Topics In Anthropology (390-0-5)

Topic

Cooking the Past: Food, Heritage, and Archaeology

Instructors

Amanda Lee Logan
847/491-4564
1812 Hinman Ave. Room 203
Prof. Amanda Logan's overarching goal is to connect the past to the present through reframing the kinds of questions we ask and empirically bridging the modern/premodern divide. Her current focus is building an archaeology of food security that traces how, where, and when chronic hunger emerged across the African continent.

Meeting Info

University Hall 318: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

In this class, we explore the roles of gastronomic heritage in defining identities around the world. We start from the premise that foods themselves are historical records that capture histories of taste, trade, and experimentation. Through case studies in the US and around the world, we consider how people make choices about what to grow, what kind of foods to prepare, and how to serve them, and how these choices are deeply bound up with processes of identity-making.

Class Materials (Required)

articles on Canvas