ANTH 324

Food and Culture
Consuming Identities: The World at the Table

Food is a topic that every student of every ethnicity has personal experience; it is so common that its cultural connotations tend to be overlooked.  The course is a cross-cultural examination of food traditions and rituals.  The role food plays in individual and cultural identity is surveyed, along with classifications of food.
Counts towards anthropology major in category 3 – Ethnographic Areas and Topics.
Prerequisite: Minimum of “C” in ANTH 211.

Websites related to the course material:

Gastro Obscura is an off-shoot of Atlas Obscura.  You’ll find a range of articles and stories about food and drink in a variety of locations.

The Food Timeline was created by Lynne Olver, a reference librarian with a passion for food history.  This website is extensive with lots of tidbits of information.

The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Information Center has a range of information, including a Historical Dietary Guidance Digital Collection and even Exhibits.  Browsing the site’s Dietary Guidance will provide additional information on diet, nutrition, and health.

The World Foods Habits Bibliography is the creation of Robert Dirks, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Illinois State University.  All the sources are English-language references in the anthropology of food and nutrition.  Regions and topics are listed.

A hungry man is not a free man.
–Adlai Stevenson, statesman (1900-1965)

Created 2002-08-22; last updated 2020-09-22