First Advisor

Dr. Kristopher Voss

Second Advisor

Dr. Amy Schreier

Third Advisor

Dr. Lara Narcisi

Reader

Dr. Anandita Mukherji

College

Regis College

Degree Name

BS

School

Regis College Honors Program

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

64 pages

Abstract

Humanity’s displacement from nature is overwhelmingly prevalent in the United States due to centuries of westernization and colonialism, and it largely dwells in the idea of anthropocentrism. While anthropocentrism is often characterized by entitlement to the resources that nature provides, causing massive displacement from the necessary interdependence between humanity and nature, ecocentrism promotes reciprocal interactions between humanity and nature and restores the dynamic exchange necessary for thriving ecosystems. Through comparing North American Indigenous and Westernized European agricultural practices in the United States, this thesis seeks to find the intersection between preconceived ethical obligations to nature and the agricultural interactions and technologies humans use to cultivate crops. This thesis seeks to reintegrate North American Indigenous farming techniques such as intercropping, permacultures, agroforestry, and the Honorable Harvest to modern westernized agribusiness in the United States; a societal shift towards ecocentrism in the agricultural industrial complex in the United States is necessary due to the extensive habitat fragmentation and environmental degradation associated with western industrialized agriculture.

Date of Award

Spring 2023

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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