Being necessary to our basic biological survival, food is a human universal. Indeed, the paired technological revolutions of fire and cooking are central features of a common human experience reaching deep into our species’ evolutionary past. But food is much more than just an instrumental caloric requirement. In both modern and historic times, when it comes to the manner of its acquisition/production, preparation, and consumption food is among the most highly differentiated and symbolically laden of all socio-cultural domains. Scholars have long noted that in processes of assimilation, negotiation, and exchange characteristic of the colonial forces that have shaped our contemporary world, food traditions are the most persistent and resistant to change. Food is sacred and profane, food nourishes and malnourishes, food comforts and disgusts, food is shared and withheld, food can foster peace and it can kindle conflict. This class will examine this most complex and multifaceted of human necessities from an anthropological perspective that accounts for a range of possibilities along the continuum from local to global.
- Institutional COVID Updates
- About Sterling
- Admissions & Aid
- Academics
- Wilderness Field Program
- Wendell Berry Farming Program
- EcoGather
- Continuing Education
- Life at Sterling
- For Alumnx & Supporters
- Parents & Families
- Make A Gift
- Online Store
- More
Course ID | SS272A |
---|---|
Credits | 3 |
Prerequisites | INT107 |
Semester | Spring |
Start Term | May Intensive: May 6-21 |
Faculty | Tony Van Winkle |
$500
Visit Sterling College and we will reimburse you up to $500 for travel expenses if you decide to enroll full time. So save your receipts!
Trustees Emeriti
David Behrend ’60
Susan C. Bryant
Marvin Brown, Alumni Parent ’85
Lewis Cohen
George J. Hill, M.D., D.Litt., Alumni Parent ’85
Jackson Kytle, Ph.D.
Peter Albert McKay, J.D. ’63
Virginia de Ganahl Russell
Mark Schroeder, Ph.D.