INQ-277 | Romania: Food Politics and Globalization

Crosslisted As: I.R.277

Topic Description:

When Romania, a medium-sized country in Eastern Europe, overthrew its communist regime and embraced democracy, it also jumped head on into the whirlwind of globalization. In this process, Romanians found themselves struggling to balance traditional practices and lifestyles with Western goods, capital, and ideas. An issue that aptly illustrates the social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of this struggle is food. In this course, we will travel to Romania to learn about traditional practices of food production, competition from modern farms and global grocers, reinterpretation of food by contemporary chefs, and the politics underlying it all. We will begin and end our trip in Bucharest, meeting with scholars, policy-makers, and civil society groups, and we will also spend time in villages, observing and participating in daily activities on small farms. Along the way, we will visit several World Heritage sites, 13th century fortified churches, and medieval cities like Sibiu and Sighisoara.

Course Types Offered: Travel

Topic Approved: February 2012