From the School of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering (ASE):

• Food, Nutrition and Culture (ANTH 126) Interplay of the act of eating with its biological and cultural correlates. Topics include cooking and the development of human social systems; physical and behavioral adaptations to diet; the relation of eating to human evolution; historical and symbolic attributes of food; dynamics and environmental consequences of global agribusiness; national cuisines; and food-based social movements for addressing injustice and inequality. Mon/Wed 10:30-11:45, Alex Blanchette/Zarin Machanda
• Thinking with Plants (ANTH 174) Explores use of plants as material resources (food, medicines, licit/illicit drugs, infrastructure) and as symbolic resources. Topics include circulation of plants; colonial cultivation, extraction, and power; place of plants in different lived environments and symbolic ecologies; plants, capitalism, and commodity chains; indigenous knowledge, tourism, and biopiracy; commercialization, criminalization and legality; multi-species approaches to living with and among botanicals. Mon 1:30-4, Tatiana Chudakova
• Plant Physiology (BIO 118) Interaction of living plant components performing biological functions including water transport, mineral uptake, movements, and signaling between plant parts in response to environmental cues. Recommendations: BIO 13 and 14, or equivalent. Introductory chemistry recommended. Tues/Thurs 12-1:15, George Ellmore
• Microbiology (BIO106) A survey of the structures and functions of microbes, including bacteria, archaea, viruses, and eukaryotic microbes (fungi, protists). Topics include microbial genetics, physiology, cell biology, diversity, evolution, ecology, and the human microbiome. BIO 107 (Microbiology Lab) is not required but may be taken concurrently. Requires completion of BIO 0013, BIO 0014, and BIO 41 or graduate standing. Mon/Wed 1:30-2:45 + labs, Ben Wolfe
• Food for All: Ecology, Biotechnology Sustainability (BIO185/ENV182) (Cross-listed w/ENV 182) An interdisciplinary examination of the pros and cons of two divergent approaches to meeting the increasing global food demand: organic farming and genetic engineering. Contrasting crops grown in developing and industrialized countries serve as case studies to evaluate: (1) how ecological knowledge makes food production more sustainable; (2) what existing and emerging approaches can, in the face of climate change, contribute to a reliable supply of nutritious food; and (3) the political and economic drivers that shape who has access to these technologies. An important focus is developing communication skills for negotiating stakeholder-specific perspectives (growers, advocacy groups, industry, governmental agencies). Please see departmental website for specific details. Recommendations: Intro Bio or Intro Chemistry or equivalent. Mon 1:30-4:15 pm, Sara Gomez
• Edible Insects (BIO196) This seminar course will explore the potential benefits of using insects as food from multiple perspectives, considering cultural, nutritional, and sustainability issues. Format will be presentation/discussion based on reading of primary literature. Tues 6-9, Sara Lewis
• Practicing in Food Systems (ENV190/ANTH159) Project-based course designed to integrate academic learning with application in a range of food systems settings. Focused observation exercise culminating in a jointly produced useable report for a community partner. Emphasis will be on balance between process and product. Readings, discussion, and field research will be split between the specific content focus of the group project and general issues arising from planning and carrying out interdisciplinary team projects; developing productive relationships with communities, clients, and stakeholders; addressing ethical concerns in collaborative and public research. In the spring of 2020 we will work to develop a portfolio of educational and awareness products relating to food insecurity on the Tufts campus. Preference will be given to students who have declared the Food Systems and Nutrition minor or the Food Systems, Nutrition and Environment major. Wed 1:30-4 pm, Cathy Stanton
• Food as Sculpture (ENV128 – see VISC128 listing under SMFA below)
• Human Nutrition (NU101) To provide an understanding of basic nutrition science to non-science majors and students with a limited scientific background. Students will become familiar with: the principles of diet planning, government standards, and food labeling; the biological functions and food sources of each nutrient; energy balance, weight management, and physical activity; the role of nutrition in chronic disease development; nutrition throughout the life cycle; food safety issues; and current nutrition-related controversies. This course meets the science requirement for undergraduate non-science majors. It is not acceptable for biology credit for biology majors. Fri 1:30-4:30 pm, Diane McKay
• Biofabricated Food: Cellular Agriculture & Sustainability (EXP 12) What is cellular agriculture, and how is biotechnology used in food production? In this team-taught course, students will learn the fundamentals of food science and food technology, and will gain experience in cell culture and biomaterials processing for food production, recombinant protein production for food, and molecular gastronomy. The course will culminate in a creative proposal of students’ choosing related to a new food, a restaurant menu, a start-up pitch, or a research grant proposal. The semester will end with a class dinner that students prepare with cellular processes studied and material-based food products created during the course. Thurs 6-8:30, Natalie Rubio, John Yuen, Andrew Stout
• An Insider’s Guide to the World of Food Media (EXP 15) Food media encompasses a variety of formats across the wider media landscape. We’ll explore important skills including food writing, recipe writing, and food styling and photography, and we’ll go behind the scenes to explore food storytelling in books, newpapers, magazines, radio, podcasts, television, film, the Internet, and social media. We’ll analyze how each media form feeds, or is fed by, our culture’s current obsession with food. Mon, Thurs 6:30-9, Denise Swidey
• Human Nutrition (NU101) To provide an understanding of basic nutrition science to non-science majors and students with a limited scientific background. Students will become familiar with: the principles of diet planning, government standards, and food labeling; the biological functions and food sources of each nutrient; energy balance, weight management, and physical activity; the role of nutrition in chronic disease development; nutrition throughout the life cycle; food safety issues; and current nutrition-related controversies. This course meets the science requirement for undergraduate non-science majors. It is not acceptable for biology credit for biology majors. Fri 1:30-4:30, Diane McKay
• Nutrition & Behavior (NU 128, cross-listed as PSY 128) The interactions between nutritional variables and behavior in man and other animals. Effects of obesity, starvation, protein malnourishment, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies on intellectual function and behavior. Influences of diet on brain biochemistry and learning. Thurs 6:30-9
• Food Ethics (PHIL25) A philosophical examination of ethical questions that arise in the production, distribution, and consumption of food: obligations to victims of famine; obligation to future generations; just access to food; food and environmental ethics; animal rights. Mon/Wed 4:30-5:45 pm + recitation, Sigrun Svavarsdottir
• Brain and Behavior (PSY103) Advanced course on the relation between behavior and the structure and function of the nervous system. Requirement: completion of Bio 13 and Bio 14 or equivalents. Tues/Thurs 1:30-2:45 pm, Herbert Evans Covington III
• Nutrition and Behavior (PSY 128) – see above, cross-listed as NU 128
• GMOs and Sustainable Agriculture (UEP 194-02) Since the mid-1990s an agricultural revolution has taken place through a new form of crop development known as “molecular breeding.” This course will explore the differences between traditional breeding and molecular breeding, the promises and realities of genetically modified crops (GMOs), the science, international politics, economics, and regulation of agricultural biotechnology, the theories and practices of sustainable agriculture, and the extent to which GMOs have been favorable or unfavorable to sustainable agriculture. Topics include: genetically engineered seeds (insect resistant, disease resistant, herbicide tolerant), the glyphosate controversy, GM cotton, Golden Rice, labeling of GMOs, principles or sustainable agriculture and their interpretations for practice. Wed 4-6:30, Sheldon Krimsky

