B8094 - Anthropology of Food (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students master the main theoretical and methodological frameworks for the anthropological analysis of food practices; they also acquire skills in developing their own analyses of food and nutrition with reference to historical and cultural dynamics as well as social stratification.

Course contents

The course is designed to provide some initial historical, methodological and ethnographic coordinates on the anthropology of food.

The first lessons will be dedicated to a historical, methodological and ethnographic overview (covering a number of authors who have written on food, including Audrey Richards, Mary Douglas, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Sidney Mintz and Mary Weismantel), highlighting the historical significance of this field of study and outlining the main lines of research in cultural anthropology on food.

There will then be a series of lectures in which experts will present their ethnographic research and discuss the following topics:

anthropology of food & gender

anthropology of food & power

anthropology of food & obesity

anthropology of food & malnutrition

anthropology of food & food transitions

anthropology of food & ethnobotanical studies

anthropology of food & finance

anthropology of food & ultra-processed foods

the construction and restitution of cookbooks in indigenous contexts

school menus in the Italian context

Attending students will be provided with a detailed lecture schedule.
In addition to the bibliography proposed in preparation for the final exam, each week there will be a series of critical readings to accompany the individual lessons. These materials are available on the Virtual Platform and are not compulsory reading for exam preparation.

 

Finally, it should be noted that the course is an active part of the Me.Te project - Memories from the Territory. Stories of Landscapes and Communities in Transformation. The general outline of the project will be presented in class together with the other colleagues involved, and if there are students interested in participating in the fieldwork, possible applications will be considered:

https://site.unibo.it/mete-memorie-territorio/it

Readings/Bibliography

MANDATORY READINGS :

 Course readings package-set of articles or book chapters provided at the beginning of the semester. All the course materials for attending students will be made available in the ‘teaching materials’ sections of the website, only accessible to Unibo students with institutional credentials.

A choice of one text or collection of essays:

• Giordana L., Schierano P., Gastropolitiche insulari. Dossier monografico. Archivio Antropologico Mediterraneo. Anno XXVII, n. 26 (1) | 2024.

  https://journals.openedition.org/aam/7660

• Cuturi F., Mauriello M., Cibi e poteri. Etnografie degli usi sociopolitici del cibo. Dossier monografico. L’UOMO. Dicembre 2022, Vol. 12 n. L’Uomo”. https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/uomo/issue/view/165

• Franceschi Z.A., Peveri V., Raccontare di gusto. Arti del cibo e della memoria in America latina e Africa, Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 2014.
  
  
• Le Breton D., Il sapore del mondo. Un’antropologia dei sensi, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2014.
  
  
• Mauriello M., Cottino G., Feeding genders. Dossier monografico. Anthropology of food. N. 2, 2022. https://unora.unior.it/bitstream/11574/216720/1/Feeding%20Genders.pdf

Teaching methods

The course will provide some theoretical and methodological foundations on the one hand, and on the other will provide tools for ethnographic analysis related to the anthropology of food. For this reason, at the end of each lesson there will always be a moment to check the understanding of the topics covered, through the active participation of the students.

Assessment methods

Attending students are required to give an oral presentation on a topic chosen during the course. A date for the presentations will be set together (the presentations will take place in December) on which all students will present their papers. All those who have chosen this exam format must be present on the day of the presentations. In addition, students who have chosen this exam format must prepare the course readings package andante an agreed reading related to the presentation.

For non-attending students, the exam is oral, according to the scheduled exam sessions, starting in December. Students will be required to prepare  the Course readings package and a text or monographic issue from among those proposed.

* The oral exam will assess the student's ability to summarise and express themselves in correct Italian. Students must demonstrate knowledge of the history of the discipline, be able to make connections and navigate the different schools of thought (covered in class and found in the texts).
Assessment.

Excellent: achievement of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered during the lessons and critical use demonstrating mastery of the content and technical vocabulary.

Average: rote knowledge and not entirely accurate use of technical vocabulary.

Sufficient: minimal knowledge of the topics covered (dates and names), without serious errors.

Insufficient: failure to meet the minimum requirements (i.e. satisfactory assessment).

During the academic year, exams session are scheduled for the following months: December 2025, February 2026, April 2026, May 2026, July 2026, September 2026.

Teaching tools

The frontal lessons will be supported by Power Point presentations that will be uploaded in the “Teaching materials” section of this website after each class.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Zelda Alice Franceschi