Classics and Ancient History
Overview
This pathway offers a new perspective on ancient histories and literatures. It is ideal for Classics and Ancient History students who want to develop their interests further, and is also designed to appeal more widely to graduates of other disciplines such as Mediaeval History, Arabic or Biology. Students will also be invited to contribute from their own experience (for example through travel, knowledge of other major food cultures, family, parenthood or work).
The aim is to study food and eating in different cultures, in particular in ancient Greece and Rome and in modern Britain, France and Italy
We will explore ideas about:
- the natural world and farming (such as the ethics of keeping and eating animals, the nature of fish);
- the importance of cereals and vegetables;
- questions of gender and politics in the organisation of eating on both a domestic and a national scale;
- health and diet.
We will also visit the Eden Project in Cornwall to study their food plants.
Director: Professor John Wilkins
