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HI406L: EATING HISTORY: FOOD AND CULTURE FROM COFFEE TO CHOCOLATE (2017-2018)

Last modified: 25 May 2018 11:16


Course Overview

Food is such a basic human necessity that we can easily take for granted the huge variety of produce available in our supermarkets. This course explores how familiar foods like coffee, chocolate and citrus were introduced to European tables. Why, in past cultures, has food been so bound up with questions of ethnicity, class, race and religion? How have recipes and diets changed with time, how have people written about and discussed food? And what meanings have been ascribed through the ages to food, eating and cookery? If hungry for knowledge, this is the course for you.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Session First Sub Session Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Ben Marsden

Qualification Prerequisites

  • Programme Level 4

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

  • HI306L Eating History: Food and Culture from Coffee to Chocolate (Studied)
  • HI356L Eating History: Food and Culture from Coffee to Chocolate (Studied)
  • HI456L Eating History: Food and Culture from Coffee to Chocolate (Studied)

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

This course examines the role of food in history. It covers a wide range of historical periods, themes, and locations. A central aim of the course is to understand when and why now-familiar foods like coffee, chocolate and citrus were introduced to new areas, and especially to European tables. Another aim is to study the relationship between food and issues like: ethnicity; class; race; religion; luxury; etiquette and, most recently, globalization. Students taking this course will consider how recipes have changed with time, how people have written about and discussed food - and the meanings that have been ascribed through the ages to food, eating and cookery.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 31 August 2023 for 1st half-session courses and 22 December 2023 for 2nd half-session courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt

  • 1500-word comparative book review (30%)
  • 4000-word essay (60%)
  • Seminar presentation and response (10%)

Resit not normally available.

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

Feedback will be given by course instructors in the form of personal conversation with student in seminar, detailed written comments on all submitted written work, and detailed written feedback on seminar presentations.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

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