In addition to her role as Duke Campus Farm Program Director, Saskia Cornes is Assistant Professor of the Practice at the Franklin Humanities Institute. She holds a PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University, where her dissertation focused on the emergence of the discourse of land-as-property in 17^th century English literature. She also holds an advanced certificate in Ecological Horticulture from the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in the University of California at Santa Cruz.

The interplay between Cornes’ practical knowledge of agricultural production and her study of the genealogy of discourses that shape ideas about land and its stewardship is fertile ground for interdisciplinary research and pedagogy. Using the Duke Campus Farm as a learning site in her courses, Cornes creates innovative experiential learning opportunities in the humanities for Duke students. She is one of a growing cohort of faculty members from diverse disciplines in an environmental arts and humanities initiative at Duke.