This is an archived copy of the 2023-2024 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://coursecatalog.bucknell.edu.

Food Systems Minor

The minor in food systems takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the production, processing, distribution and politics of food, which are global challenges in the 21st century. The minor offers cultural, political, economic, environmental, scientific and geographic approaches that allow students to investigate the myriad ways in which individuals and societies produce, distribute, consume, understand and experience food. 

The food systems minor covers topics such as food policies, nutrition, water, waste and the urban environment, ethics of consumption, local and global cuisines, cultural practices, and the aesthetics of dining. By exploring these issues with analytic tools developed in a range of academic disciplines, this minor leads to a critical examination of the role of food in historic and contemporary societies. A food systems minor enriches students’ understanding of their respective majors and will prove useful to careers in a variety of fields, including agricultural sciences, policy, development, advocacy, media, and social and cultural analysis.

The food systems minor consists of five courses. At least two courses must come from the “Global Cultural Approaches” list; at least one must come from the “Applied Approaches” list; the other two may be from either list. No more than three courses may be from the same department. Only one 100-level course may count toward the minor. Please note that courses in a student’s major department may not count toward their minor requirements.

Students or faculty instructors may request that relevant courses, including study abroad courses, be counted toward the minor by contacting the chair of the Coordinating Committee. Students may also count relevant internships or fieldwork experiences in the form of an independent study course. Students are encouraged to discuss their selection of courses for the minor with a member of the Coordinating Committee.

Global Cultural Approaches to Food Systems

ANTH 265Food, Eating, and Culture1
ANTH 310Culture, Nature and Place1
ANTH 328Feeding Latin America1
ENST 204Global Political Ecology of Food1
ENST 216Preindustrial Environment1
ENST 226Water & Power1
ENST 255Environmental Injustice and Activism1
FREN 282Patrimoines Gastronomiques1
FREN 395Seminar in French Studies (when topic is food-related)1
GEOG 345Food and the Environment1
PSYC 309Appetite and Eating Behavior1
RELI 229The Ethics of Consumption1
RELI 312Digesting Divinity: Religion, Food and Diet1
RESC 220Residential College Dinner Seminar (Food College).25
RESC 221Residential College Dinner Seminar (Food College).25
SOCI 220Environmental Sociology1
SPAN 361Topics in Hispanic Literature ("Spain: Food, Futbol and Fiction")1
UNIV 192Food, Faith, Justice: Baltimore.5
UNIV 200Integrated Perspectives Course ("West, Cowboys, Nature, Myth")1

Applied Approaches to Food Systems

ANOP 301Global Supply Chain Management (with Prof. Jimmy Chen)1
BIOL 131Biology of Food1
BIOL 150Plants, People, and the Environment1
BIOL 330Plant Systematics1
BIOL 351Field Botany1
CEEG 320Water Resources Engineering1
CHEG 242Introduction to Food Science and Engineering for non-majors1
CHEG 442Food Science & Technology1
CHEG 452Bioprocess Engineering1
CHEG 470Special Topics in Chemical Engineering ("Fermentation")1
CHEM 332Instrumental Analysis (with Prof. Doug Collins)1
CHEM 332LLab-Analytical Chemistry II (with Prof. Doug Collins)0
ECON 235African Economic Development1
FOUN 098Foundation Seminar ("Sustainable Energy, Food & Lifestyle")1
RESC 098Foundation Seminar in Residential Colleges ("Food, Farming and Sustainability")1
UNIV 200Integrated Perspectives Course ("Farm to Table" and "Transforming Food")1
UNIV 205Confounding Problems ("Food, Faith, Justice: Baltimore").25-.5
UNIV 209Tasting France: The Science and Culture of Terroir1

Faculty

Coordinator: Margot Vigeant

Coordinating Committee: John Penniman (Religious Studies), Clare Sammells (Sociology & Anthropology), Mark D. Spiro (Biology), Margot Vigeant (Chemical Engineering)