ANTH 30313 Food and Culture
Food and Culture explores food production, distribution, and consumption for practical and symbolic objectives. The course focuses on the symbolism as an expression of ethics that shape people's individual and collective identities. Toward this end, the course addresses heritage foods and identities at risk due to a change from regional, cottage production to mass production for worldwide distribution. The course also looks at identity in relation to politics and gender. Students learn qualitative research skills, which they apply to a semester-long project in a food-related venue, discovering the ethical moorings of a food micro-culture. Students learn skills for understanding culture through food, applicable to careers and travel in domestic and foreign settings.