Description of Course

Food is crucial to human survival but its significance stretches far beyond mere nutrition and sustenance. We are becoming increasingly aware that the act of eating intersects with everything from the climate crisis and public health to the way we construct our social identities on a daily basis. This course investigates how food is a force that connects and harbors the power to construct and deconstruct, now and in the future. With both theories and qualitative research methods from the anthropological field, this course explains cultural food dilemmas, food trends, human behavior, and practices around food.

What is the Anthropology of Food?

Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)

Anthropologists explore how cultural identities are shaped and in Anthropology of Food, we focus on the human relations to food. Food anthropologists thus think of eating as more than sustenance and taste. When we buy food and eat it, we communicate meaning that creates identities, maintains social bonds, and sustains cultures. This makes eating not only a nutritional act but also a social and cultural act.

How can one’s educational level influence what you buy?  How is it that Thanksgiving is not the same without a turkey? Why do some see the friend-bonding qualities of eating an original burger, while others see climate crisis issues? And why do Michelin-starred restaurants in Copenhagen now flaunt their uses of sustainable, local, seasonal ingredients and organic natural wine? These are some of the questions you will get equipped to answer during the curse.

By focusing on food culture across the world, with most case studies from Europe and especially from Copenhagen, we will develop an intercultural understanding of other societies, as well as our own. 

During our classes, we’ll make the theoretical subject come to life through case studies and field work - this includes interview assignments where you will visit designated neighborhoods and conduct your own studies of attitudes to food. Additionally we will go on field studies where we will meet people working with food.  This will introduce you to the theories surrounding food studies as well as the methods used when exploring the topic and subsequently deepen your understanding of the many meanings of food in a Danish context.

You will occasionally be offered tastings but never full meals. Note, that not all tastings will be able to accommodate dietary restrictions.

Learning Objectives

The overall objective of the course is to enable students to understand the social and cultural meanings of food. The course aims to endow them with a strong sense that food is more than what is served on a plate and provide them with a valuable toolkit filled with impressions, experiences, approaches, and concepts with which they would be able to better understand the practice of eating. 

By the end of the course, students should have:

• Developed a sense of the culinary cultures of Denmark and other countries and how these relate to broader cultures;
• Enhanced understanding of food culture in their home country and other countries after using Denmark as a case model
• An understanding of how to analyze the role of food in forging an identity on an individual and collective levels;
• Developed a sense of how to think critically about food as a reflection of social, political, and economic phenomena;
• Enhanced their understanding of the evolving role of gastronomy and the role of culture in reshaping a cultural identity;
• Greater knowledge of the fields of anthropology and sociology and how these disciplines approach the study of food
• The ability to use anthropological methods of inquiry to critically reflect on the role of food in culture in cultural practice.

Readings

There is no textbook for this course. All readings are found on Canvas.

Ariel, Ari, The Hummus Wars, Gastronomica. the Journal for Food Studies, Februrary 2012, Volume 12, Issue I, Univeristy of California Press 2012 

Bajc, Vida, “Tourist Gaze.” In: Dale Southerton (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture. London: Sage 2011.

Barthes, Roland, Rhetoric of the image, Image, Music, Text, Fontana Press 1972

Bourdieu, Piere, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, Routledge 1984 (e

Danish Agriculture and Food Council: Denmark, Danish Food and Gastronomy, Copenhagen 2011 

Fischler, Claude, Food, Self, and Identity, Social Science Information 27(2), June 1988, pp. 275-292

Fox, Robin, “ Food and Eating: An Anthropological Perspective"

Gee, James Paul, An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method 2nd Ed., Routledge 2007

Geertz, Clifford, Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture, The Interpretation of Cultures, Basic Books 1973

Halawa, Mateuz & Parasecoli, Fabio , Eating and drinking in Global Brooklyn, Food, Culture & Society. An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research June 2019 

Herman, Jenny L., #Eatingfortheinsta: A Semiotic Analysis of Digital Representations of Food on Instagram, Graduate Journal of Food Studies Vol. 4, No. 2 (Nov. 2017) 

Jaap Koijmaan, Fabricating the Absolute Fake. America in Contemporary Pop Culture, Introduction: Fabricating the Absolute Fake, Amsterdam University Press 2008

Korsmeyer, Carolyn, Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2002)

Laudan, Rachel, Birth of the Modern Diet, Scientific American 283(2):76-81, September 2000

Leer, Jonathan, The Rise and Fall of New Nordic Cuisine, Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, vol. 8:1, 2016 

