SSP-100 (011) Food and Society

Una Bray, Associate Professor of Math

Why do we eat what we eat ? Is it nature, nurture, or do we just eat what’s available? In this course students will use tools from many different disciplines to examine this question. Historical, sociological, economic, scientific, religious and aesthetic approaches to the subject of culinary choices will inform our discussions throughout the semester. We will proceed from the foraging of the ancient world, through early human civilizations, Greek and Roman times, medieval eastern cultures, the Far East, early European cultures, African cultures, to the contributions of the Americas, as we study how we arrived at the food we eat today. Along the way, we will share meals representative of the cultures and cuisines we study.