The Socioecological Life of Corn in Oaxaca, Mexico

The world now offers a wealth of consumer goods and experiences that promise to break negative environmental and social patterns to help us build more sustainable livelihoods. However, human-nature relationships are complex and most of these kinds of projects (i.e. ecotourism, market-based conservation, regenerative agriculture, etc.) oversimplify these relationships or overpromise on the benefits to both nature and people. Similarly, in the Global North, societies of the Global South are often portrayed as having more inherently “sustainable” lifestyles that are now being corrupted by rapid economic growth and a lack of appreciation for the importance of nature to human well-being. 

The goal of this OCS program is to give students the interdisciplinary tools to investigate the complexities of human-nature relationships in two distinct places, Minnesota (US) and Oaxaca (MX), to compare and contrast approaches to building resilience. By focusing on the socio-ecological life of corn, one of the most meaningful crops in the world, this program will expose students to examples that engage with the idea of sustainability in a way that is critical, yet inspiring and unexpected. 

Our time in Oaxaca will be spent in the city of Oaxaca as well as two neighboring Zapotec communities (Analco and Teotitlán del Valle) within the valley that manage a series of sustainable food, forestry, non-timber forest products, and ecotourism initiatives.

Oaxaca has been a hub for innovative sustainable conservation programs given its unique biological and cultural diversity, history of community-based organization that has consistently subverted corporate and government interests (e.g., three quarters of the municipalities in the state of Oaxaca are ruled by an indigenous political system called usos and costumbres and are sites of cultural and creative production). For these reasons, it is home for major conservation and sustainable development organization (e.g. The Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC, had its first major headquarters here), conferences and festivals every year. Currently, there are over 2,500 conservation and development NGOs in Oaxaca; making this state a site of innovation and true inspiration for anyone interested in seeing how grassroots initiatives, often non-Western in nature, can be successful.

This program is designed for students that are interested in the human and ecological dimensions of building a sustainable and just future. We hope you’ll consider delving into these important topics with us.

– Constanza Ocampo-Raeder and Dan Hernández

Learning Goals

Humans and nature are frequently portrayed in direct opposition to each other. Yet some of the most important work in environmental studies over the past couple of decades has contested the idea that humans are always a negative force in nature. Many innovative conservation propositions are coming from cases studies that purposefully combine socio-cultural and ecological processes in their analysis.

Pedagogically speaking, this approach also provides an ideal venue to teach students the importance of interdisciplinary research as it purposely combines methodologies and theoretical approaches from the social and natural sciences (ecology and anthropology), disciplines traditionally separated from one another. Our proposed OCS program, which is designed to compare local (Minnesota) and international (Oaxaca) socio-ecological systems, has the main goal of exposing students to this kind of purposeful interdisciplinarity. Given these synergies our proposed program has three explicit learning goals:

1. Appreciate and compare the intricacies of two sustainable socio-ecological systems located in the Global North (Minnesota) and Global South (Oaxaca).
2. Learn the methodological tools and techniques available for documenting and examining the sustainability of a socio-ecological system.
3. Engage with Western and non-Western forms of knowing, using, and conserving the natural environment.

We expect to enrich student learning by providing a series of hand-on experiences that provide the following personal development goals:

1. Develop a practical and working knowledge of the different ways in which the concept of sustainability is conceptualized, measured and traced in real world scenarios.
2. Acquire a sophisticated and critical understanding of the logic and intricacies of different forms of knowledge, be it Western, non-Western or a combination of both.
3. Understand the diverse kinds of professional opportunities, and training needed, that exist within the world of sustainable development initiatives.
4. Engage in transformative positionality exercises to develop a better appreciation for the kinds of rural livelihoods and ethical collaborations with local populations.

Prerequisites

This program is open to all students but preference will be given to those interested in conservation and sustainable development issues in Latin America. Students are encouraged to take at least one course in Spanish before participation in the program.

Course of Study

ENTS 250: Food, Forests and Resilience: Systems of Socio-Ecological Sustainability in Minnesota and Oaxaca (Fall 2025) (6 credits)

The course will explore how the idea of sustainability is complicated when evaluated through a socio-ecological framework that combines anthropology and ecology. To highlight this complexity, the course is designed to provide a comparative framework to understand and analyze sustainable socio-ecological propositions in Minnesota and Oaxaca. Key conceptual areas explored include: coupled human-natural systems, resilience (ecological and cultural), self-determination, and social justice across stakeholders. The course includes a series of fieldtrips to nearby projects of interest.
Instructors: Dan Hernández & Constanza Ocampo-Raeder

ENTS 251: Field Study in Sustainability in Oaxaca (Winter 2026) (6 credits)

A field-based investigation of socio-ecological systems in Oaxaca, Mexico that will allow students to draw comparisons with similar systems in Minnesota. During winter break, we will visit the city of Oaxaca and neighboring villages to document and research systems of agriculture, sustainable forestry, and ecotourism, emphasizing the integration of methodologies in anthropology and ecology. Following the winter break trip, students will complete and present their research projects.
Instructors: Dan Hernandez & Constanza Ocampo-Raeder

Excursions

In Oaxaca, the program will center on evaluating the socio-ecological system of two Zapotec indigenous communities, Teotitlan and Analco. In these communities, we will learn about their social, historical, and ecological characteristics, as well as engage in actually documenting and studying the management of four key socio-ecological zones: subsistence farming (milpa, maize cultivation that is heavily intercropped), house-gardens/tree orchards, timber and non-timber forest extraction, and sustainable enterprises such as textile production and ecotourism ventures.

In addition to activities taking place in these communities, the program has also scheduled activities in the city of Oaxaca to meet with historians, artists, activists, and government officials. This will be complemented by short trips in the vicinity that will teach students how to prepare and taste foods connected to corn cultivation.

Housing

Students will stay in hostels as well as one short homestay in one of the communities visited.