Auburn has taken an even big step toward battling the war on hunger.
A new minor, Hunger Studies, has passed through the College of Human Sciences. It is an inner disciplinary minor with 18 hours and offered to all students in any college who wish to take it.
"We want to provide Auburn students with the knowledge and engagement opportunities to understand hunger," said Harriet Giles, director of external relations for the College of Human Sciences and lead adviser to AU War on Hunger. "Hunger is not any one cause, but its every discipline contributes to the solution in ending hunger. It is political science, it's business, it's agriculture and it's nutrition. It is not just one area that we can address and bring it to an end."
For the minor, an Introduction to Hunger Studies and a Capstone course was introduced into the Auburn curriculum. The rest of the classes are taken from courses around campus contributing to one of the competency areas on which the minor focuses.
"Part of the war on hunger is to be a grassroots movement, but also to be part of the academic fabric of the university," Giles said. "We want ending hunger to be a core value of Auburn University. One way you make something a core value is to get it embedded into the academics of the university."
The Committee of 19 and the War on Hunger Academics Initiatives Committee worked to get the minor passed. It went before the University Curriculum Committee for final approval.
"These committees are a gold standard of how to organize awareness among students and faculty around any campus around the country," said Douglas Coutts, visiting professor and Special Advisor on Child Hunger to the UN World Food Program. "The leadership that Auburn has provided is a model that many other schools want to follow and are following. There was an interest of putting hunger in the curriculum and that is what we are here to do."
Auburn has invested in the World Food program and its commitment to ending the hunger issue.
"The U.N. has a partnership with Auburn, and I came here on assignment to help this University start this new hunger program," Coutts said. "We are using this minor as pilot and then we will share our experience with other schools who want to develop it. Auburn is the first school."
The minor was based on student demands and interest here on campus. Many students along with the Committee of 19 said they wanted the opportunity, in addition to all the awareness and volunteer programs, to learn more about the hunger issue and have it incorporated into what they were learning at college.
"I took the Hunger Studies introductory course and I worked as a research assistant for the class," said Emma Keller, a senior in human development and family studies and the president of the Committee of 19. "This was a dream of Dr. Giles since 2005. The committee as a whole worked to let students know that this class was an option for them to take. We have had a great response from students so far."
There are 42 students in the introductory course and they are from majors all over campus. Roughly half of these students have expressed interest in the minor.
"We want students to know that the minor is available now," Giles said. "Anyone interested should come to the College of Human Sciences and pick up the forms to be aware of what courses they will need to begin taking. We want to encourage everyone who is interested to pursue it."
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