Also available via Ecampus.

This certificate is available as a standalone program.

Food is more than simple nourishment. It is part of a system of communication firmly rooted in individual and group identities within cultures around the world. When and how we eat, what is considered acceptable to eat, how we prepare it, and how we learn about producing and eating food are all fascinating questions to explore by humanists and social scientists. Histories of particular food commodities and changes in the way people think about sustaining healthy bodies richly contextualize our present practices. Cultural analyses of food and food production lead us to question the level of social justice within the local and global food systems. Community food security is a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice. Students who complete this certificate will not only have a clear idea of the cultural bases of food and food production but will obtain some experience working towards community food security.

Certificate Code: C315

• Develop and apply critical thinking and critical writing competencies about food, culture and social justice.
• Describe food systems in multiple perspectives including time, place, culture, and scale.
• Analyze how socially constructed differences, combined with unequal distribution of power across economic, social, and political institutions, result in discrimination in the food system.
• Critically evaluate the role of food in the construction of identity (gender, ethnicity, religious, etc).
• Discuss the importance of historical competence as it pertains to changing ideas about food and the historical trajectory of certain foods.
• Demonstrate skills of observation and analysis of food using mixed methods.
• Through study and engagement with community projects and policy, articulate a vision of equity in the food system and steps to achieve this.

Complete 16 credits of core courses and then choose 6 credits of electives within the College of Liberal Arts and 6 credits of electives from outside the College of Liberal Arts.

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Baccalaureate Core Course (BCC)

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Writing Intensive Course (WIC)

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Appropriate courses through the College and outside the College of Liberal Arts, as well as transfer credits, may also be used to satisfy requirements when approved in advance by the program coordinator

Certificate Code: C315