| Unit name | Food Counter-Cultures: Food Movements in Contemporary History |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISTM0105 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Rob Skinner |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
Our MA specialist options allow students to focus on a particular field of history and to develop specialist knowledge through intensive primary source and/or case study analysis. These units develop your ability to identify suitable primary sources, independently analyse them, and develop sophisticated arguments rooted in core methodologies and historiographies. ‘Food Counter Cultures’ achieves this via an introductory ‘starter’ section of the unit, providing students a grounding in general studies of food history and more specialised recent work exploring food movements, food sovereignty and food justice. This will be followed by a ‘main course’ of case studies examining specific historical movement and exploring the range of source materials and methodological approaches that have been employed by researchers.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Specialist options take you into much greater detail than your TB1 thematic options, placing a much higher premium on independent primary source analysis. The aim is to provide all MA students with the core competencies required for their dissertation by developing your ability to build historical arguments through and with primary sources, in respect of a particular period, place, or theme.
An Overview of Content:
The past three decades have witnessed the emergence of new movements that have critiqued our global food system, foregrounding issues of environmental justice and labour rights as well as models for alternative and sustainable food systems.
In recent academic literature examining these movements, there is a tendency to regard food activism as a novel and contemporary phenomenon focused on concepts, such as food justice, food sovereignty and food poverty, that have emerged as a response to the particular concerns of late twentieth and early twenty-first century societies. In this unit, we will examine the historical roots and genealogies of contemporary food movements and food activism, locating these endeavours within the broader framework of modern history. It will also take account of the dynamics of the global food system that has developed since the mid-nineteenth century, examining historical experiences across multiple spaces and places.
In the unit, we will explore questions central to the development of a contemporary history of food activism: what does a ‘thick’ historical description of our contemporary diet and food system look like? What kinds of critiques of the global food system have been articulated by activists over the past 150 years, and what has framed their approach to notions of food poverty and food sovereignty? How have societies across the world responded to the homogenization of diet within a global food system? What kinds of alternatives, in terms of both diet and food production, have been explored by food movements since the nineteenth century?
How will you be different as a result of taking this unit?
This unit aims to inspire you to conduct your own research into the history of food movements and food activism. It will develop your understanding of not just the history of contemporary food justice and food sovereignty movements, but also of the ways in which historians set about framing appropriate research questions and answering them.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
This unit will be taught through a combination of weekly seminars based on the unit content and asynchronous activity designed to help support your learning and assessment. The seminar will be based around discussion of core sources, historiographies, methodologies, and approaches. This will serve both to increase your familiarity with the core historical issues and to build your confidence in communicating your own ideas. The asynchronous activity will help provide structure to the process of turning your initial research ideas into a manageable plan for producing an extended research-based essay.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Essay 4000-word (ILOs 1-4) [100%]. TB2 Week 13.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HISTM0105).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
