This book presents efforts to chart the comprehensive changes needed to meet the challenges of undergraduate professional education in agriculture. The United States needs to invest in the future?in human capital and the scientific knowledge base?to revitalize one of its leading industries, the agricultural, food, and environmental system. That objective can be met by educating all students about agriculture as well as by educating others specifically for careers in agriculture. Agriculture and the Undergraduate includes perspectives on rewarding excellence in teaching and formulating curricula to reflect cultural diversity, the environment, ecology, agribusiness and business, humanities and the social sciences, and the economic and global contexts of agriculture. Table of Contents Front Matter Overview Title Page 1 Introduction Part I: Conference Papers 2 Rethinking Undergraduate Professional Education for the Twenty-First Century: The University Vantage Point 3 Rethinking Undergraduate Professional Education for the Twenty-First Century: The Public Policy Vantage Point 4 The Challenges for Professional Education in Agriculture: A Corporate Vantage Point 5 The Environmental Curriculum: An Undergraduate Land-Grant Future? 6 Environment and Ecology: Greening the Curriculum, A Public Policy Perspective 7 The Inherent Value of the College Core Curriculum 8 General Education and the New Curriculum 9 Agriculture: A System, a Science, or a Commodity 10 Educating a Culturally Diverse Professional Work Force for the Agriculural, Food, and Natural Resource System 11 Scientific Literacy: The Enemy is Us 12 The Priority: Undergraduate Professional Education as the Priority 13 Positioning Undergraduate Professional Education as the Priority 14 Science, Technology, and the Public 15 A Challenge, a Charge, and a Commitment Part II: Conference Discussions 16 Teaching and Research: Balance as an Imperative 17 Rewarding Excellence in Teaching: An Administrative Challenge 18 Integrating Agriculture into Precollege Education: Opportunities from Kindergarten to Grade 12 19 Toward Integrative Thinking: A Teaching Challenge 20 Striving Toward Cultural Diversity 21 Designing an Environmentally Responsible Undergraduate Curriculum 22 Breaking Tradiations in Curriculum Design 23 Changing the Image of Agriculture Through Curriculum Innovation 24 Teaching Science as Inquiry 25 Emphasizing the Social Sciences and Humanities 26 Teaching Agricultural Science as a System 27 The Social and Ethical Context of Agriculture: Is It There and Can We Teach It? 28 The Economic Context of Agriculture 29 The Global Context of Agriculture Appendixes A: Program Participants B: Poster Exhibits