About this course
Cuisine and culture are deeply entangled. In this course, we look to history to gain knowledge and insights into the development of food in European societies. From the introduction of the potato to Europe and techniques in royal etiquette to modern topics of obesity, food in the social media age, and the New Nordic movement, you will learn to analyze and discuss food cultures and how they have changed throughout history. This course will cover a wide range of topics in order to provide different historical narratives from selected European countries, with an emphasis on gastronomy, the political and social drivers of changing food habits, food production, regional cuisines, and food systems – including some agricultural perspectives when relevant.
Syllabus
Faculty
Morten Hedegaard Larsen
FacultyPhD 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.