ANTH 2042 - Consuming Passions: Anthropology of Food and Drink

Why is food usually shared? Why is drinking alone considered deviant? What is the connection between food and sex? Why is eating together integral to courtship? How do we decide what is ethnic food, and what isn't? Why do we consume so much information on diet and dieting? Why is our appetite for TV cookery programs insatiable? What makes fast food so appealing? Why is eating out taking the place of eating in? Where are we headed with genetically modified food?

Food and drink are imperative to the reproduction of all social life. Their consumption is therefore integral to the construction of social identity. This course aims to address a number of challenging and topical questions about the place of food and drink in contemporary society. It will introduce students to the work of those social anthropologists who have made significant contributions to the study of food and drink, as well as facilitating group research into particular topics of current concern.