Course Profiles and Assessment

Course Profiles | Assessment

Course Profiles

• HIST 5006 Celebrating Food
• HIST 5007 Food in the City
• HIST 5008 Food Choices & Food Ethics
• HIST 5009 From Hunter-gathers to the Blue Revolution: the Culture of Agriculture in a Global Context
• HIST 5010 Recipes' Reasons: Researching Culinary History
• HIST 5011 Research Project in Food Studies

HIST 5006 Celebrating Food

Course objectives:

At the end of this course students will:

1. Be familiar with the variety of disciplinary approaches relevant to understanding food and celebration
2. Understand and be able to apply the appropriate methodologies for research into food and drink celebrations
3. Appreciate the relevance of food and drink practices to the building of families, communities, and nations
4. Understand the concepts of commensality, heritage, tradition, and identity in relation to celebrations centrally involving food and drink
5. Have developed skills which allow them to give analytical and focused presentations
6. Have developed skills of written expression and argumentation which permit them to present a well-constructed and well-supported historical argument on a selected topic relating to celebratory uses of food/drink

Course synopsis:

All societies use food in their secular and religious celebrations to convey both specific and general meanings. Food often is the specific focus of a festival, whether of a particular culture or a geographically-defined space (street, region, or nation). Taking an historical perspective but drawing on an interdisciplinary base of scholarship, this course examines the evolution of the symbolic roles of food in culture and society over time, with particular attention to the building and maintenance of families, communities, nations, and other groups through food-based celebrations

The course begins with an historical overview on banquets, feasting, and related food-events, and an examination of concepts relating to commensality. It surveys food and drink habits related to religious celebrations and holidays, including various feasts associated with major eastern and western traditions. It also explores family-based celebrations using food and drink, including secular rituals associated with daily activities as well as significant events (e.g., birthdays, and weddings). Community-based festivals focused on or involving food and drink in central ways have recently risen in popularity, and are another focus of the course, with special attention to the use of food and drink to build or assert identity. The course concludes with discussion of uses of food and drink to recognize and celebrate heritage or tradition, including as nostalgic devices to re-create (or create) the past.

HIST 5007 Food in the City

Course objectives:

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Describe and utilise the full range of resources relevant to the movement of food through cities
2. Explain and be able to apply the appropriate methodologies for research into urban foodways and their relationship to agriculture, globalisation and industrialisation
3. Discuss the relevance of a range of historical, socio-economic and political contexts as they relate to urban food systems 
4. Analyse concepts of urbanisation and industrialisation in relation to the development of food systems in cities
5. Evaluate and critically analyse current debates about how cities are fed and the implications for food and agricultural systems in the context of sustainability 
6. Discuss the challenges of feeding modern cities and their importance to urban and regional planning and policy and understand varied public and private responses to these challenges
7. Research and present an extended argument on a central issue relating to urban food systems within a broader sociohistorical context, showing well developed writing and research skills

Course synopsis:

The focus of "Food and the City" is the way in which food moves to, from and within the city - that is, the people, practices, spaces and systems which feed, and are fed by, cities. For students who have already completed one or more courses in Food Studies, it will offer greater depth to other previous learnings and will provide a valuable framework and contextual springboard for further studies for students taking it as their first course.

The paradox of the industrial revolution has meant that increasing number of people live in cities, while a rapidly diminishing population base produces the volumes of food that cities consume on a daily basis. With over half the world's population now living in cities, the connection between agriculture and urban areas is often difficult to perceive within the supermarkets, markets, restaurants, homes and other spaces and systems through which food moves as part of day-to-day life. However, this has not always been the case. Urban residents of even the world's largest metropolises were, by necessity, acutely aware of the realities of where their food came from and the risks that came with this. Avoiding food shortages, famine and spoilage were a constant concern for those involved in and responsible for the production and distribution of food to cities. Today cities may be less confronted with the risks of famine and scarcity, but nonetheless continue to struggle with old food problems in new forms, including food insecurity, environmental degradation, social alienation, nutrition and the age-old question of the best way to sustain urban populations in the future. How are cities therefore part of the problem and also, by necessity, part of the solution?

This course begins with historical perspective of the relationship between the urban and the rural and, in particular, how food has shaped various cities around the world. Beginning in Europe and America, it explores the development of ancient and contemporary cities in order to understand how they approached the question of how to sustain their ever-expanding populations and the similarities and differences in feeding urban populations today. The course examines the merits and limitations of different methodological approaches and disciplinary perspectives (including archaeology, history, anthropology, geography, architecture, planning, sociology and literature) for scholarly research in the field. It offers historical and contemporary perspectives for understanding the relationship between the rapid industrialisation of agriculture and the expansion of more urbanised ways of life, exploring the contemporary implications of this historical evolution. The historical and contemporary development of restaurants, supermarkets and markets, urban and peri-urban agriculture and street food are examined in terms of how they have contributed to urban cultures and reshaped urban and rural natures. Food and the City attends to the exchange between and co-dependency of city and country and of production and consumption. It will also consider the blurring of these categories in recent attempts to re-imagine the urban environment through the lens of food. Finally the course explores questions of sustainability and social and environmental change more broadly and the implications for planning and policy from a range of disciplinary perspectives.