Mührmann-Lund, J. (2016). Food Policing in Early Modern Danish Towns. Rural Landscapes: Society, Environment, History, 3(1): 3, 1–13

Orange, Richard, "Facist" food fight?, Public Radio International, April 8, 2012 via pri.org

Pollan, Michael, Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Penguin Press 2006

Ramsden, James, Eating with the eyes, The Guardian 28 January 2011

Reddy, Geetha, van Dam, Rob M., Food, culture, and identity in multicultural societies: Insights from Singapore, Appetite vol. 149, 1 June 2020

Reicher, A. Yael Raviv, Falafel Nation: cuisine and the making of National Identity in Israel. Dialectical Anthropology vol. 40, 2016 

Schösler, Hanna, de Boer, Joop & Boersma, Jan J., The Organic Food Philosophy: A Qualitative Exploration of the Practices, Values, and Beliefs of Dutch Organic Consumers Within a Cultural–Historical Frame, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics vol. 26, pp. 439-460, 2013

Seremetakis, C. Nadia, Senses Still,  The Memory of the senses, Part 1: Marks of the Transitory, University of Chicago Press, 1996

Schmidt, Garbi, Indvandringens Historie på Nørrebro 1885-2010, Museum Tusculanums Forlag 2015

Skinner, Jonathan, A Four-part Introduction to the Interview: An Ethnographic Approach, Berg Publishers 2012 

Swinbank, Vicki A., The Sexual Politics of Cooking: A Feminist Analysis of Culinary Hierachy in Western Culture, Journal of Historical Sociology vol. 15 no. 4, december 2002

Taylor, Chloe, Foucault and the Ethics of Eating, Foucault Studies, No. 9, pp. 71-88, September 2010

Tjørnhøj-Thomsen and Ploug Hansen (2015). "Managing Uncertainties, Gaining Control: The Magic of Foods and Words" in Steffen, V., Jöhncke, S., & Raahauge, K. M. (red.) (2015). Between Magic and Rationality (eds. Jöhncke, Steffen, Vibeke Steffen & Kirsten Marie Raahauge): On the limits of reason in the modern world. (Critical Anthropology udg.) København: Museum Tusculanum. (Critical Anthropology, Vol. 4). 

Trubec, Amy B., The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir, University of California Press 2008

Veblen, Thorstein, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions, Chapter IV: Conspicous Consumption, Dover Publications Inc. 1899

Wallace, David Foster, Consider the Lobster, Gourmet, August 2004 

 

Field Studies

• Independent field work at various food markets
• Visit to the culinary startup incubator Kitchen Collective
• Visit to the local community centre Absalon
• Visit to the restaurant and integration project Send Flere Krydderier 
• Independent field work in various neighborhoods 

 

Video material

Videos are listed in the order they appear in the course 

The Anthropology of Food: Claude Fischler at TEDxParisUniversité via Youtube.com

2-Minute Neuroscience: Taste at Neuroscientifically Challenged via Youtube.com 

What is Terroir? Meaning of Terroir in Wine - Back to Basics at Majestic Wine via Youtube.com

Julia Kristeva's "Power of Horror: An Essay of Abjection" at Spenser Smith via Youtube.com

John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Episode 3 (1972) at tw19751 via Youtube.com

Unfolding the potential of indigenous food cultures: Claus Meyer at TEDxCopenhagen 2012 via Youtube.com 

The Power of Observation - Broadening your field of vision at Red Associates via Vimeo.com

Discourse Analysis 101: What is it& When to use it (with examples) at Grad Coach via Youtube.com 

Doing Anthropology at MIT SHASS via Youtube.com 

Deep Listening at Red Associates via Vimeo.com

The role of food in health, Dr. Rupy Aujla at TEDxBristol at Youtube.com

Judith Butler: Your Behavior Creates Your Gender at Big Think via Youtube.com

Judith Butler's Gender Performativity Theory Explained! Media Studies Theory Revision at The Media Insider via Youtube.com

Take back our food system: grow something, Jason McCobb at TEDxBocaRaton via Youtube.com 

Sitopia - How we can think through food, Carolyn Steel at TEDxDanubia 2011 via Youtube.com

The Future of Food: Josh Tetrick at TEDxEdmonton via Youtube.com 

Guest Lectures

During the course, we will go out and visit locations or have speakers come and visit us. Among others, 

• Ian Samuel Terkildsen, DIS 
• Siska Asved, Kitchen Collective 
• Sarah Sylvest, Absalon
• Erin Chapman, American Pie Co.

