Spring 2021 Food-related courses

These courses will count toward the Food Systems & Nutrition minor; most also count toward the “Food Systems, Nutrition and the Environment” track of the Environmental Studies co-major or stand-alone major. Check with your advisor if you’re not sure about whether a course will count for your degree requirements.

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

  • American Meat (ANTH 142) History and ethnography of meat production and consumption in the United States, from 1860 to the present. The cultural, environmental, and political economic factors that underlie the breeding, raising, slaughtering, and distribution of animal bodies. Intensive examination of changing forms of farm structure, biological industrialization, animal well-being, and the organization of labor. This course counts toward the Anthropology area/critical geographies requirement, the Cultural and Social Justice Anthropology minors, and the Social Sciences distribution requirement. Mon-Wed 3-4:15 pm, Alex Blanchette, in-person
  • 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, Corinne Pierce, virtual/synchronous 
  • General Physiology II (BIO 116) Elements of homeostasis and of endocrine, nervous, and digestive systems are discussed at various levels, from the molecular to the organ system. Material will include lessons from and comparisons across vertebrates and invertebrates. Prerequisites: Bio 13 and 14, or equivalent. Mon/Wed 1:30-2:45, Mimi Kao, virtual
  • Plant Physiology (BIO118) 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, virtual
  • Sustainability in Action (ENV100) An integrated multidisciplinary approach to the study and practice of sustainability. Introduction to the breadth of sustainability and the enormous career opportunities available, including data analysis, stakeholder engagement, and field work. Topics include: water, waste, energy, climate change, transportation, food & agriculture, informational interviewing and networking skills. Wed 6-9 pm, Tina Woolston, in person
  • 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. Preference will be given to students who have declared the Food Systems and Nutrition minor or the Food Systems, Nutrition and Environment major. D, M 9:30-10:20, TR 10:30-11:20,Kevin Cody, hybrid (Class will meet synchronously online most weeks. Occasional in-person course meetings will take place off campus throughout the semester
  • 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 6-8:30 pm, Denise Swidey, in person
  • Health and Healing in Medieval Europe (HIST 154, cross-listed as STS 154) Medicine in Western Europe from approximately 1100-1700. Key intellectual, social, and cultural themes and trends in pre-modern medicine. Major topics include the development of university medicine from its Greek and Arabic roots through the theoretical upheavals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; medical practice, particularly the diverse types of healers and their relationship with patients; epidemic disease such as plague and syphilis and early public health measures formed in response; the development of hospitals and other medical institutions. Overlapping naturalistic, religious, and magical approaches to disease and healing. Mon/Wed 10:30-11:45, Alisha Rankin (Hybrid synchronous & asynchronous. Class will be in person at points and available online. Lectures will also be recorded.)
  • 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, virtua
  • Food Ethics (PHIL25, cross-listed as CVS 16) 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. Tu/Th 4:30-5:45 pm + recitation, Sigrun Svavarsdottir, in person
  • 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. Tu/Th 6-7:15 pm, Herbert Evans Covington III, virtual
  • 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. Tues 4-6:30, Sheldon Krimsky, virtual/synchronous

At the School of the Museum of Fine Arts

  • Papermaking: Test Kitchen (PRT163) The Kitchen (and garden depending upon student access) is source material for experiments with papermaking and natural dyes. Students take stock of what is in their kitchens that can be used to make paper, embed in paper, and create natural dyes. Experiments with compost paper and vegetable papyrus from thinly cut and pressed fruits and vegetables, spice papers, paper waste handmade paper, etc. Fill out lab sheets to record experiments with materials and processes, make a cloth-covered portfolio to hold paper samples and notes, and create photo samples of papers using cell phones. Readings and discussions about ecology, food and farming justice, early environmentalists and naturalists (Humboldt, Marsh, Pinchot, George Washington Carver, John Muir, Anna Atkins, etc.) and contemporary artists whose work focuses on sustainability and reclaiming materials (Leonardo Drew, Aurora Robson, El Anatsui, Piero Gilardi, Tara Donovan, Kwang-Young Chun, the Arte Povera movement, Anslem Kiefer, Mark Bradford, among others). Develop a greater appreciation of the foods and materials one consumes and uses, their harvest and distribution, ecological impact and viability as source materials for making paper. Learn about the history of both Eastern and Western papermaking, and how the materials/plants indigenous to each climate dictate the kind of paper that is made. Guest speakers include SMFA/Tufts faculty Colin Orians (Biology and Head of Environmental Studies) who will speak about his work with coffee in Costa Rica, Silvia Bottinelli (VMS) who will speak about the Arte Povera movement, Jesseca Ferguson who will share her work with Anthotypes (plant-based photographs), as well as several artists who work with handmade paper as their primary material and address issues of sustainability and ecology. Critiques and demonstrations happen online while consultation and process coaching addressed individually or in small groups. Open to all levels. Non-SMFA students and MAT Art Education students will receive a letter grade. Tu 9 am-1 pm, Michelle Samour, hybrid (in person and remote)

At the Friedman School for Nutrition Science and Policy

  • Spring 2021 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.