ANTH 039C. Food and Culture

Food, a daily necessity for human survival, is strongly shaped by social relationships and cultural meanings. Who makes our food, what we eat, how we eat, and with whom we eat all reflect and reproduce various social connections and inequalities. This class explores how food, its making, and its consumption have been analyzed by different scholars, particularly anthropologists. We will also look at how various societies define, manage, and regulate the preparation and consumption of food. The class consider questions such as: Why do we serve specific foods at certain occasions? What constitutes a proper meal? How does class, gender, race, and ethnicity shape the making and serving of certain foods? Why might a particular food be viewed a delicacy in one society, but be seen as disgusting and repulsive in another? How did food become a “problem” that has to be managed in many of our contemporary societies? Through our readings and discussions, we will seek a deeper understanding of edible matters, how we shape them and how they shape us.
Social Sciences.
1 credit.
Eligible for GLBL- core
Fall 2023. Ghannam.
Catalog chapter: Sociology and Anthropology
Department website: www.swarthmore.edu/sociology-anthropology

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