Courses
Both humanities and sciences are taught within the undergraduate program. Practical learning, lab work, and study travel to discover products and their regions of origin complement in-class lessons in order to provide students with an interdisciplinary approach to the world of gastronomy.
The following list of disciplines and course modules comprise the Gastronomic Sciences program of study. Each may include seminars dedicated to a specific issue, and course content may vary from year to year.
Year I
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Module I: Animal Biology
This introduction to animal biology touches on the many themes of natural history, evolution, hunting and fishing, domestication, aquaculture, zoogeography, ecological imperialism, biodiversity, cloning, imaginary animals and urban legends, laws and norms, ethics, animal cruelty, animal sacrifice, the food choices and religious standards around eating animals, vegetarianism and carnivorism, bioindustries, and what we deem "fit to eat".
Module II: Plant Biology
This course provides the introductory elements of general botany and taxonomy, particularly addressing the aspect of plant economics related to species predominantly used in cooking: vegetables, wild fruits and nuts, algae, sub-tropical and tropical vegetables and tubers, spices, herbs, and gums. Non-culinary species, however, are also covered, including herbal teas, stimulant and alcoholic beverages, plant fibres and colorants, and natural sweeteners. Other issues include plant comestibility, food toxicology, ethnobotany and biocultural diversity, “traditional” and “local” foods, and the origins of human nutrition and agriculture (domestication). The course also includes a series of plant sensory exercises in order to recognize aromatic plants and spices, as well as tools for identification and use of certain wild plants, based on taste, aroma, and texture.
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Module I: Basic Algebra and Data Processing
This course reviews the elements of algebra, functions, and geometry necessary for the quantitative study of food science and technology. Practical attention is paid to the graphic representation of data as well as the use of common data-processing software.
Module II: Information Technology
The goal of this course is to give students the basic IT skills for day-to-day use of their computers’ hardware and software, as well as networking and online applications. An understanding of algorithms and online programming languages is provided, including website architecture, information networks, databases, and network security.
Module III: Statistics
Students learn the basics of statistical analysis and are introduced to the concept of economic and social data measurement, using statistics. Descriptive statistics and statistical inference is reviewed, as well as statistical methods for improving quality, statistical process controls, statistical programming of experiments, correlations, and linear regression. The goal of the course is to provide knowledge that is firmly grounded within the most recent proven thinking, but also to inspire interest in the subject for further application within other courses of the undergraduate program.
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This course provides an understanding of general and organic chemistry in order to understand the molecular processes underlying food processing and transformation. The main components of food products (water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and vitamins) are examined, as well as the nature and nomenclature of organic compounds and the primary physical states within alimentary systems (solutions, dispersions, emulsions, foams, gels).
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This course shows how our definition of “taste” is dependent on a series of interconnected sensations: physical (temperature, consistency, moisture, texture), chemical (taste, smell), and chemesthetic (burning, cooling, pungent). Attention is also given to the physiological processes used to identify stimuli—our anatomical structures and receptors—as well as the molecular interactions between aromatic compounds and the body’s senses.
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This course introduces the subject of epidemiology and treatment of food-borne illnesses for eventual application within the professional environment. The ways in which microorganisms act on food—both good and bad—are addressed, including how to use microorganisms in food processing and identify their presence and proliferation in preserved foods. Notably, the role of fermentation in making products like bread, cheese, beer, wine, and cured meats will be examined.
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Module I: History of Food
This course unites various alimentary themes within a historical-cultural perspective, using the history of food in Europe and the role food had in the evolution of European culture. Further, the course looks at how the way in which people were fed throughout the centuries tied into imperial and national ambitions. Finally, food is assessed as the common denominator of identity and status, for the individual, for social classes, for regions, and for countries.
Module II: History of Agriculture
The focus of this course is agriculture as a fundamental component of the history of food and eating. Various food cultures form the starting point for an analysis of the global change that has taken place in the rural regions of industrialized nations, with particular attention to those transformations within agriculture. A part of the course also looks at alternative methods of agriculture (organic, biodynamic) and genetic modification.
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This course builds technical knowledge in three areas: theoretic concepts of IT; use of the most common software packages (MS Office and Open Source applications); technical vocabulary. It also covers some of the subjects included in the analytic descriptions of the ECDL Certificate training modules.
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Because the university operates in both English and Italian, these courses are designed to optimize students’ comprehension of grammar, conversation, and written and spoken language. Classes are divided into groups based on existing language skills.
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Promotion and study of food and wine heritage.
Year II
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Module I: Animal Production
Incorporating the health and well-being of food-production animals, this course content looks at bovine, porcine, and avian breeds, their nutritional needs, and the issues within various raising methods, including marine aquaculture. Meat (pork, beef, chicken, rabbit, lamb, goat) is also studied from the nutritional and microbiological perspectives, as well as how it is butchered and processed, moving from the slaughterhouse to the table.
Module II: Plant Production
The fundamentals of agronomy form the basis of this course, including the various production systems and their characteristics: conventional, integrated, organic, and biodynamic. The question of fertilization is also included, starting with the general concept of fertility and moving through organic and chemical fertilizers, manuring, and composting. The main varieties of cereals and vegetable crops are also taught.
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Module I: Viticulture
The main issues surrounding the cultivation and dispersion of vines locally and internationally are explored in this course, along with the principle aspects of vine morphology, physiology, and biochemistry in the vegetative and reproductive cycles. Discussion begins with the loss of genetic variety within viticulture, continuing on to the origin and distribution of vitaceae around the world—including those varieties that are cultivated—the circulation of ancient varieties, and wild grapes. Also covered: the expansion of genetic variability through selection, crossbreeding and hybridization, and genetic improvement for both quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
Module II: Enology
This course introduces the fundamentals of both white and red wine production, as well as the techniques involved in making Champagne, Port, Sherry, and Sauternes. Chemistry and microbiology are also covered, including the processes of stabilization, aging, and tasting. Both the theory and practice of wine technology is studied, from the basics of the wine sector to viticulture, quality control, and sensory analysis.
