| CODE | LAS1025 | ||||||
| TITLE | Mediterranean Food Culture | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | I - Introductory Level | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This Unit explores the historical development of European and Mediterranean food cultures through the study of anthropological and historical perspectives on food production, distribution, and consumption. It examines how culinary traditions evolved across different historical periods, focusing on the influence of trade, migration, technological innovation, and cross-cultural interaction. Using selected regional case studies, the unit analyses the historical origins of food globalisation and its impact on dietary practices, cooking methods, and everyday eating habits. Adopting a chronological and interdisciplinary approach, food is examined as a historical lens through which political, economic, social, and environmental changes shaping Mediterranean and European gastronomy can be understood. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Critically evaluate the historical development of gastronomy through the study of Mediterranean food cultures, examining their evolution from ancient civilisations through medieval, early modern, and contemporary periods; - Analyse the historical forces that shaped Mediterranean culinary traditions, including agricultural revolutions, maritime trade, imperial expansion, religious influences, and cross-cultural interactions between Mediterranean societies; - Critically explore the role of food in shaping cultural identity and social organisation throughout Mediterranean history, with particular attention to ritual practices, religious observances, class distinctions, and gender roles; - Evaluate the historical transmission and transformation of Mediterranean culinary traditions through processes such as migration, colonial encounters, commercial exchange, and globalisation, assessing continuity and change across different historical periods. 2. Skills: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Critically compare and contrast dietary patterns across different historical periods, identifying processes of continuity, adaptation, and transformation within Mediterranean and European food traditions; - Analyse patterns of similarity and change in the historical relationship between European and Mediterranean culinary cultures, evaluating the influence of cultural interaction, trade, migration, and technological development; - Demonstrate analytical proficiency in explaining the cause-and-effect relationship between major political, economic, and social developments and their impact on food systems, culinary practices, and consumption habits; - Evaluate the role of food as a cultural and historical medium through which broader anthropological themes — including ritual practices, systems of exchange, collective memory, and identity formation — can be interpreted and understood. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - J.-L. Flandrin - M. Montanari (eds.), Food: A Culinary History from Antiquity to the Present. Columbia University Press NewYork, 1999. - Belasco, W - Scranton, P. (eds.), Food Nations, New York, Routledge, 2002. - Alberto Capatti & Massimo Montanari, Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History, New York, Columbia University Press, 2001. - Carmel Cassar: Cibo Mediterraneo (“Mediterranean Food”). Graphe.IT Perugia, Italy. - Carole Counihan, & Penny Van Esterik, eds. 1997 (2nd ed 2008). Food and Culture: A Reader. NY: Routledge. - Carol Helstosky: Food Culture in the Mediterranean Greenwood Press 2009. - Massimo Montanari: The Culture of Food. Blackwell, Oxford, 1994. - Barbara Santich: The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval Recipes for Today. - P. Scholliers (ed.), Food, Drink and Identity. Cooking, Eating and Drinking in Europe Since the Middle Ages. Oxford, Berg, 2001. - Clifford A. Wright: Mediterranean: A Cultural History of Food and People University of California Press 2023. |
||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||
| LECTURER/S | Noel Buttigieg Margaret Camilleri Fenech Carmel Cassar Suzanne Piscopo |
||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||