ANT 267: Food and Culture
Spring 2008, T, Th 10:00 - 11:15, Chambers 1006
Office Hours: M, W 11:30-12:30 am;
T, Th 11:30-12:30 am or by appointment
This course introduces how food practices shape societies and cultures throughout the world. Foodways will be examined from an anthropological perspective for its social and cultural implications; this is not a survey of nutritional or dietetic sciences. Topics to be covered include: the use of food in social contexts (food exchanges and the social construction of groups; food as a marker of social boundaries;); the symbolism of food (folk conceptions of food; body image; food taboos and other religious restrictions; vegetarianism and alternative consumption regimes;); and the political economy of food (globalization and global food industries; changes in dietary patterns; famine and food emergencies; the invention and commodification of new foods).
The anthropological perspective is largely a "bottom-up," comparative examination of particular social processes, and is presented in the form of ethnographic monographs and articles that describe everyday life in detail. The main question that we will be addressing throughout this course is how food and foodways is both a reflection of and reflection on social structures and cultural practices.
This course is structured along the lines of community-based learning. This means that students will apply the lessons learned from the classroom to issues that affect our local community. In groups, we will work with community leaders to develop and execute various projects. Such experiential learning reinforces the understanding of theoretical and methodological issues, while also benefitting the community.