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Sensory analysis is a technique that provides control and quality assurance in food products. This course defines the fundamental sensorial tests, the relationship between food composition and taste profiles, and the criteria for creating a tasting panel for conducting sensory analysis tests. The course concludes with a practical lesson conducted in the university’s sensory analysis lab.
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Module I: Food Technology Principles
This course illustrates the principles and logic that govern food processing and preserving, including the criteria for guaranteeing quality and safety, new technological innovations, and trends in technical development and controls. Students become familiar with technical language and learn the analytic methods of various food-processing systems.
Module II: Food Technology Processes
This course covers the main steps in food processing and preservation and provides the knowledge necessary to understand the relationship between production processes and product quality. A secondary objective is to help students synthesize other areas of study to build a cumulative portrait of food processing that encompasses the definition of “quality” within finished products.
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Module I: History of Wine
This history of viticulture and wine production in Europe owes particular attention to distribution, from the early Middle Ages to the current era. The economics and consumption of wine, in Italy and France, are analyzed, along with a consideration of wine language and medical treatments. Because of their distinctive importance, the past 50 years of wine history are also examined, with the participation of producers, experts, and scholars.
Modulo II: History of Cuisine and Gastronomy
This course addresses the classification of food and gastronomic culture using the worldwide diffusion of the French model, starting from the 18th century and moving up to today, as well as the diffusion of traditional Italian recipes both domestically and internationally. Skills are provided to allow students to perform research using primary resource material.
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Promotion and study of food and wine heritage.
Year III
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Module I: Food Business Economics
This course addresses the costs of production processes within agri-food businesses. Alongside the classic mono-criterion methodologies (financial forecasting, income/ expense analysis, etc.), significant attention is paid to multi-criterion methodologies, in order to provide the tools for using diverse business-evaluation parameters, both monetary and non-monetary. Both quantitative and qualitative parameters are explored.
Module II: Marketing of High-Quality Products
This course is designed to teach the tools of applied marketing within the food industry. It is divided into three modules that address the principles of marketing, food marketing, and the role of brands. Students learn how to understand and analyze the players and structure of the marketplace, food trends, and how brands are born and evolve.
Module III: Food Policy
This branch of law includes the norms and regulations associated with distribution of food products, with the protection of health, and with the free circulation of commodities. It also involves the “definition of the consumer,” jurisprudence within food terms, the principle of precaution, the agricultural market, the production and protection of agri-food products, quality controls, health inspections, labeling, and food safety.
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This course teaches the basic knowledge and applied skills of food services, including the specifics of the various techniques and production technologies in the industry. Each aspect of the process that either directly or indirectly effects the “finished meal” is addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective.
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This course looks at the spectrum of gastro-tourism as an integrated and sustainable themed travel experience. From a basic understanding of the mechanics of the tourism sector to a more developed interdisciplinary, geo-cultural approach, the tools are provided for critical interpretation of resources and territory, and for building a gastro-tourism enterprise that is holistic, organic, and appropriate.
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Three main concerns are addressed within this course. First, the relationship between city and country: the role of urban and rural sociology; the development of territorial sociology; the Chicago school; the models of cities; and the role of participation. Second, the development of ecology: environmental sociology; environmental associations and their role. Third, the role of the tourism system: the diversification of the system; young people and tourism; who the tourist is (per Cohen); Italy as a country of diffuse tourism; the development of a sociology of tourism. The texts L’Agricoltura urbana a Milano and Il bene acqua are also discussed, as well as current research methods and key research papers within the sector.
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This course examines the classification of basic foods and their alimentary composition, how nutrients carry out certain functions in the body, the evolution of consumption and the nutrition-health relationship, the food-energy needs of the body, and the recommended daily intake of nutrients. The physiology of digestion and nutrient absorption is also considered, as well as the basics of calculating nutritional needs and the principles of formulating and evaluating a balanced diet (to target ideal weight or address obesity). Specific dietetic regimes for certain conditions such as diabetes and celiac disease are also addressed.
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Addressing both oral and written narrative, this course demonstrates how traditions are in a continual state of cultural evolution. Within such a perspective, the course analyzes and reconstructs the ritual calendar, including both work and play, as well as the deep connection between ritual and food, evidenced by the complex ceremonial and symbolic value placed on traditional foodways.
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Module I: Aesthetics of Gastronomy
Aesthetics—the science of sensibility—has much to do with food and nutrition, in which objects are perceived, assimilated, and judged by means of the senses. More than other aspects of the human experience, food is an area in which the senses are both tools and the subject of investigation. This course has two objectives: to look at the cognitive value of sensibility and sensoriality and, through a deepening of the categories of aesthetics, to release prejudices around the hierarchy between “culture” and “material culture”.
Module II: Semiotics of Food and Perception
This course comprises two sections. The first covers a general theory of communications in order to move beyond older models based on information transmission and language functions. Specifically, a series of basic notions are provided that challenge our inheritance from both the generative and interpretive schools of thought. Bearing in mind the historical view, an updated toolkit is also developed to use in critical analysis of contemporary media communications. Alongside the fundamentals of textual semiotics, a theory of the management of the sense of time is developed. The second part of the course looks at the relationships between signification and perception, and between communication and alimentation, along with an introduction to the most recent developments in the semiotics of the body and the sociosemiotics of taste.
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Promotion and study of food and wine heritage.
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