Empires, Power and the Modern World: Food as History
UndergraduateLTU-HIS1EPM2025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Price from
- $2,124
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Empires, Power and the Modern World: Food as History
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate historical understanding of food production and consumption, with reference to processes of imperialism and industrialisation, and applying the concepts of gender, class, race, power and modernity as appropriate.
- Develop inquiry/research skills, including the ability to effectively access and interpret a wide variety of primary and secondary materials, both electronic and paper-based.
- Practice critical-thinking, creative problem-solving and cultural literacy skills through analysing historical evidence, scholarship and changing representations of the past.
- Develop effective literacy and communication skills through the practice of oral and written communication.
- Show how history and historians shape the present and can contribute to envisaging new futures by reflecting on social, environmental and economic change and challenges in relation to food sustainability for future generations.
- Colonial Food Production and Consumption
- Famine and Food Sovereignty
- Agrarian and Industrial Revolutions
- Food in Wartime
- Eating Out
- Supermarkets
- Globalisation, Fair Trade, and Sustainable Food
The food you eat is not just a matter of taste. It is the product of histories of imperialism, global trade and commerce, and industrial and scientific revolutions; it tells a story of cultural change and exchange. In this subject, we study global histories of food from the age of empires to the modern world. We will trace commodity chains for products such as chocolate and tea from agricultural production, through industrial manufacture, to retail, marketing and consumption. Along the way we will explore topics including slavery, Indigenous and ethnic food encounters, kitchens and modernity, adulterated food, and wartime food supplies. Through investigating political, legal, economic and cultural histories of food in global and local contexts, you will discover and debate key concepts including gender, class, race and power. You will bring historical understanding to the urgent question of food sustainability.
This is a Level 1 subject. This subject includes live sessions in the form of either in-person or Zoom tutorials with the expectation of student attendance and participation.
- Primary source analysis and bibliography (equivalent to 600 words). (15%)
- Research assignment (equivalent to 1800 words) (45%)
- An individual project on the theme of sustainable food (equivalent to 1600 words) (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
The third university established in Victoria, La Trobe University has a diverse community of more than 38,000 students and staff. Its commitment to excellence in teaching and research prepares students to make a bold and positive impact in today's global community. La Trobe provides Open Universities Australia with its core tenets, entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Learn more about La Trobe University.
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 17
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 18
Entry requirements
Others
Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed HUS1FFT (Food for Thought: Discovering the World through Commodities) are ineligible to enrol in this subject.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DIP
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Health Sciences
UndergraduateLAT-AHS-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DIP
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CRM-DEG
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