Please note: This course description is provisional and still subject to changes.
Admission requirements
This course is an (extracurricular) Honours Class: an elective course within the Honours College program. Third-year students who don’t participate in the Honours College, have the opportunity to apply for a Bachelor Honours Class. Students will be selected based on i.a. their motivation and average grades.
Description
Although perhaps the largest cliché in human history, the proverb ‘you are what you eat’ has not only generated a wealth of research but also shaped our dietary behavior. From hunter-gatherer societies to empires, food is crucial to the organization of our economies and environments. To survive, people need daily rations of calories and nutrients. What people gathered or grew, and how they processed this to feed themselves, has thus always been a cornerstone in archaeological interpretations of earlier societies.
The archaeology of food has currently moved beyond considerations of efficiency and adaptation to embrace insights from sociology and anthropology showing that food styles are deeply culturally embedded. What people ate and drank and how they served food and drink have always played a major role in ideologies, and social identities.
This course examines various aspects of the archaeology of food and the significant relationship between human sustenance and past and present societies. Within this theme, case studies will be presented on the archaeology of foodways, consumption, and cuisine in the Medieval Mediterranean, ranging from Byzantine and Islamic to Crusader and Ottoman foodways (ca. 300-1500 CE).
The course starts with a general introduction to methodological issues regarding the archaeology of food, including interpretative debates and perspectives from sociology and (cultural) anthropology. It is the aim in this course to review course some of the theoretical schools concerning the relationships humans have with their food. After this introduction, the upcoming classes will explore themes such as food production, processing, preservation, preparation, cooking, wining and dining, as well as after the feast practices.
Topics that will be touched upon concern the dynamics between material culture and past foodways, changes in foodways and cuisines over time, as well as garbage practices, the world of spices, and applied techniques formulated through experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology.
A museum visit is included in this course. Through this visit and the accompanying assignment (preparation of an object description), students will become familiar with Museum Boymans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), its collection, and its depot. Students will train their heuristic and presentation skills in that setting.
Course objectives
During this course, students will:
Become acquainted with current interpretative debates concerning the role of food in past economies and societies;
Gain detailed knowledge of selected case studies and the archaeological debates in the literature associated with these topics;
Practice their ability to assess current research and literature critically and to formulate a well-argued opinion in discussions;
Practice their skills in summarizing the current status of a specific topic and present this in a presentation;
Practice how to write a balanced essay, expressing a critical assessment of relevant literature and one’s own well-argued opinion, while using feedback from group discussions and presentations.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button.
Mode of instruction
Course with lectures, student presentations, group discussions, and a museum visit (including preparation of an object description and presentation);
Reading list;
Before each class, students read the mandatory literature and provide weekly assignments with research questions and discussion points: these must be submitted two days before class.
The final essay is due two weeks after the last meeting. All essays including the final essay must be submitted through SafeAssign and as PDF. The final essay should also be submitted in print.
Assessment method
Active participation in class discussions and weekly assignments (10%);
Quality of the presentation in class and museum (40%);
Quality of the final essay of ca. 2000 words and an abstract of ca. 500 words (50%).
All essays must be submitted through Brightspace, and only on-time Brightspace submissions count. A retake is only possible for the final essay, and only if all other requirements have been met and a genuine and complete first final essay has been submitted.
Reading list
The reading list will be published on Brightspace, two weeks before the first meeting. Students will assemble additional reading for case studies as part of their presentation.
Registration
See 'Contact'.
General information about registration can be found on the Honours College: Archaeology & Society page.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact Prof. Dr. J.A.C (Joanita) Vroom.
Remarks
Attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended. Attendance and active participation influence grading.