Italy

Global Food Security and Food Sovereignty
(SDIS3000 / 3 credits)

This course explores the intersectionality of neoliberal agendas, food sovereignty, and food in/security. Neoliberalism has engendered new and emerging forms of food production and an agro-industrial complex that have unleashed unexpected vulnerabilities among diverse communities. At the same time, civil society groups, small-scale farmers’ movements, and urban food consumer associations are pushing back the neoliberal agenda, creating and articulating new and radical epistemic formations and knowledge in regard to food systems. Food sovereignty has become the mantra around which these vulnerable communities mobilize resistance against an agro-industrial complex.

This course examines relations of capital that historically have engendered the commodification of nature and food; the concept of multi-functionality and its implications for food sovereignty epistemologies, agro-biodiversity and agro-ecology; the impact of geopolitics, with a special focus on the Russian/Ukraine war, on food security in Italy; the impacts of climate change and food insecurity on forced migration; and the potential and limits of alternative food systems to deliver safe and sufficient food.

Alternative Farming Systems and Sustainability
(ENVI3500 / 3 credits)

To achieve global resilience and mitigate food insecurity, civil society, NGOs, local and national governments are designing and implementing diverse and innovative approaches to food production and distribution. As they do so, they seek to achieve a balance between an increase in food production and the requirements of environmental sustainability, and ensure equitable access to food supply to disenfranchised communities across the globe. In addition, they support small, resilient, and scalable farming techniques, and turn inclusive agricultural development into transformative action to improve the living conditions of the poor and the hungry. What is the potential of these initiatives to achieve a sustainable food supply and political stability, and what can we learn from them? This course explores these questions through lectures with community, regional, national, and international advocates of food security and carefully designed case studies.

Research Methods and Ethics
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)

This seminar introduces students to the conceptual and practical tools for gathering primary data, and the knowledge and skills that are essential to forming constructive relationships with organizations and/or individuals, which are necessary for completing an academic project in the cultural context of Italy. The main emphasis is on the development of methods, tools, and ethical considerations needed for inquiry. The seminar includes modules on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research for ethical decision-making in the field of food studies.

The seminar uses lectures and field assignments to prepare students to undertake field study in Italy in strict observance of research procedures. The overall aim is to help students hone their experience-based learning processes and prepare them for the development of an Independent Study Project (ISP).

Beginning Italian
(ITAL1003 or ITAL1503 / 3 credits)

Intermediate Italian
(ITAL2003 or ITAL2503 / 3 credits)

Advanced Italian for Food Studies
(ITAL3003 or ITAL3503 / 3 credits)

Emphasis on speaking, reading, and writing skills in Italian through classroom and field instruction. Based on in-country evaluation, students are placed in intensive beginning, intermediate, or advanced classes, with further language practice in lectures and field visits. 

Independent Study Project
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)

The Independent Study Project (ISP) is a self-designed research project offering students the opportunity to undertake a personally significant and independent investigation that highlights the regional and cultural reality that can only be encountered during a study abroad experience. The ISP is the academic component in which the student most directly applies the concepts, skills, tools, and techniques of experience-based learning articulated through the Research Methods and Ethics course and the thematic courses, while enabling students to further integrate their language skills and the contacts they have developed in the homestay and in the broader community. Each student will plan, develop, and independently undertake a research project, with the advice and guidance of the academic director and an ISP advisor — a local academic and/or food studies or sustainability professional.

The topic of study may be anything of interest to the student, within the scope of the program and the immediate region, and is usually developed out of lectures, discussions, field visits, and educational excursions. The final project should provide material evidence of student capability in utilizing appropriate methodologies and in synthesizing experiences in the host culture. Students are expected to complete 120 hours of field-based (non-archival, non-library) research on their topic, submit a substantial written paper, and deliver an accompanying oral presentation. It is not uncommon for ISPs to strongly contribute to the student’s choice of subject for graduate studies or professional career.