Spring 2025  |  SOC 3613W Section 001: Stuffed and Starved: The Politics of Eating (53884)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
A-F or Audit
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Meets With:
GLOS 3613W Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2025 - 05/05/2025
Tue, Thu 02:30PM - 03:45PM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 45 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
This course takes a cross-cultural, historical, and transnational perspective to the study of the global food system. Themes explored include: different cultural and social meanings attached to food; social class and consumption; the global food economy; global food chains; work in the food sector; the alternative food movement; food justice; environmental consequences of food production. prereq: Soc majors/minors must register A-F
Class Notes:
Click this link for more detailed course information:
Class Description:
Cheeseburgers, fair trade dark chocolate, organic produce, Impossible Burgers. These foods mean different things for different people. They also raise important questions about our relationship to food: Where are the ingredients grown and who picks them? Where are they sold? Who prepares these dishes? Who enjoys the final product? While relatively overlooked by sociologists until recent decades, food is a central facet of social life and offers a rich snapshot of the social relations that shape our world. This course addresses two key goals. First, we examine food as a site where meanings, culture, and social relations are shaped. While many of us find nourishment, comfort, and meaning in food, it is also central to foreign conflict and entrenched inequalities domestically. Second, we will examine the various actors, institutions, and political dynamics shaping how, what, and why we eat. By examining academic, articles, popular readings, films, podcasts, and songs, this course offers a multifaceted portrait of central concerns of food: hunger, obesity, trade agreements, community gardens, and meal replacements. The course concludes by offering an overview of alternative food systems and movements that emphasize the role of the environment in food production/consumption.

Who Should Take This Class?:
Students interested in food, culture, politics, cities, and the environment. This is also a writing-intensive course, so students interested in developing writing skills are encouraged to register.
Grading:
20% Class participation
30% Reading responses
5% Short paper
15% Autoethnography assignment
30% Final paper
Exam Format:
No exams
Class Format:
Online/Hybrid; lecture & discussion-based
Workload:
40-90 pages of reading per week
9-12 pages of writing across the semester (reading reflections, one short essay, ethnography activity report, policy memo)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53884/1253
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
16 February 2023

ClassInfo Links - Spring 2025 Sociology Classes

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