HI3499 Food, Drink and Society in Early Modern Britain and Ireland, 1550-1750
Module Coordinator: Prof. Susan Flavin
Duration: All year
Contact hours: 3 hours per week
Weighting: 10 ECTS
Assessment: 20% essay, 80% examination
Food and drink are the most fundamental, if short-lived, media of material culture. The constant physical necessity of food, and the variety of experiences which it encompasses, make it an ideal medium for exploring the ways in which societies and cultures are constituted and the manner in which they change. This module explores the changing nature of food consumption in the early modern period, by examining such topics as the role of the alehouse in society; the development of table manners; the impact of science on taste; the changing role of women in the production and consumption of food; the impact of overseas trade on food fashions and the significance of food shortages and dearth in society. In addition, we will consider the consequences of social and religious change as well as the development of print culture and its impact on diet. Throughout the module consumption practices in Britain and Ireland will be considered in a comparative context, with a particular emphasis on the extent to which the practices and rituals of eating and drinking served in the differentiation or integration of societies.
Leaning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- Analyse the political, religious and intellectual developments associated with consumption in the early modern era
- Identify and locate relevant secondary literature
- Engage with relevant theoretical and critical approaches to the history of consumption
- Apply different techniques of evaluation and interpretation to relevant primary sources
- Critique relevant historiography in the light of study of primary sources
- Present and discuss analysis of questions relating to the history of consumption in the early modern era
- Analyse the impact of consumption on the development and structure of early modern society