STS.S20 Special Topic: Urban Resilience: Urban Farming and Activism in Boston
Spring 2026, Wed 2-5pm | 3-3-3 | Prof. Kate Brown
Environmental justice takes many different forms. Urban Resilience is a research/design/build course aimed at bringing together form and function. The course, taught in collaboration with the Common Good and Eastie Urban Farms in Boston and the Department of Architecture, will explore food sovereignty movements in Boston while designing and building two chicken coops for the farms that will also serve as exhibit space for the path breaking food sovereignty and Black feminist movements in Boston of the past five decades. Students will learn about these movements, choose one to research in depth, and will write and design exhibit panels to be incorporated into the walls of the coop. During the first half of the course, students will meet in the classroom and take field trips to the farms and farmers during class time. Once coop plans and exhibit materials are complete, they will work in shop space at MIT and participate as a group with the help of the Boston Youth Corp in the build at Common Good. Weekend volunteering at the farms is optional. 12 credits.