M5-MA Current Debates on Globalisation, Media & Culture A
Instructors: Mara LindenShortname: M5-MA Current Dibate
Course No.: 09.050.461
Course Type: Seminar
Anwesenheitspflicht
You are expected to be present for a majority of the sessions.Recommended reading list
Mol, A. (2021) Eating in Theory. Duke University Press. doi: 10.2307/j.ctv1h0p5r1.Contents
“Food for thought”: Theories on and with EatingIn this seminar, we will analyse food and eating as social, political, geographical and ecological processes and develop theoretical perspectives to do so.
The first half of the term will consist of us reading Annemarie Mol’s “Eating in Theory” and discussing what eating can contribute to theory-making and relating to the world. Mol’s book works with philosophies by Hannah Arendt, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Hans Jonas, Emmanuel Levinas, Donna Haraway and others whose concepts we will get to know better through Mol’s writing. At the same time, Mol combines these theoretical engagements with empirical vignettes from her research, making this book readable and understandable. No previous knowledge of philosophical concepts is necessary, but you are expected to actively engage with the book and the discussions in class.
For the second half of the term, we will focus on different empirical projects about food and eating, using the theoretical concepts and our perception of eating as a lens to understand food and eating as relational. This includes questions such as: Where does our food come from? What makes food cultural, or political? When does something taste good to us? Which more-than-human relations contribute to our eating?
The seminar is held in a text-based discussion format, which means you are expected to prepare the readings for each session and should actively participate in the discussion. For this, you should prepare one question about the text for at least 10 sessions (more information in the seminar). At the end of the semester, you will submit an academic paper (or an equivalent task, depending on your module) which constitutes the final exam.
Dates
| Date (Day of the week) | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 10/30/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/06/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/13/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/20/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/27/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 12/04/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 12/11/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 12/18/2025 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/08/2026 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/15/2026 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/22/2026 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/29/2026 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 02/05/2026 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 02/12/2026 (Thursday) | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04 223 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |