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Unit of Study HOS03423 - Aesthetics of Food and Wine (2015)

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Unit Snapshot

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Unit description

Introduces students to the concept of aesthetics in relation to the education of the senses, encompassing historical, cultural and gastronomic contexts and how specific tastes are culturally constructed. The unit familiarises students to all aspects of aesthetic experience as it pertains to food and drink. The unit fosters an appreciation of, and the ability to critically examine, the historical and cultural importance of aesthetic experiences.

Unit content

Topic 1: What is aesthetics?: history, traditions, norms, and prejudices
Topic 2: Social parameters and constraints of aesthetic experience: fashions, fads, and phobias
Topic 3: Cultural parameters and constraints of aesthetic experience: status, class, and power
Topic 4: Gastronomic parameters of aesthetic experience: pleasure and the arts of the table
Topic 5: Wine with food style: harmony and balance as aesthetic ideals; expressing pleasure in words
Topic 6: Aesthetic education: contemporary neurogastronomic perspectives

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Online Session 2 Session 2

Learning outcomes and graduate attributes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

GA1: Intellectual rigour, GA2: Creativity, GA3: Ethical practice, GA4: Knowledge of a discipline, GA5: Lifelong learning, GA6: Communication and social skills, GA7: Cultural competence
Learning outcome count Learning outcome description GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 analyse specific aesthetic determinants (perceptive, sensory, social, and cultural) for a given event or situation in which foods and wines are consumed
2 critically discuss from a multidisciplinary perspective the aesthetics of food and wine in terms of the contribution that a holistic understanding of food culture can make to ethical living
3 demonstrate an understanding of sensory perceptions of foods and beverages, dishes and meals, and table arts, taking in broader cultural determinants of 'taste'
4 evaluate and critically assess how aesthetic experience represents a convergence of ideals, expectations and values, as well as material and physiological realities
5 develop advanced analytical and communicational skills, based on detailed evaluation of aesthetic experience in the context of business, market, or product-related contexts.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. analyse specific aesthetic determinants (perceptive, sensory, social, and cultural) for a given event or situation in which foods and wines are consumed
    • GA7:
  2. critically discuss from a multidisciplinary perspective the aesthetics of food and wine in terms of the contribution that a holistic understanding of food culture can make to ethical living
    • GA4:
  3. demonstrate an understanding of sensory perceptions of foods and beverages, dishes and meals, and table arts, taking in broader cultural determinants of 'taste'
    • GA4:
  4. evaluate and critically assess how aesthetic experience represents a convergence of ideals, expectations and values, as well as material and physiological realities
    • GA6:
  5. develop advanced analytical and communicational skills, based on detailed evaluation of aesthetic experience in the context of business, market, or product-related contexts.
    • GA6:
    • GA7:

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.