Module POLM016 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
POLM016: Food Systems, Alternative Food Networks, and Ethical Consumption
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
You will read works on food systems within a range of disciplines, including political economy, development studies, geography, sociology, and anthropology. Through engagement with the literature, you will develop perspectives on food systems at various scales, not only analyzing how existing systems work but also how alternatives to these might be created. The module will prepare you for your own research in the field of study, whether academic or within the context of public institutions, industries, or third sector organisations with an interest in food and its role in economic development, social justice, cultural preservation and environmental sustainability.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Critically analyze the histories of food systems of various types and scales 2. Identify and critically assess the roles of a range of actors and component parts of food systems of various types and scales |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Discern the political and economic drivers of food systems of various types and scales 4. Recognize and articulate critical perspectives on the social and environmental consequences of food systems of various types and scales |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Critically analyze sources pertaining to the operation of existing food systems and proposed alternatives 6. Present relevant information in support of coherent critical appraisal of existing food systems and proposed alternatives |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
The module will be structured as a reading and discussion seminar. The following themes will likely be covered, with minor variation from year to year depending upon the availability and current research of lecturers contributing to the module:
- Food, Agriculture and the State in Historical Perspective
- Famine and Food Aid
- Food Security from the Global South to the Global North
- Trade and Globalization in Agriculture and Food
- Food Sovereignty
- Ethical Consumption
- Short Food Chains
- Slow Food and Transition Towns
- Food, Heritage and the Cultural Economy
- Food, Brexit and the end (?) of Neoliberalism
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2-hour weekly seminar |
| Guided Independent Study | 50 | 10 x 5-hours weekly reading for seminar preparation |
| Guided Independent Study | 20 | 10 x 2-hours weekly preparation of reading response papers |
| Guided independent study | 58 | Research and writing of essay |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
