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Skidmore College
First-Year Experience

Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description

Food, Self, and Society

Instructor(s): Kenji Tierney, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work

This course examines the relationship between food, the self and society both in the United States and throughout the globe. If eating is the act of taking the world into our bodies, are you what you eat, don't eat, or how you eat? Is every bite you take a vote for a certain world? Drawing on cultural roles of food throughout the world, students will consider various approaches to food through an examination of current topics such as globalization, the environment, genetically modified foods, vegetarianism/veganism, the "obesity crisis" and disordered consumption. Students will also examine numerous perspectives including anthropology, sociology, women's studies, psychology, history, literature, popular memoirs and mass media.

 

Course Offered