LART-345: Mediterranean Food Studies

This course focuses on key historical, political, and socio-cultural contexts that have defined the food cultures of the Mediterranean region, to understand the region as a whole. With a multidisciplinary approach aiming to intersect theory with practice, it will examine factors that have shaped the culinary traditions of the region, including professional and home cooking, wealth and poverty, feasts and rituals, industrialization and globalization, rural and urban life, family structure, gender roles, sustainability, and innovation. The course will also build students' understanding of the Mediterranean diet and examine current trends reshaping traditional foodways, from changing employment patterns and the rising influence of processed food to the decline of active lifestyles.