philosophical, socio-economic, health, and political issues related to dairy production in the US. Key course themes include: dairy history; sustainable and conventional production; raw milk and consumption debates; livestock care; milking; cheese-making; dairy policy; international issues; and popular representation of dairy. Pre-requisites Complete all 2 of the following courses: FST508 Food Systems FST509 Food Access Complete all 2 of the following courses: FST508 Food Systems FST509 Food Access	3
FST614	New Product Development This course will explore the new product development process from ideation to market. Students will study the methodologies and practices of product development in a traditional Consumer Packaged Good firm and apply modified methods to manage the new product development process for a start-up local distiller. Over the course of an academic year, students will develop and bring to market a liqueur to be sold by Pittsburgh Distilling Co. Pre-requisites Complete the following course: FST531 Sustainable Fermentation	3
FST615	Food, Labor, and Inequality In this course, we will focus on theoretical and applied frameworks for thinking about the labor of growing food, transporting it, transforming it into comestibles, and finally, serving and cleaning related to food consumption. The course considers how global labor shapes the availability and appropriateness of food for different populations and therefore includes a substantial analysis of gender, race, and social class. Readings and discussion will touch on migrant labor, domestic cooking, waiting and serving, agriculture, cooks and chefs, and food professionals. Pre-requisites Complete any 1 of the following courses: FST508 Food Systems FST508 Food Systems	3
FST616	Cultivating the Midwest: Corn and Soybeans Combined with field experiences in western Minnesota, this course explores food and agriculture in the Midwestern U.S. Classroom work and field experiences will explore historical, cultural, agronomic, economic, and geopolitical issues, including corn and soybean production, processing and distribution, alternative agrifood networks, and other food systems issues in the Midwest.	3
FST622	Advanced New Product Development This course explores new product development process from ideation to market. Students study methodologies and practices of product development in a Consumer Packaged Goods firm. Focus for the advanced course includes consumer testing, packaging development, and production process to develop and bring to market a liqueur sold by Pittsburgh Distilling. Pre-requisites Complete all 2 of the following courses: FST531 Sustainable Fermentation FST614 New Product Development	3
FST624	Chocolate: Politics and Pleasure This course will explore chocolate as a global product including history and culture, agriculture (growing trees, processing beans), direct/fair trade, labor and justice, health, chocolate production, sales, marketing, and sustainability. Experiential components include chocolate making, tempering; culinary practices, and site visits to chocolate manufacturers, culminating in the design and marketing of a sustainable chocolate product.	3
FST640	Sustainable Community Development This course explores how people can engage in creating more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable communities at multiple scales, from the local to the regional. The reading and assignments emphasize sustainable planning theory and practice as well as sustainable food systems perspectives. Students will engage in practice-based research and community projects. Pre-requisites Complete any 1 of the following courses: FST508 Food Systems FST509 Food Access SUS504 Introduction to Sustainability and Systems	3
FST683	Special Topics Special Topics	3
FST611	Religion, Community, and Food This course explains the ways in which sustainability and communal religious life have Intersected in the U.S. from the 17th century to the present. Using lecture readings, film, and independent research, we will study ethical farming practices, food sustainability, and moral food choices through the lens of American religious communities. Pre-requisites Complete the following course: FST508 Food Systems	3
BUS699	Business Consulting Capstone This course is the culminating experience in the MBA program. Students apply professional-level business consulting skills learned in the MBA program. Business Consulting Capstone student teams solve business problems for businesses and entrepreneurs. Pre-requisites Complete all 2 of the following courses: BUS672 Corporate Finance BUS698 Strategy and Entrepreneurship	3
BUS562	Global Procurement In this course, students examine success factors, ethical challenges, legal issues, and managerial implications of global procurement. Students also develop a deep understanding of the impact of procurement on quality, cost, and efficiency of supply chain management through use of procurement tools, techniques, and methodologies.	3
BUS641	Sustainable Supply Chain Management This course provides students with an understanding of how supply chain works, how and where along the supply chain sustainability questions should be addressed/considered, and the impacts of those decisions on stakeholders further down the chain. Topics include: packaging, transportation, energy use, and waste.	3
BUS513	Logistics and Operations This course introduces students to technical tools and skills essential for problem solving and decision-making in logistics and operations management. Topics may include inventory optimization, network planning, demand forecasting, transportation planning, and productions planning. Mastery of quantitative methods using spreadsheet modeling is required for all students.	3
BUS639	Sustainability and Assessment Reporting An in-depth study of how to measure, track, and report on sustainability issues in a business. Includes a study of how to create effective Social Responsibility reports and the standards currently used to measure sustainability. Teaches students how to monitor and measure sustainability issues from within a business.	3
SUS580	Sustainable Behavior Change This hybrid course combines classroom and online instruction with real-world application. Students learn the latest science concerning sources of environmental degradation. In teams, students apply motivational theory, collect secondary and primary data, and develop an action plan for increasing pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) in a specific context.	3
BUS550	Innovation and Commercialization This course focuses on how to successfully commercialize an innovation. Understanding commercialization activities such as pre-product launch planning, market testing, actual product launch, and post-launch follow-up is a major part of the course. The course provides a run-through of the complete cycle from idea to market entry.	3
BUS623	Strategic Performance for Executives This course will cover issues specific to business leaders such as conflict management, negotiation and persuasion, mentoring structures, crisis communication, and organizational change. Other topics will include implicit and explicit attitude toward authority in the workplace; implicit social cognition; attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes, etc.	3
BUS575	Leading Organizations and Projects The course cultivates the student's executive leadership potential for organizational development and transformation, with specific applications to the project management environment. Theoretical perspective and case analyses will explore topics of leading one's self, motivating project teams, change management, and transforming the organization.	3
BUS582	Foundations of Project Management This course explores the knowledge areas and project stages from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Students acquire concepts and skills in initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing projects. The course examines the management of project integration, scope, time, cost, human resources, communications, risk, and procurement.	3
BUS680	Complex Issues in Project Management Case studies and simulations engage students in the examination of complex issues in project management, such as control, portfolio management, and rescuing failing projects. The Student will be able to analyze, evaluate, and optimize projects in specific environments and industries. Pre-requisites Complete the following course: BUS582 Foundations of Project Management	3