ANTH220

Food influences the life of every person: from one's personal relationship with food to religious dietary rules to global corporate food production. This course addresses the meanings of food among different cultures, and it explores the ways in which geographic, cultural, political, and economic forces interact to influence our food preferences, health, and nutritional status. How do gender, ethnicity, class, religion, the media, and corporate capitalism influence the manner in which we perceive, acquire, prepare, and consume food? Moreover, how do we, through what and how We eat and do not eat, construct relationships with our bodies, with others, with our histories, with animals, and the environment? We will examine these questions through the use of academic texts, media accounts, personal narratives, art, film, and fieldwork. Students should be willing to participate in class discussion and activities, as well as organized and independent fieldtrips.