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University of Florida

Spring 2026 Quest 2 Courses

ABOUT UF

UF Quest invites students to consider why the world is the way it is and what they can do about it. Students examine questions that are difficult to answer and hard to ignore in a world that is swiftly changing and becoming increasingly more complex. In UF Quest 2, students draw upon the biological, physical or social and behavioral sciences to explore pressing questions about human societies and/or the planet.

THE UF QUEST 2 REQUIREMENT

Students who enter UF in or after Summer B 2021 are required take one UF Quest 2 course to complete the UF Quest 2 requirement. These courses may also serve to satisfy 3 credits of the General Education requirement in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Biological Sciences, or the Physical Sciences (see the  UF Quest Requirement  page for more information). Students must first complete the UF Quest 1 requirement before taking a UF Quest 2 course. Some UF Quest 2 courses may also fulfill the International (N) requirement and/or count toward the Writing requirement. 

UF QUEST 2 COURSES

Click on the links below to learn more about the individual courses and to access course syllabi, which will be posted at least 3 days before the semester begins. Click the Campus or UF Online button to filter by program or type in the search field to look for a particular subject, topic, instructor, etc.

CAMPUS HONORS UF ONLINE

        CAMPUS

  • Instructor: Jared Gars, Food and Resource Economics 
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: How can agricultural and environmental policy be used to address emerging food security and environmental threats around the world? 
  • Instructor: Xumin Zhang, Food and Resource Economics
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: What is poverty, and how can we eradicate it by synergizing economics, human capital, the environment, and human well-being? 
  • Instructor: Misti Sharp, Food and Resource Economics
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How might we reconnect the world with agriculture and food systems through Agritourism?
  • Instructor: Howell Keiser, Hamilton School
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • Pressing Question: How do key texts provide context behind debates over what it means to be free and equal in the United States of America?
  • Instructor: Anna Gardner, Applied Physiology & Kinesiology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Questions: If exercise is medicine, why is our society plagued by inactivity and its associated negative health consequences? What entities do or should play a role in promoting an active lifestyle among Americans? What should this role be?
  • Instructor: Elizabeth Lada, Astronomy
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do the disciplines of art and science converge in astrophotography to help us explore and express our relationship with the cosmos? 
  • Instructor: Avrajit Bandyopadhyay, Astronomy
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How can different people view the same evidence yet form or retain different conclusions?
  • Instructor: Rana Ezzeddine, Astronomy
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do cosmic events that took place billions of years ago and millions of light years away, affect our lives and humanity today?
  • Instructor: Jason von Meding, Construction Management
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: What is the relationship between society, the built environment, and the natural environment, and what does it mean to develop in a sustainable way?
  • Instructor: Brian Harfe, Biology
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: Humans can be created with specific “designer” characteristics, but should we? We will examine the technologies behind how the human genome can be modified and discuss the controversies surrounding these technologies.
  • Instructor: Joseph Rivera, Sociology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How does the law help us to conserve and protect wildlife populations in the United States?
  • Instructor: Won-Ki Moon, Advertising
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How can experts/scientists apply AI-powered services/programs in communicating (social) scientific problems for the public?
  • Instructor: Michael Harmon, Dial Center
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do we with communicate with AI, as explored through the ideas of who is a communicator, who is a mediator, and what is intelligence?
  • Instructor: Estelle Martin, Entomology and Nematology
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: What are the emerging issues in vector biology and disease epidemiology? What can be done to manage or prevent the occurrence of arthropod-borne diseases?
  • Instructor: Jennifer Weeks, Entomology and Nematology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How are humans altering the number, relative abundance, and distribution of species on Earth via changing land use, urbanization, globalization, and climate change and how are these changes impacting ecosystem services and the human experience?
  • Instructor:  Agata Kowalewska, European Studies
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Can Europeans sustain traditional food culture, competitive levels of food production, and improve population health while achieving the goals of Agenda 2023 and the European Green Deal?

     

