Plants and Society

Catalog description

Instructional Method: Three hours lecture; three hours laboratory. Prerequisites: A grade of “C” or better in 4 hours of biology or permission of instructor. An interdisciplinary exploration into the vital role plants and plant products play in human society. Throughout recorded history, humans have depended on plants as sources of foods, beverages, herbs and spices, medicinal and recreational drugs, wood and textiles, and other products. Topics may include plant structure, growth, and nutrition; the diversity and evolutionary relationships of organisms traditionally studied by botanists, techniques for growing and producing plant products; plant breeding and genetic modification; and conversation of plant-based resources. The origins, history, morphology and chemistry of plants of economic importance may be considered.