side.gif global:spacer.gif
Current Dateline

1998 Dateline

1999 Dateline

2000 Dateline

Press Release Index

global:spacer.gif global:spacer.gif

FOOD: NATURE AND CULTURE

A Social Research Conference
November 5 to 7, 1998

The New School for Social Research
Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th Street
New York City

What we eat-the ceremonies surrounding it, how food marks our sameness and differences, its mythic and symbolic importance, the joy of plenty, the fear of famine and deprivation-all are occasions for reflections on the human condition. How do we understand the prevalence of hunger in a world of abundance? What roles do culturally determined food preference or power or science play? This conference brings together scholars and scientists as well as policy makers in forum linking discourse about hunger, diet, and food security with the history, culture, and political economy of food in an effort to elicit new perspectives.

Conference Schedule
    Thursday, November 5

  • Everyday Life: Ordinary pleasures, rituals, and taboos
    Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Paul Rozin, Raymond Sokolov, Aristide
    Zolberg (moderator)

  • Case-Histories: Ways in which foods have emerged, migrated, and been assimilated
    Betty Fussell, William McNeill, Sidney Mintz, Robert Adams (moderator)

  • Key Note Addresses

    • Sustainable Agriculture
      Ismail Serageldin
    • Food and Culture
      Margaret Visser

    Friday, November 6

  • Food as Symbol: In religion, myth, and magic, and as a marker of identity
    Maurice Bloch, Wendy Doniger, Theodore Zeldin

  • Food in Art/Food as Art: Food is both an object of art and a medium for artistic expression
    Leonard Barkan, Steven Heller, Marc Shell, John Hollander (moderator)

    Saturday, November 7

  • Abundance and Scarcity: Access to food is far from equal
    Richard Goldman, Anne Murcott, Marion Nestle, Robert W. Herdt (moderator)

  • The Future: Prospects for the global availability of food and ways to increase it
    Gordon Conway, David Pimental, Per Pinstrupi-Andersen, Kenneth Prewitt (moderator)

Registration Fee $70 before Labor Day (includes all sessions), $100 after Labor Day

For more information and reservations, call (212) 229-2488, visit http://www.newschool.edu/centers/socres/food or email socres@newschool.edu

Collaborative Programs

Cultural institutions around the city are collaborating on related exhibits, lectures, discussions, and walking tours including:

The James Beard Foundation
November 6, 1998, 7:00 p.m.
An American Heirloom Dinner
David Page
Home Restaurant
NYC
with guest speakers
$65 members and registered conference participants,
$75 nonmembers and guests
Call (212) 675-4984 for reservations.

    Academy of American Poets
    American Craft Museum
    Asia Society
    Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
    Japan Society
    The Jewish Museum
    Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Museum of African Art
    El Museo Del Barrio
    The New School
    The New York Academy of Medicine
    New-York Historical Society

Contact each institution directly for specifics about their collaborative programs.