In The Classroom…
YUM: A Taste of Immigrant City has been supported not only by local restaurants, nonprofits, and community members, but also by Tufts University and the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Economic Anthropology in Action: The Very Social Business of Survival (also known as Anthropology 149) is only one in a series of classes led by Dr. Jennifer Burtner that focuses on the continuing economic recovery in Somerville. Dr. Burtner has taught multiple related courses, often with repeat students, during her time at Tufts. It was during one of her earlier classes that students came up with the idea of focusing on restaurants and, over the course of additional work and community support, their idea evolved into–what else?–the YUM project and all of its related events and media.
Here you’ll find discussions of and responses to class readings, which focused both on economic theory and market studies as well as the complex relationship between food, culture, ritual, economics, and society. The wide breadth of knowledge also meant a wide range of authors, from big names in economics (like John Maynard Keynes, Karl Polanyi, Joseph Schumpeter, and Melville Herskovitz) to leaders in anthropology and nutrition (such as Sidney Mintz, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Mary Douglas). Take a look!
The Marketing Era: From Professional Practice to Global Provisioning