HIST 5008 Food Choices & Food Ethics

Course objectives:

At the end of this course students will:

1. Be familiar with the history and evolution of views on food choice and ethics
2. Understand and be able to apply the appropriate methodologies for research into questions and issues relating to food choice and ethics
3. Appreciate a variety of religious and secular views on ethical issues relating to food and drink
4. Understand arguments associated with various positions on ethical issues relating to food and drink, including debates relating to food security and globalization
5. Be able to evaluate and critically analyse current debates about food choice and ethics in a verbal presentation
6. Have developed written and research skills required to develop and present an extended argument on a central issue relating to food choice and ethics within a broader sociohistorical context

Course synopsis:

Our choices as to what and how we eat depend in part on what we prefer as well as on the perceived nutritional and medicinal values of various foodstuffs. Most importantly, our food choices are shaped consciously and unconsciously by the values assigned to various types of foods within our culture. This course explores the history of theories and beliefs that have influenced food choices in particular cultures from ancient times to the present-day, comparing attitudes, ideologies and practices of different nationalities, and examines the concurrent shaping of these theories and beliefs by broader philosophies of the ‘good life' in these societies.

The course examines food choice problems and ethical dilemmas faced by the modern consumer given the conflicting demands of dietary advice, economic stressors, and tradeoffs between various types of products (e.g., local versus organic produce) within the context of vastly increased diversity in what foods are available. It begins with an overview of the history of concepts relating to values and food choice, with particular attention to the concept of omnivorousness and how foods come to be considered as ‘edible.' It examines the history and evolution of various types of food choices and their rationales, including vegetarianism. The course also looks at eating practices and their implications associated with various religious traditions, including Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Catholicism, and Seventh Day Adventism. Philosophies which are aimed in part at the good of those around us are explored using contemporary examples including community-supported agriculture and fair trade, as well as issues associated with food choices and their environmental impacts. The course concludes with a discussion of food security both in the developed and developing world, and the responsibilities associated with insuring food security in the face of globalization.

HIST 5009 From Hunter-gathers to the Blue Revolution: the Culture of Agriculture in a Global Context

Course objectives:

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Describe and utilise the full range of resources relevant to the development of agriculture and civilisations and their relationship of cooking, eating and drinking;
2. Explain and be able to apply the appropriate methodologies and theories for research into the production and consumption of food;
3. Discuss the history of agriculture in relation to understandings of power and progress;
4. Understand the development and evolution of agricultural traditions as cultural and political practices;
5. Evaluate and critically analyse current debates concerning quality, authenticity and social justice in relation to the production and consumption of food; and
6. Discuss the development of food countercultures, including the alternative food movements, civic agriculture and new agrarianisms and analyse debates about social justice, food sovereignty and participatory democracy as they relate to food and agriculture
7. Research and present an extended argument on a central issue relating to the history of food production within a broad sociocultural context, showing well developed research and writing skills

Course synopsis:

The focus of "From Hunter-Gathering to the Blue Revolution" is the material and cultural production of food from foraging, hunting and early agriculturalists to the modern complexities of a highly technologised global food system. For students who have already completed one or more courses in Food Studies, it will offer greater depth to other previous learnings and will provide a broad knowledge base of issues in food and agriculture for students taking it as their first course. It will explore why foragers became farmers, why people eat together, how agriculture moved and shaped societies around the world, and the economic, cultural, technological and political forces which continue to transform modern food systems today.

This course begins with a review of introductory perspectives on the relationship of cooking, eating and drinking traditions to the development of agriculture and civilisations and compares a range of different disciplinary approaches to understanding how production and consumption patterns have changed over time (including research in archaeology, history, anthropology, geography, sociology, development studies and literature). It examines the transition between hunting-gathering and early farming alongside historical perspectives on cooking and eating practices and looks at hunting-gathering practices in a modern context. In considering the relationship of agriculture to human civilisation, this course looks at how food and agriculture have shaped, and been shaped by, concepts of empire, industry and progress, specifically tracing the role of industrialisation, the Green revolution and other technological developments in creating today's food systems and exploring the implications for environmental and human health. Examining changing ideas about farming and agrarianism over time and the development of the supermarket in the twentieth century, the course discusses the globalisation of appetites and concentrations of power in global agrifood networks, exploring the turn to quality, authenticity and notions of the "local" as a response to anxieties about and inequities in the global food system. Finally it traces the emergence of a food counterculture, the "greening" of agriculture and the emergence of new agrarianisms and civic agriculture, exploring debates about social justice, citizenship and participatory democracy within the context of imagining in a sustainable food future.

