| Description | This course provides a framework for analysis of current
interacting sociocultural and psychosocial forces that
combine to shape human's eating behaviors, food choices, and
motivations towards food-based body modification.
Topics covered in this course include developmental and
behavioral learning mechanisms of food choice and eating
patterns, sensory systems and eating experiences, biological,
neurological, and biochemical mechanisms of hunger,
satiety, and cravings, sociocultural influences on eating
patterns, body image and gender, dieting behaviors and
weight regulation, the development of cognitions and behaviors
concerning food, eating, and our bodies, and how
the mental health field conceptualizes and treats eating
disorders. Various perspectives will be explored through an
anti-oppressive lens, examining the intersections of capitalism
and other systems of identity-based oppression and
diet and weight-loss culture, food accessibility,
marketing/advertising, and public health perceptions of what is
"healthy" vs "unhealthy". The food system(s) will also be
explored through a critical framework, examining themes of
food politics, policies, and food activism |