LLEK10297 The Sociology of Food Consumption

Details
Responsible DepartmentInstitute of Food and Resource Economics

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. Students may choose to do the exam in English or Danish as they prefer.

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. Language of instruction: English, but in group work Danish when relevant.
 
Block PlacementBlock 4
Week Structure: B
 
Language of InstructionEnglish
 
Restrictions60
 
Course Content
Focus will be on basic sociological thinking and the sociology of food consumption. Themes covered will be: Food culture and eating habits, meal structures and meal patterns; food production in the household and its socio-cultural meanings, the importance of food and meals in everyday life, social and cultural influences on food preferences, food acceptability and habits, the role of health concerns in ordinary 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 study design and implement a small 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 design an empirical study, develop methodological tools for collecting data and test them in a small pilot study. The empirical study can be conducted in Danish or English.
 
Learning Outcome
The students gain insight in a) social and cultural aspects of the meaning and significance of food in people's everyday lives and in b) standard social science methods used within the sociology of food.

Knowledge:
- Show overview of central social and cultural aspects of people's relationship to food
- Express knowledge about the meanings associated withfood and meals
- Express knowledge about people's understandings of and practices related to food and health
- Describe social and cultural variations 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
- 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
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