HIST 5010 Recipes' Reasons: Researching Culinary History

Course objectives:

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Describe the full range of resources relevant to culinary history
2. Explain and be able to apply the appropriate methodologies for research into culinary history
3. Discuss the relevance of socio-economic and political contexts to culinary history 
4. Understand the development and evolution of culinary traditions
5. Analyse concepts of creolisation and hybridity in relation to the evolution of culinary traditions
6. Appraise current debates concerning the contribution of food to regional/national identity, and the relevance of culinary history to such debates
7. Display developed skills of written expression and argumentation which permit them to present a well-constructed and well-researched historical essay on an individually chosen food or culinary tradition

Course synopsis:

The focus of this course is culinary history - what it is, how it's done, and why it is relevant. For students who have already completed one or more courses in Food Studies, it will help integrate previous learnings and it will provide a valuable framework for further studies for students taking it as their first course. Culinary history, now an accepted category of social history, looks at the effects of historical events on what and how people eat (and, to a lesser extent, on the effects of diets and eating habits on the evolution of history). This course begins with a review and comparison of the various resources available to culinary historians, ranging from cookbooks and menus to gardening catalogues and images, and discusses both the merits and limitations of each as well as the appropriate methodologies for scholarly research in this field. In particular, the evolution of both recipes and cookbooks is explored.
The course also examines the application of culinary history to explore the different processes by which cuisines and culinary traditions develop, reviewing reactions and responses to the introduction of new ingredients through examples such as the Columbian Exchange (looking at both Europe and America) and the introduction of chocolate, coffee and tea to Europe. It discusses the effects of colonisation (especially through the travels of chili) and the creolisation or hybridisation which often accompanies the migration of cultures (such as African-American cuisines). Finally it explores the concept of authenticity in relation to tradition, and the relevance of culinary history.

HIST 5011 Research Project in Food Studies

Course objectives:

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Access and appropriately utilise a wide range of types of resource materials relating to topics in food studies
2. Explain and be able to apply the appropriate methodologies for research into topics in food studies
3. Be able to evaluate and critically analyse key essays in food studies
4. Successfully pursue independent and original research on a research question selected by them
5. Be able to give well-constructed and clear verbal presentations on their research topic, methodology, and overall essay
6. Display well-developed skills of written expression and argumentation which permit them to present a well-constructed, well-argued, and well-researched essay on an individually-selected topic relating to food studies

Course synopsis:

This course allows students to pursue, under supervision, an independent research essay of approximately 7500 words through a series of structured tasks designed to allow consolidation of skills and knowledge as well as development of more advanced research skills. The course begins by examining different types of research methods appropriate for topics in food studies (including empirical as well as theoretical approaches) then proceeds to discussion on choosing an appropriate research topic and formulating a research question. By mid-course, students are expected to have selected a research question, and will subsequently produce an annotated bibliography followed by a literature review as milestones toward the final research paper. Students will give a series of verbal presentations at key stages during the development of their research essays in order to get feedback from peers as well as the lecturer. By the end of the course, each student will produce an original research essay on an individually-selected topic relating to food studies.

The focus of this course is culinary history - what it is, how it's done, and why it is relevant. For students who have already completed one or more courses in Food Studies, it will help integrate previous learnings and it will provide a valuable framework for further studies for students taking it as their first course. Culinary history, now an accepted category of social history, looks at the effects of historical events on what and how people eat (and, to a lesser extent, on the effects of diets and eating habits on the evolution of history). This course begins with a review and comparison of the various resources available to culinary historians, ranging from cookbooks and menus to gardening catalogues and images, and discusses both the merits and limitations of each as well as the appropriate methodologies for scholarly research in this field. In particular, the evolution of both recipes and cookbooks is explored.

The course also examines the application of culinary history to explore the different processes by which cuisines and culinary traditions develop, reviewing reactions and responses to the introduction of new ingredients through examples such as the Columbian Exchange (looking at both Europe and America) and the introduction of chocolate, coffee and tea to Europe. It discusses the effects of colonisation (especially through the travels of chili) and the creolisation or hybridisation which often accompanies the migration of cultures (such as African-American cuisines). Finally it explores the concept of authenticity in relation to tradition, and the relevance of culinary history.

Assessment