FOOD, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY

AAE/C&ESOC/SOC 340

With primary emphasis on the U.S., the course covers social, economic and biological dimensions of food systems. Using classroom and community experience, the course combines academic approaches with practitioner knowledge. A community project is required.

GEN&WS 472

Approaches human relationships with food from micro to macro levels. Considers personal and interpersonal relationships with food, examining the social, cultural, and political meanings of food at various intersections of identity (gender, race, class, ability, age, etc.), and within different institutions such as family, education, and religion. Asks questions about personal/individual responsibility in relation to food, and the role of communities, municipalities, governments, and global entities in determining what people eat and how. Explores the gendered, raced, and classed politics of food systems; questions of sovereignty, sustainability, access, regulation, dissemination, and policy making. Examines the cultural, ecological, and economic implications of the ways food is perceived, produced, and consumed across cultures.

C&ESOC/SOC 650

Introduction to sociology of agriculture in advanced industrial-capitalist societies, including theoretical, historical, and empirical issues of agriculture in the United States.

C&ESOC/SOC 341

Overview of our current food system and how new technologies and globalization are reshaping it, focusing especially on the implications for workers throughout the food chain. Learn about the ways that social movements are working to reshape commodity chains by promoting local production, fair trade, and labor justice.

C&ESOC/SOC 140

Sociological examination of the linkages between the social and biophysical dimensions of the environment. Key topics include community organizing, local food systems, energy transitions, environmental justice, resource dependence, and sustainable development.