Courses - January Term 2021
Class is held for a total of 45 hours and is taught in English.
HST 5825 (3) | Italian Food and Culture
According to anthropologist Jon Holtzman, the tastes and flavors of a country’s
traditional table are a meaningful representation of its collective memory. This course
will thus show the deep link between geography, history and the culture of Italian
regional dishes which have made Italy known worldwide. Attention will be devoted to
the development of the Italian food culture, and students will be introduced through
lectures, seminars, guest lectures and tastings/visits to local producers, to the
‘invisible’ thread that links the resources of many Italian areas to their food practices.
We will also analyze different food practices of the Italian and Mediterranean diet,
highlighting regional gastronomic traditions and their origins. Among the topics to be
discussed are the issues of Italian regional differences in how food is prepared, the
representation of Italian food practices in media and cinema, food symbolism in Italian
culture, food ethics and sustainable agriculture, with an examination of today’s fast
and slow food traditions in Italy.