  • Instructor: Tenisha Riley, Family, Youth and Community Sciences
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How can examining root causes of social problems allow us to leverage prevention science to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities?
  • Instructor: Katherine Serafin, Geography 
  • Format: 100% Classroom 
  • The Pressing Question: How can humanity adapt to sea level rise?
  • Instructor: Gabriela Hamerlinck, Geography
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous 
  • The Pressing Questions: What social, political, biological, and environmental factors led to historic disease outbreaks? What would happen if our planet experienced a pandemic today? How can we prepare for the next disease pandemic?
  • Instructor: Johanna Engstrom, Geography
  • Format:  100% Classroom  
  • The Pressing Question: Is Renewable Energy Always Sustainable? Are Renewable Energies Always a Better Option for the Environment? and What does a future sustainable energy situation look like?
  • Instructor: Alessandro Forte, Geological Sciences
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Is the severity of the current global loss of biota sufficiently great to be regarded as a “mass extinction”, comparable to other “great dying” episodes that are identifiable in the geological record of the past 550 million years of Earth’s history?
  • Instructor: Andrew Zimmerman, Geological Sciences
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: What is the evidence for global climate change, how will it affect us and what can we do about it? Further, how is modern science done and used in society?
  • Instructor: Nasim Binesh, Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How are robots changing our society, and how can we prepare for a future of robots amongst us?
  • Instructor: Ashlee Ossiboff, Health Education & Behavior
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do one’s culture and background influence how healthy we are and what health regimens work?
  • Instructor: Amber Emanuel, Health Education and Behavior
  • Format: 100% Online
  • The Pressing Question: How can we navigate and debunk prevalent health myths to make informed and evidence-based choices for our well-being?
  • Instructor: Beth Gankofskie, Food Science and Human Nutrition
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do we feed a growing global population in the face of nutritional, environmental, and economic challenges?
  • Instructor: Satya Nadakuduti, Environmental Horticulture
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Can we explore plants for human medicine to address current societal health problems?
  • Instructor: Valeria Kleiman, Chemistry
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How does the understanding of the science behind food and cooking help us make sense of our current multicultural society?
  • Instructor: Ryan Good, School of Natural Resources and Environment
  • Format: Hybrid
  • The Pressing Question: How can we more critically consume maps to increase our understanding of the world we inhabit?
  • Instructor: Angela Bacsik, University Writing Program
  • Format: 100% Classroom 
  • The Pressing Question: Whose interests are served by privacy protection and whose interests are served by surveillance? How does ubiquitous data collection and use create challenges for individuals and for social structures? What kinds of limitations might be needed and why?
  • Instructor: Emma MacKie, Geological Sciences
  • Format: 100% Online
  • The Pressing Question: How do we tackle the climate change crisis and mitigate its impact on humans?
  • Instructor: Kara Riggs, Agronomy
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • Pressing Question: 
  • Instructor: Kevin Folta, Horticultural Sciences
  • Format:  100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: New technologies in food and medicine are amazing;  why do people oppose them, what information is real and what isn't? 
  • Instructor: Melissa Mellon, University Writing Program
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How might consumers write to advocate for sustainable strategies in the fashion industry? To which target readers might consumers communicate their concerns?
  • Instructor: Jose Reyes-De-Corcuera, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How can each of us contribute to the effective deployment of practical technologies to improve the livelihood of people involved in food (cacao) production and that we may never directly interact with?
  • Instructor: Emily Hind,Spanish & Portuguese Studies
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do we take care of ourselves and one another on the planet now?
  • Instructor: Moodjalin Sudcharoen, Anthropology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How is foreignness created by ideologies about language? How do nation-states and institutions of power manage foreigners, foreignness, and foreign voices? How do such projects lead to social inequality, discrimination, and resistance?
  • Instructor: Stephanie Bogart, Anthropology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: What are the main controversies surrounding human sexuality and how do these intersect with a person, society, culture, and government? 
  • Instructor: Richard Tovar, Environmental Health
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How are dietary trends such as low carbohydrate plans, detox programs, and intermittent fasting influenced by cultural norms, media messaging, economic factors, and psychological motivations?
  • Instructor: Drew Brown, African-American Studies
  • Format: 100% Online
  • The Pressing Question: What can we learn from sports? How can sports be used as a lens into broader social phenomena?
  • Instructor: Anthropology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How does knowledge of vertebrate biodiversity contribute to what we know about our skeletons and ourselves?
  • Instructor: Gail Fanucci, Chemistry
  • Format:  100% Classroom 
  • The Pressing Question: How can novel approaches/innovations in chemistry help alleviate or answer current and arising challenges in our world today, such as our food supply and pollution, novel medicines to combat resistance and addiction, and our water supply and the built environment? How has chemical innovation been motivated by and impacted various groups of people?”
  • Instructor: Jessica-Jean Stonecipher, University Writing Program
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: What is romantic love, and how do the experiences, expectations, discourses, and desires related to romantic love help us to understand ourselves and others?
  • Instructor: Stephen Buono, Hamilton School
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do governments manage their scarce resources while pursuing a broad array of ambitions? How can policymakers utilize different types of power (cultural, economic, military and the like) to achieve their goals both effectively and efficiently? In a rapidly evolving and intricate world, how can leaders discern short-term and long-term priorities, opportunities, and threats?
  • Instructor: Kelsi & Keri Matwick, Journalism
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: What do we eat, and how can we eat for a more sustainable future?

