Learning Outcomes
Upon graduation from Dickinson, students who earn a food studies certificate will be able to:
- describe change and continuity in food systems and food culture (such as: obtainment, production, composition, distribution, preparation, consumption and representation of food);
- analyze food systems and food culture from multiple disciplines and diverse perspectives across time and place;
- articulate the challenges the world is facing and will encounter in the future with respect to food;
- compare and contrast practical experiences and intellectual inquiry related to food systems and food culture.
Certification
FDST 201 and 401
Four electives from at least three departments. Up to two can be in the student’s major(s)
(selected from a pre-approved list of electives or approved by the program coordinator;
courses taken abroad or with partner-programs are eligible for consideration)
Experiential Component
(options include, but are not limited to: transcription notation internships; independent study
or research with applied, field-based component, field-based or laboratory/research
experience, participant-observation, field schools, or a hands-on work experience)
Courses
Below is a list of pre-approved electives for the food studies certificate that are offered regularly. Many other topics courses or courses abroad may be counted as electives with approval of the certificate coordinator. First-year seminars will not count as food studies electives.
AFST 220: African American Foodways
AMST 200: Fat Studies
ANTH 229: Principles of Human Variation and Adaptation
ANTH 310: Nutritional Anthropology
ARCH/ANTH 110: Archaeology and World Prehistory
ARCH/ANTH 260: Environmental Archaeology
BIOL 325: Plant Physiology w/lab
BIOL/CHEM 343: Metabolism
BIOL 401: Chemical Energy
CHEM 111 Chemistry in the Kitchen
ENGL 101: Literature and Food
ENST 280/SOCI 230: Environmental and Social Justice
ENST 345: Agroecology
ENST 370: Environment and Society
FMST 210: A Star at the Table: Stories of Wine and Food in Italian Film and Media
FREN 240: Food, France and Cultural Identity
GEOS 205 Introduction to Soil Science (with lab)
HIST 151 History of the Environment
HIST 211: Food and Environment in America
ITAL 201: Intermediate Italian
ITAL 321: The Cultures of Food in Italy in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
ITAL 323: Eat, Love, Die: Food in Italian and Italian-American Film
JDST 216/RELG 260: Eating the Text: Tasting Jewish/Israeli Food Through Literature, Film and...the Mouth
JDST 316: Jews and Food
RELG 250: Mother Earth: Religion and Sustainability
SOCI 224: Families and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
SOCI 230: Environmental and Social Justice
SOCI 230: Sustainability, Social Justice and Human Rights
SPAN 231: Gastronomy and Health in the Hispanic World
SPAN 239: Spanish for the Health Professions (taught in Spanish)
WGSS 206: Fat Studies
201 Introduction to Food Studies
This course introduces students to Food Studies, an interdisciplinary field that examines food through biological, cultural, ecological, economic, and other perspectives. We will treat questions of hunger, food production/procurement, inequality, ecology, food labor, health, including psychology, and the diversity of ethical, cultural, and spiritual meanings regarding food. The course will include opportunities for students to engage in active observation, experimentation, and hands-on learning through community partnerships and the College Farm. Students will encounter reading/viewing assignments from a wide range of disciplines. This course will also be open to students who do not intend to complete the Food Studies certificate but would simply like an interdisciplinary understanding of the workings of food.
Attributes: AMST Struct & Instit Elective, Appropriate for First-Year, Sustainability Investigations
250 Special Topics in Food Studies
Selected topics in FDST will vary with each offering, reflecting the interests of faculty and students as well as evolving concerns of the field.
Prerequisite: Dependent upon topic.
Attributes: Food Studies Elective
401 Capstone Seminar
This capstone seminar builds on the introductory Food Studies course (FDST 201). It requires students to reflect, synthesize, and apply knowledge gained through their academic coursework and experiential learning experiences. A substantive, reflective piece which could take many forms will be required. Students will work collaboratively to organize a symposium, performance, event, or other public presentation of their work. In order to register for FDST 401, students must have completed FDST 201 and at least 3 of the four electives, along with the experiential learning component. The latter may be taken simultaneously with FDST 401.
Prerequisite: FDST 201, at least three of the four electives, and the experiential component which can be take simultaneously with FDST 401.