 

Workshops

Wine tasting with Ian Samuel Terkildsen, DIS 

Expectations of the Students

Participation and timeliness

Students are expected to attend all class sessions unless prevented by an emergency. If you are not in class, you cannot participate.

Students are expected to have completed the course readings and work questions before class so that we can discuss the material in detail. It is important to be well prepared for class as students at times will be required to give key points on the readings for that day. Similarly, assignments must be handed in on time, unless otherwise has been agreed on with the instructor.

Students are not allowed to use a laptop or smartphone in class. Considerations will, of course, be taken if you have special needs for a computer for note-taking. Please speak to the Office of Academic Support to request accommodations.

Openness to cultural differences 

Students are expected to participate actively in all classes and field studies and be open-minded to their fellow student’s contribution to the class. The aim is to establish an environment where we can learn from each other as well as from the texts and cases we engage with, and you are expected to actively support this approach.

Note that tastings are a recurring element of the class. Students are expected to move out of their comfort zone and experience new flavor profiles and textures. 

Similarly, students are expected to conduct field work among locals. This requires a willingness to engage with people of a different culture, and be ready for situations where English is not the dominant language.

 

Approach to Teaching

The methods used to cover class materials include lectures, video, discussions, individual and group presentations, guest lectures, and field trips. Periodically we will split up into smaller groups to review and analyze the material more thoroughly. The course will have several out-of-the-class-room sessions on location to experience the different facets of food first hand. Students are expected to be able to find and be at the external locations on time. The external locations will not be far from DIS's location and maps and addresses will be given in advance.

Office hours are held after class or by appointment. 

Tastings of foods are regularly conducted both in the classroom and on our excursions; note that not all tastings will be able to accommodate all dietary restrictions, and dietary alternatives may not exist in some contexts. We also cannot guarantee the lack of cross-contamination for food allergies in many of the places we visit. 

Faculty

Anders Larsen holds a Candidatus Magisterii in History and English Literature and Language from the University of Copenhagen.  Anders teaches a series of courses that deal with lifestyle including Meaning of Style that explores fashion as a cultural phenomenon, Copenhagen History. Structure, plan and design that takes student on a journey through the cultural history of the built environment, Food: Social Change and Innovation that explores societal change through food systems, and Tasting Culture, an interdisciplinary exploration of European food culture. With DIS since 2007.  

Email: al@dis.dk

 

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on their ability to understand, discuss and communicate theories within Anthropology of Food as well as interpret them meaningfully. These skills will be the primary focuses in evaluations. Group work in class and in the field as well as the student's ability to contribute to a group effort will be taken into account for the grade.

Participation is evaluated as follows:

• Do you participate actively during class sessions and excursions?
• Were you timely and prepared?
• Do you show respect to classmates and the learning environment?
• Do you show respect to guest lecturers and the environments we visit?

Active class participation throughout the course: A=96 / Occasional participation: B=86 / Little or no participation: C=76. Fine-tuning of percentage points may occur, reflecting student performance.

Note that attendance at all classes and field studies is required and expected and is not credited as participation. Failure to attend will have a negative influence on the participation grade, however.

How to Get a Good Grade

• Involve yourself! Allow yourself the luxury of taking a genuine interest in the course, i.e. in ‘food’. It may not be your core field or interest, but why not join the many students who have been surprised at how interesting it actually is to suddenly understand the history and nutrition of the food we consume.
• Get organized! Enter all due dates in a calendar and set aside time to work on assignments and prepare for class. 
• Prepare for class! Every class! 
• Take good notes! You will be graded on your analytical thinking. 
• Participate! Sharing your thoughts and ideas in class is not just important for the participation grade, it is one of the best tools for developing your analytical skills.

Notebooks are evaluated as follows:

• Do you complete the homework and notebook prompts?
• Do you use your journal in and out of class?
• Do your notes show detail and reflection?
• Are you both observing and analyzing?

Rubrics for the assignment grades are distributed with the assignment descriptions.

Grading

Your grade consists of the following three elements. Written assignments, your journal, and your participation in class. The three parts are weighed as follows:

Assignment	Percent
ASSIGNMENT 1 - Ethnographic photography	15%
ASSIGNMENT 2 - Thick description	15%
ASSIGNMENT 3 - Observations and foodscapes	20%
ASSIGNMENT 4 - Integrated ethnographic methods	20%
Participation	15%
Journal	15%

 

Academic Regulations 

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

• Course Enrollment and Grading
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code

 

 

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org