Food: Religious Concepts and Practices

3 cr · Undergraduate

This course explores the cultural (communal and social) dimensions of the major world religions through examination of food concepts and practices. Topics studied include: food symbols and rituals in the theory of religion; food proscripton and endorsments ("dietary laws"); food in ritual time and space ("menus" and "liturgies"); concepts of plenty and concepts of dearth (ethics of food distribution); food and communication; food and gender/food and the body; feasting and fasting; food, religion and "consumer culture."