Food, Culture and Identity

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

85 Hours

Admission into 101AA Ph.D.- Arts or DR-PHILART Doctor of Philosophy in Arts.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

In the last two decades there has been a culinary turn in popular culture and representations of food, cooking and their cultural meanings are ubiquitous. We will explore local, regional and national identities as they are projected in film, television, literature and public discourse about food. Moreover, this elective studies the complex social and intercultural interactions that take place around food in the modern era. Drawing on theories from the interdisciplinary field of food studies, we will also consider how food culture shapes gender, religious and socio-economic identity. This elective will appeal to students researching in areas such as cultural studies (including literature, film, television, and consumer cultures), anthropology, sociology, geography, political science and language studies. Readings will be selected in consultation with students to ensure relevance to their thesis topics.

On successful completion of this subject, students should have:

• enhanced understanding of key issues in cultural food studies;
• an ability to reflect upon their own research work in relation to the content of the module; and
• enhanced engagement with leading-edge research in particular areas of the Humanities and Social Sciences today.

1. In-class presentation (due during the teaching period) and write up (due one week after the end of teaching), 1,000-word equivalent (40%).

2. One 1,500-word reflective essay (60%), due two weeks after teaching.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of classes in order to pass this subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

This subject will contribute, through teaching and discussion with academic staff and peers, to developing skills and capacities including those identified in the University-defined Graduate Attributes for the PhD, in particular:

• the capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge;
• an advanced ability to engage in critical reflection, synthesis and evaluation of research-based and scholarly literature; and
• an advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field.