Prerequisits:
There are no specific prerequisites. However, prior knowledge of basic theories and research methods in ethnology, anthropology, folklore studies, cultural heritage studies, or related fields—is recommended.

Content (Syllabus outline):

Food is not merely one of the most basic human needs; it is closely intertwined with various aspects of human life in society. The course deepens students’ general understanding of the cultural and political dimensions of food, both in the past and in the context of the Anthropocene, while also allowing for the exploration of specific topics directly related to individual doctoral research. The course thus offers both a general overview of the anthropology of food and a precise, critical insight into selected aspects of past and/or contemporary production, consumption, and dissemination of food.

Key topics include:

• an overview of the anthropology of food;
• the connections between food and collective identifications (including the gender dimmension);
• the history of food;
• the role of the past (and certain other ideas) in contemporary food marketing;
• food in the context of interspecies relations;
• foodways in the Anthropocene.

The course is based on insights from anthropology, ethnology, history, sociology, and geography, and it explores the intersections between these disciplines.

Readings:

• Appadurai, Arjun. “How to Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 30, No. 1 (1988), pp. 3–24.
• Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction : A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Translated by Richard Nice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press Cambridge, Mass., 1984.
• Brulotte, Ronda L., and Michael A. Di Giovine. Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage. London: Routledge, 2016.
• Counihan, Carole & Van Esterik, Penny (eds.). Food and Culture: A Reader. New York & London: Routledge, 2013.
• Demossier, Marion. “Beyond Terroir : Territorial Construction, Hegemonic Discourses, and French Wine Culture.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 17, no. 4 (December 2011): 685–705. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2011.01714.x.
• DeSoucey, Michaela. “Gastronationalism: Food Traditions and Authenticity Politics in the European Union.” American Sociological Review 75, no. 3 (June 2010): 432–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122410372226.
• Goody, Jack. Cooking, Cuisine and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
• Ličen, Daša. “The Fine and the Tasteless. Istrian Culinary Experts and Taste.” Traditiones 44, no. 3 (December 16, 2015): 113. https://doi.org/10.3986/Traditio2015440306.
• Mintz, Sidney W. & Du Bois, Christine M. (2002). The Anthropology of Food and Eating. Annual Review of Anthropology, 31, 99-119. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.032702.131011.
• Mintz, Sidney W. (2010). Sladkost in moč: mesto sladkorja v moderni zgodovini. Ljubljana: Založba / cf., prevod Polona Poberžnik & Ičo Vidmar.
• Paxson, Heather (ed.). Eating Beside Ourselves: Thresholds of Foods and Bodies. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2023.
• Petrini, Carlo. Slow Food: The Case for Taste. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
• Porciani, Ilaria, ed. Food Heritage and Nationalism in Europe. 1st ed. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, [2020] | Series: Critical heritages of Europe: Routledge, 2019. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429279751.
• Pratt, Jeff. “Food Values: The Local and the Authentic.” Critique of Anthropology 27, no. 3 (September 2007): 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X07080357.
• Ramšak, Mojca. Wine Queens: Understanding the Role of Women in Wine Marketing. Cham: Springer, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16661-2.
• Sutton, David E. “Food and the Senses.” Annual Review of Anthropology 39, no. 1 (October 21, 2010): 209–23. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.104957.

Objectives and competences:

Objectives:

• Move beyond understanding food as a trivial topic and approach it as economically, politically, culturally, and socially significant, especially in the context of the Anthropocene.
• Acquire foundational knowledge of the anthropology and history of food.

Competences:

• Develop a critical perspective on the inheritance of food and its cultural, political, and economic implications.
• Analyze the role of gender in the production, distribution, and consumption of food.
• Recognize the distinction between discourse about food and its practical role and consequences

Intended learning outcomes

• Recognize and critically evaluate the core literature in food studies, taking into account both historically significant contributions and contemporary research trends.
• Engage in interdisciplinary research on food, particularly at the intersections of gender, economics, ethnology, heritage studies, anthropology, and the Anthropocene.
• Critically analyze and deconstruct concepts such as gastronomic heritage, assessing how ideology and power relations shape these processes.
• Apply theoretical knowledge in their doctoral research and translate it into practical analytical or methodological approaches.
• Develop new conceptual or methodological frameworks, creatively expanding or challenging existing paradigms in the field.
• Produce a theoretically grounded and anthropologically informed scholarly contribution on the role of food in society and present it.

Learning and teaching methods

Types of learning/teaching:

• Frontal teaching
• Work in smaller groups or pair work
• Independent students work
• e-learning

Teaching methods:

• Explanation
• Conversation/discussion/debate
• Work with texts
• Case studies
• Different presentations

Assessment:

• Short written assignments 20 %
• Long written assignments 70 %
• Presentations 10 %.

Lecturer’s references:

• Ličen, D. (2025). Against plebeian ignorance and for civilized behavior: Habsburg Trieste’s Società Zoofila as a bourgeois instrument. Austrian History Yearbook, 1–18.
• Ličen, D. (2024). Naturwissenschaftler im Triest der späten Habsburgermonarchie: Eine national indifferente Insel im Getöse der zeitgenössischen Politik? Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften, 35(2), 187–210.
• Ličen, D. (2022). Zbližati, izobraziti in razvedriti slovanski živelj: članstvo Slavjanskega društva v Trstu ob pomladi narodov. Kronika: Časopis za slovensko krajevno zgodovino, 70(2), 363–374.
• Ličen, D. (2018). Reinventing Habsburg cuisine in twenty-first century Trieste. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 71, 37–54.
• Ličen, D. (2017). The “authentic” blend: Experts weigh in on Istrian food. Digest, 5(2).
• Ličen, D. (2015). The fine and the tasteless: Istrian culinary experts and taste. Traditiones: Zbornik Inštituta za slovensko narodopisje, 44(3), 113–130.