HIST 193F: Food in World History (Schmidt, Spring 2024): Home

Are we what we eat? Why do we like certain foods and hate others? Who determines what is healthy and good to eat? When is cooking work and when it is leisure? Who decided that certain foods are masculine or feminine? Why do we live in such a food-obsessed society? Why is there so much hunger in a world of plenty? This course explores these and many other questions by studying the cultural, economic, and geopolitical roles of food and drink in world history.

Image source: Richard W. Pollay Cigarette Ads Collection, UCSF Industry Documents Library

Your assignment is to use both primary and secondary sources to complete a project in which you explore the global history of food in one of the below Historian Personas. Each project requires a  bibliography of at least 5 sources.

• Historian:  Write a 3000-word research paper (approx. 10 pages), posing and answering an historical question with an original argument.
• Digital Humanist:  Create a 15-minute video, 15-minute podcast, a blog with 3 entries, a website, or other digital project relevant to the course
• Museum Curator:  Curate a "museum exhibit" of 8-10 items relevant to Food Studies, from art or artifacts either real or imaged; each artifact should have a 200-300 word description.