270101 The Sociology of Food

Details
Responsible DepartmentDepartment of Human Nutrition

Earliest Possible YearMSc. 1 year to MSc. 2 year
DurationOne block
 
Credits7.5 (ECTS)
 
Level of CourseMSc
 
ExaminationFinal Examination

oral examination


No aid allowed

Description of Examination: Oral examination in the syllabus and on the basis of project report. If the empirical study is conducted in English, the oral examination will be in English. If the empirical study is conducted in Danish, the oral examination will be in Danish.

7-point scale, internal examiner
 
Requirement for Attending ExamParticipation in and completion of project work which is finalized with a project report.
 
Organisation of TeachingPart one: Lectures, seminars and exercises on sociological topics and methods. Part two: Independent project work in groups.
 
Block PlacementBlock 4
Week Structure: A
 
Language of InstructionEnglish
 
Restrictions60
 
Course Content
Focus will be on basic sociological themes and sociological food related topics such as: Food culture and eating habits, norms and practices vs. meal structure and content; food production in the household and its socio-cultural meanings, the importance of food and meals in everyday life, social and cultural imprints of preferences, habits and food preferences in relation to gender, health concerns in the everyday eating habits, etc. Focus will also be on social science research designs and methods, including both quantitative and qualitative methods. A central element in the course is a project where the students (working in groups) select and define a topic, formulate problem and prepare a survey design and implement a pilot data collection for an empirical study within the field of sociology of food.
 
Teaching and learning Methods
The course will include both lectures and seminars, where theoretical issues are addressed in the light of literature and exercises where the students are trying out different methods and designs. The emphasis in this course is the completion of an independent project where students in groups work on a self-selected food sociological topic and are making a definition and problem formulation. On this basis an empirical study is designed, and the students develop methodological tools for collecting data. Design and methodological tools are being tested in a pilot project analyzed in the final project report. The empirical study can be conducted in Danish (or English). The oral examination will be conducted in the same language as the empirical study.
 
Learning Outcome
The students gain insight in a) social and cultural aspects of the importance of food in people's everyday lives and in b) the social science methods used within the sociology of food.

Knowledge:
- Show overview of central social and cultural contexts that characterizes human relationship to food
- Express knowledge about the significance human food and meals are assigned to
- Express knowledge about people's understandings of food and health
- Describe social and cultural differences in people's relationship to food
- Show overview of current social science data collection methods and their use

Skills:
- Demonstrate understanding for and discuss sociological theory relevant to the nutritional field
- Apply sociological data collection methods at a basic level

Competences:
- Assessing food and nutritional related issues in a social and cultural perspective
- Formulate and justify a sociological problem of relevance to the nutritional field
- Applying sociological theory in relation to concrete issues
- Reflecting critically on sociological theories relevant to the nutritional field
- Designing sociological studies in relation to nutritional relevant issues
- Assessing methodological designs critically
 
Course Literature
Course compendium with sociological articles (for sale in Academic Books, LIFE).
 
Course Coordinator
Karen Lotte Holm, loho@life.ku.dk, Department of Human Nutrition/Sociology of Food, Phone: 353-32496
 
Study Board
Study Committee LSN
 
Work Load
lectures28
theoretical exercises8
preparation55
project work103
examination13

207