About this course
Food is crucial to human survival but its significance stretches far beyond mere nutrition and sustenance. We are becoming increasingly aware that the act of eating intersects with everything from the climate crisis and public health to the way we construct our social identities on a daily basis. This course investigates how food is a force that connects and harbors the power to construct and destruct, now and in the future. With both theories and qualitative research methods from the anthropological field, this course explains cultural food dilemmas, food trends, human behavior, and practices around food.
Syllabus
Faculty
Morten Hedegaard Larsen
PhD in Food Studies/Sociology (2016 Planning and Development, Aalborg University) and has published papers on food myths, agricultural experiences and social factors to explain obesity, for instance. Originally he holds a MA in Communication Studies from Roskilde University (2010). He wrote master thesis on the development of the Western Food Market. For the last five years Morten has held positions as assistant professor and post.doc at Aalborg University and Copenhagen University. There he acted as lecturer, coordinator and developer at the masters program Integrated Food Studies and taught courses on communication, staging and consumption of food, innovation and entrepreneurship, food concept design and sustainable food systems. In recent years he has also been involved in food innovation and food start-up research projects. Morten was, also, the first communications officer for the largest Danish food hall “TorvehallerneKBH”. With DIS since 2021.
Anders Larsen
Cand.Mag. (History and English Literature and Language, University of Copenhagen, 2008). Research focused on cultural history and visual culture. Teaches Meaning of Style, which is an introduction to semiotic analysis using fashion as a case study, as well as Visual Culture of Cities in the summer. Worked on various projects for DIS relating to cultural competencies and cultural engagement and staff training within the Housing & Student Affairs department. With DIS since 2007.
Camilla Hoff-Jørgensen
MA. in Anthropology (2012) Lund University, a BA in Anthropology (2010) Lund University, and a BS in Nutrition and Health (2006) University College Copenhagen. She lived and worked in food studies in Japan, Thailand, and Spain. Camilla has undertaken various projects in medical anthropology and research in the anthropology of food. Most recent publication, Disgust, pleasure, and convenience in fast-food consumption: Perspectives from Danish middle-class parents. She is currently working on a research project on Green Fathering and Food Practices in Denmark, and runs a research assistant course at DIS on Attitudes to lab-grown meat among Danes. With DIS since 2015
Christian Martinez
Cand.mag., Antropology and Spanish, University of Copenhagen. Editor and Journalist, Politikens Forlag, Euroman, and more. With DIS since 2022.