REL 357 Curried Cultures
What is "curry"? How is this "Indian" dish a particularly British phenomenon and what does it suggest, more broadly, about the intersection between food and Empire. This interdisciplinary course considers the relationship between food, imperialism, and religion and seeks to understand how religious cultures and food practices adapt as communities move to new locations. Not only did colonizers take goods and customs from the colonies back to the metropole, but waves of immigrants from throughout the British Empire also came. Exploring the histories of colonization, migration, and multiculturalism, this course will consider "curried cultures"—what immigrant neighborhoods, groceries, ritual practices, religious architecture, and foodways reveal about the transmission and transformation of traditions and communities. Through academic readings that examine iconic dishes and food practices, fieldtrips to museums, religious sites, markets, and historically immigrant neighborhoods, as well as cooking practicums and food tastings, students will learn about the lived experiences of some of London's South Asian, Caribbean, African, and Jewish communities.