Food Studies

Food has been part of the semiotic process of film-making since films began. Both food and film provide information about ourselves and our values. They both communicate information about our political and economic aspirations, ethnic and religious values, and even sexual and philosophical identities. Both enrich our minds with ideas about adventure and bravery, hope and despair, love and romance, and more. This course explores the representations of food in world cinema. We will pay special attention to the social, cultural and historical issues depicted in films from around the world. In addition to analyzing films as pieces of artist cinematic expression, we will also examine the multiple roles that “culinary images’ play in world cinema. We will also pay special attention to how food production and preparation, presentation and consumption can play an important role in film structure, character development and film themes.

The Levantine, or the Eastern Mediterranean region, stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates and Tigress rivers, is not only the birthplace of the world's 3 monotheistic religions. It is also an ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse area were many of the first civilizations started, and where many food items originated, and crops and animals were domesticated. The Levantine culinary culture is a "mélange of ingredients, recipes, and modes of consumption rooted in the Eastern Mediterranean." In this course, we will explore the regions culinary traditions, the history of various ingredients and dishes such as various spices, sugar, olive oil, hummus, falafel, kebabs, shakshuka, shawarma (gyros or Döner). However, any exploration of the foodways of any region is incomplete without the study of its history, geography, ethnic make-up, linguistic and religious traditions.

More than nine million people die every year of hunger, malnutrition, and related diseases, most of them children in Africa. Nutritional deprivation affects more than one-quarter of the world's population. Western (American and European) policies keep the world's poorest hungry and unable to feed themselves. Why does hunger exist globally despite an abundance of food? This course is a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary study of world hunger. It involves a critical examination of the political, economic, social, and ecological causes and consequences of hunger and famine. There are only a few other global problems of more dire significance in today's world than world hunger. Through readings and research, students will learn about hunger in the United States and around the world in different historical and cultural contexts along with different explanations and solutions to hunger worldwide

​​​​​Food is one of the most universally used themes in literary works since ancient times. In this course, students will study the role of food in literature written by “global” authors and ethnic writers. Food is used in literature to present interpretations of culture, history, politics, ethnicity, and gender issues.