School:Gastronomy

Welcome to the Wikiversity School of Gastronomy

Gastronomy is the study of culture and food, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine. It's a demanding multidisciplinary field of study examining food itself along with its context, presentation, nutrition and history. The underlying principle of gastronomy is that food is a science as well as an art form. It examines the sociological implications of food and integrates other social science disciplines such as anthropology, psychology and philosophy.

At the root of gastronomy is food. A gastronome examines the freshness, preparation, flavours and presentation of food. However, aspects such as cultural influences, science and history are also relevant to gastronomy. Gastronomy informs the culinary world, but not all cooks and chefs are gastronomes. Many prefer to concentrate only on the culinary aspects of gastronomy, producing food of excellent quality and flavour without delving into the scientific, cultural and historical implications of the food they serve.

This is a project intended to develop the art and science of Gastronomy.

Method of study
The courses of study in the School of Gastronomy have the potential, because of their subject matter, to be some of the most enjoyable on the web. The pedagogy of Wikiversity emphasises active involvement in learning and teaching and there can be few areas of life that are as enjoyable as actively exploring food and beverages.

Every department in the school has its own curriculum and structures its own programme of study, but all courses are made up of a series of Activity units. Each Activity unit, as its name suggests, is a set of activities in which students partake to enhance their subject knowledge and skills. Writers of course materials construct and test a number of assignments which use online materials as their basic sources. If suitable online materials do not exist, or are not readily available, then writers can produce them in Wikipedia, Wikibooks or Wikimedia.

The Activity unit templates may differ in detail for each department in the School of Gastronomy but their basis is the same in stating a number of objectives for the unit and suggesting a number of activities and assignments to help achieve the objectives. There are also suggestions for further development of knowledge and skills and encouragement to develop independent study, research and writing abilities.

Students and other writers are able, and encouraged, to provide feedback on any aspect of the courses by discussion on the talk pages of the project and making suggestions for modifications and enhancements. Anyone can thus contribute and become a writer of online teaching and learning materials.

Goals
The goals of the project are:


 * To introduce students to the various disciplines of gastronomy
 * To show students the basic classic and modern techniques, and theories of food production
 * To introduce students to various food cultures and cuisines
 * To introduce students to the work of the best professional chefs and teachers in the world of cooking

Courses

 * Cooking
 * Menu planning
 * Food Safety

Active participants

 * The Jade Knight (d'viser) 00:13, 27 August 2009 (UTC) (I'm no expert, but will happily get involved), lately on 25 September 2017.
 * Marshallsumter since 20 April 2013‎. --Marshallsumter (discuss • contribs) 01:08, 7 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Steven Smith,10ber, 27,2023

Inactive participants

 * Housetruck247 22:56, 16 May 2009 (UTC
 * San Diego Wine Lady--SchoolfortheServiceArts.com 06:50, 20 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Harkey Lodger 14:54, 8 January 2010 (UTC) Trying to clear a way through the structural fog ready to add proper content.

School news

 * 11 September 2006  - School founded!
 * 08 January 2010 - Incorporated School of Culinary Arts as a department
 * 14 January 2010 - Added new Divisional and Departmental structure

Related subjects

 * The School of Hospitality Management