At the Friedman School for Nutrition Science and Policy

• Spring 2020 classes are noted in this full list of Friedman courses.
• Not all courses accommodate undergraduates, so you should make sure to contact the professor in advance to see whether you would be able to register for a given class. In general, courses in the lower 200 range are more open to undergrad enrollment.

At the School of the Museum of Fine Arts:

• Food as Sculpture since 1960 (VISC128/ENV128) (Cross-listed w/VISC 128) An unprecedented attention has been paid to Food as a form of art in the past few years. This seminar explores recent curatorial, theoretical and historical contributions on this topic. We will look at food as a subject for Pop sculpture; the incorporation of food in New Realists ready mades; food as edible material for three dimensional work; ingestion, food and the body in sculptural and performative pieces; feminist installation art and references to the kitchen; artist restaurants, food and counterculture; food decay in sculptural works, as a signifier of time or trigger of disgust; gardening and farming as social sculpture; and relational projects using cooking and dining as tools for community building. The readings assigned will address theoretical aspects, such as the aesthetic and phenomenological experience of taste; memory and everyday foods; identity politics; and relational aesthetics. The list of artists discussed includes: Claes Oldenburg; Carolee Schneemann; Hannah Wilke; Janine Antoni; Robin Weltsch and Vicki Hodgetts; Gordon Matta Clark; Allen Ruppersberg; Paul McCarthy; Joseph Beuys; Rirkrit Tiravanija; Andi Sutton; and Michael Rakovitz. The class features two small group discussion sessions with scientists at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Chinatown to consider the possible intersections of food-based art and nutrition science. We will also develop a final community-based project in collaboration with a community partner in Chinatown, to bring HNRCA in dialogue with a neighboring association through forms of creative expression. Fri 10:30 am-1:00 pm, Silvia Bottinelli