Module manager: Dr Bethany Robertson
Email: b.robertson1@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Everyone has a relationship with food and within recent years it has underpinned global challenges such as climate change and social justice. Sociology offers a lens to explore where power is situated within food systems and how this is socially constructed across time and place. This module considers how lived experiences of consuming and producing food are at the centre of cultures, identities and inequalities. Students will engage in debate about the everyday practices surrounding food such as growing, buying and cooking in order to develop a critical perspective on the social institutions that shape them. The role of food in social change will be examined alongside political and policy debate about alternative food cultures.
This module will:
Develop students’ skills in evaluating the role of food in shaping social and cultural life
Develop students’ understanding of how food practices can construct, reinforce and/or disrupt social hierarchies
Support students to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to contribute to informed debate about contemporary issues surrounding food consumption and production
On completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Evaluate the role of food in shaping social and cultural life by using their sociological imagination to connect everyday practices to societal challenges
2. Demonstrate their understanding of how food practices can construct, reinforce and/or disrupt social hierarchies
3. Contribute to informed debate in relation to the politics of consuming and producing food
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
1. Subject Knowledge (to evaluate and apply sociological perspectives on eating and food)
2. Critical thinking (to weigh up different arguments and perspectives, using supporting evidence to form opinions, arguments, theories and ideas)
3. Communication Skills (in verbal or written form to tailor your message for the audience and listening to the views of others)
4. Information Searching (to interpret and present other people's ideas and synthesise these ideas to support opinion, argument and theories)
5. Referencing (to know when, why and how to acknowledge someone else’s work or ideas)
6. Academic Integrity (to search for, evaluate and use appropriate and relevant information sources to help strengthen the quality of academic work and independent research)
7. Academic Writing (to write in a clear, concise, focused and structured manner that is supported by relevant evidence)
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 179 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 21 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
A formal formative assessment opportunity will be provided for each summative assessment task, which is specifically pedagogically aligned to that task. As part of this, each student will receive feedback designed to support the development of knowledge and skills that will be later assessed in the summative task.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 1 x Coursework | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 08/05/2025
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