Sociology of Food

Abstract

This course examines the social relations surrounding the production, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food. In doing so, we will try to understand how the issues and problems of daily life reflect larger social forces, and how our understanding and actions shape the social world. This means that we will treat several major questions facing...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Cultural Sociology

Resource Type(s):

Syllabus

Class Level(s):

College 200

Class Size(s):

Small

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. 1. To be able to critically examine and evaluate the connections between food, culture, and society.
2. 2. To understand the individual and cultural norms involved in your daily food choices.
3. 3. To be able think about how to: 1) construct and evaluate a researchable hypothesis; 2) construct and organize a scholarly argument; 3) support a scholarly argument with evidence.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. 1. Daily reading summaries. Also, annotated bibliographies that are concise and informative descriptions that summarize and evaluate the contents of a resource. More than summary, an annotation usually strikes a balance between summary and evaluation.
2. 2. What You Eat Photo Essay - you will photograph one of your meals and reflect on the series of conscious actions and decisions that reflect the cultural meaning behind your food choices by apply the insights from your readings and our class discussions.
3. 3. Proposal, Presentation, and Final Paper all build on one another. Students make a concise and cogent sociological argument about food, considering food and their own food-choices, within the context of the social institutions and interactions studied.