Students' Testimonials
Although a relatively new certificate, students are already, and have been, saying positive things about our Food Cultures classes. See what your peers think about their experiences with the courses:
Comments from LC 281: Intro to World Food Culture (Fall 2024) |
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I thoroughly enjoyed the course and learned so much! I considered myself a pretty open-minded person to different foods and cultures to begin with, but this class really furthered my perspective on all the different ways food is present in everyday life and the importance of it in regard to culture. I want to learn even more about the things we talked about and am excited to continue to learn and try new things. (Larissa Evans, Fall 2024) |
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When comparing American and Mexican food, I can understand the sentiment of not thinking of the US as having a national cuisine. Before taking this class, I would probably also have said that there is no such thing as American food. Now, I understand that there is more complexity that goes into national foods. |
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Reflections on Class Projects
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Through this project [of interviewing a family member] I learned a lot more about my family’s culture that I never knew. I was told a lot of stories about the love and warmth that Cathy [my aunt] felt when she was around her Sitto and Jiddo [my grandparents] and when she was taught how to make Syrian food. Syrian food is much more delicious than American food. It is made with hard work and love and cannot be compared to any American food I have ever had. I loved hearing about not just Cathy’s memories, but also my Mom’s and my Papa’s memories that they had with my Mom’s Sitto and Jiddo. They all told me about different traditions they had when it came to Syrian food and they also told me how to make some of the foods. I am really excited when summer hits and my family’s garden starts to produce koosa, grape leaves and zucchini. I can help my mom and my papa make Syrian food, so that I will know how to make the food when I get older. I want to learn more about my family’s food culture so I can pass the recipes down to my kids and keep traditional Syrian food alive in my family. (Casey Huhnke, Fall 2024) |
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This [project] was super interesting to me because I started to think about the media more and what it has to do with Americans' perception of other cultures. Now, I wonder if the media portrays lots of other cultures as something that is not completely true, and sometimes even straight-up false, as it does to Turkish culture. Because of this, we won’t ever know the full truth if we don’t ever have the chance to speak to someone of that culture one-on-one. This is why I am thankful to have met Ece [from Turkey] and to have had this opportunity to interview her and get to know her and her culture on a deeper level. This makes me want to ask other people from other cultures similar questions to learn more and educate myself further. (Alie Newby, Fall 2024, Final Project Interview Essay) |