     

  • Instructor:  Kim Walsh-Childers, Journalism
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How can citizens identify and use high quality news coverage of local and state governments to foster their own and others’ effective participation in democracy in their communities and their states?
  • Instructor:  Sarah Moeller, Linguistics
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: 
  • Instructor: Bart Schutzman, Environmental Horticulture 
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Essential Question:
  • Instructor: Gregory Stewart, Physics
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question:  How will we meet our energy needs based on available resources in a way that is environmentally friendly, economically viable, fair, and politically attainable?
  • Instructor: Samuel Martins, Plant Pathology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Are plants crying out for help and we can’t hear? Do plants talk? Do plants remember? Do plants see?
  • Instructor:  Rosalie Koenig, Agronomy
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Can science create new technologies that will address present bottlenecks in agricultural production while securing a healthy, equitable diet and minimizing impacts to the environment?
  • Instructor: Amber Moss-Lazarczyk, Human Development and Organizational Studies
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: What if there was no stigma related to mental health problems in the U.S.? How would our lived experiences be changed and what outcomes would improve? 
  • Instructor:  Antonio Sajid Lopez Mendez, Spanish & Portuguese Studies
  • Format: Hybrid
  • The Pressing Questions: 
    • How do shared fictions shape the political and socioeconomic associations of ethnic groups in regions dominated by Hispanic elites?
    • In what ways do stereotypes and prejudices become embedded in popular culture, and how do they justify the exclusion of certain individuals or groups?
    • How do fictions portray, embed, or question stereotypes, and what impact does this have on societal norms and behaviors?
    • What are the implications of these shared fictions for democracy, citizenship rights, human rights, corruption, and violence in Latin America?How can a critical examination of fictions and social behaviors lead to personal reflection, cultural and political analysis, and the development of ideas to combat stereotypes and foster inclusive societies?
  • Instructor: Yang Lin, Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Why do human decisions often result in unintended consequences on the environment, and how can we better predict and prevent them?
  • Instructor: Ravi Ghadge, Sociology
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do we understand social problems from a global perspective? How can we create a globally informed policy framework to address global social problems?

HONORS

  • Instructor: Benjamin Hebblethwaite; Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do emerging technologies change the way we use language and interact with others?
  • Instructor: Dennis McCarty, Dial Center
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: When am I in a community, and when am I in a cult? When is conformity good for me, and when is it not?
  • Instructor: Charlie Laderman, Hamilton School
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • Essential Question: How do governments manage their scarce resources while pursuing a broad array of ambitions? How can policymakers utilize different types of power (cultural, economic, military and the like) to achieve their goals both effectively and efficiently? In a rapidly evolving and intricate world, how can leaders discern short-term and long-term priorities, opportunities, and threats?
  • Instructor:  Rosalie Koenig, Agronomy
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Can science create new technologies that will address present bottlenecks in agricultural production while securing a healthy, equitable diet and minimizing impacts to the environment?
  • Instructor: Elizabeth Johnson, Statistics
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: Do people overestimate how much they know about the world and underestimate the role of chance in our lives? Are our subjective judgements biased? Are we too willing to believe findings based on too few observations and inadequate evidence?

UF ONLINE

  • Instructor: Jared Gars, Food and Resource Economics 
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: How can agricultural and environmental policy be used to address emerging food security and environmental threats around the world? 
  • Instructor: Brian Harfe, Biology
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: Humans can be created with specific “designer” characteristics, but should we? We will examine the technologies behind how the human genome can be modified and discuss the controversies surrounding these technologies.
  • Instructor: Michael Harmon, Dial Center
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How do we with communicate with AI, as explored through the ideas of who is a communicator, who is a mediator, and what is intelligence?
  • Instructor: Estelle Martin, Entomology and Nematology
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: What are the emerging issues in vector biology and disease epidemiology? What can be done to manage or prevent the occurrence of arthropod-borne diseases?
  • Instructor: Gabriela Hamerlinck, Geography
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous 
  • The Pressing Questions: What social, political, biological, and environmental factors led to historic disease outbreaks? What would happen if our planet experienced a pandemic today? How can we prepare for the next disease pandemic?
  • Instructor: Amber Emanuel, Health Education and Behavior
  • Format: 100% Online
  • The Pressing Question: How can we navigate and debunk prevalent health myths to make informed and evidence-based choices for our well-being?
  • Instructor: Melissa Mellon, University Writing Program
  • Format: 100% Classroom
  • The Pressing Question: How might consumers write to advocate for sustainable strategies in the fashion industry? To which target readers might consumers communicate their concerns?
  • Instructor: Drew Brown, African-American Studies
  • Format: 100% Online
  • The Pressing Question: 
  • Instructor: Gail Fanucci, Chemistry
  • Format:  100% Online
  • The Pressing Question:  How can novel approaches/innovations in chemistry help alleviate or answer current and arising challenges in our world today, such as our food supply and pollution, novel medicines to combat resistance and addiction, and our water supply and the built environment? How has chemical innovation been motivated by and impacted various groups of people?”
  • Instructor: Kelsi & Keri Matwick, Journalism
  • Format: 100% Online, Asynchronous
  • The Pressing Question: What do we eat, and how can we eat for a more sustainable future