SOCL 268 - Comm, Ethnicity & Food

Credit(s): 3
3 hours lecture, 3 hours contact
Across time and across borders, humans have eaten not only for sustenance, but for pleasure, and food has helped shape the creation of societies and religions as well as nations and corporations. Eating together or eating similar cuisine binds families, cultures, and states together, while food taboos and distinctions draw distinctions between strangers. This course will investigate the history of food from prehistory to the present day, considering examples from all corners of the world. Beginning with the science of food and taste, we will consider the origins of agriculture and the role of food in antiquity and religious life. Students will explore the spread of crops and food practices across the oceans in the early modern world, and investigate the intimate and uncomfortable relationship between food and the global slave trade. Students will also explore the origins of national cuisines, and the ways in which global politics have changed the eating practices of people around the world.

Only open to students in the B.A. Liberal Arts and Sciences program.