Who has used ancient Egypt as a construct, and to what purpose? Did you know that pyramids, mummies, King Tut, and Cleopatra represent just the (overhyped) tip of a very rich civilization that holds plenty of life lessons for today? Combine the ancient Egyptians’ explanations of the world’s natural forces with all the social complexity of human interaction and you have a fully formed society about four millennia of accumulated experience! Can investigating the real ancient Egypt unpack our current misconceptions about the land of the pharaohs? Hardly morose, tomb-building zombies, the Egyptians embraced life in all its messy details. How much of your impression of the ancient world was put there by Hollywood, music videos, or orientalist musings out of the West? How accurate are these depictions? Does it matter? This course examines the quintessential example of the “exotic, mysterious ancient world” ancient Egypt to interrogate these questions. Peter Der Manuelian PhD, Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology, Harvard University Pyramid Schemes: What Can Ancient Egyptian Civilization Teach Us? The recorded sessions are typically available within a few hours of the end of class and no later than the following business day. Students may attend at the scheduled meeting time or watch recorded sessions on demand. Notes: This course meets via web conference. Noncredit credit $1,500, undergraduate credit $1,920, graduate credit $2,980. Online (live or on demand) web conference Assignments address pressing real-world questions related to chocolate consumption, social justice, responsible development, honesty and the politics of representation in production and marketing, hierarchies of quality, and myths of purity. Interdisciplinary course readings introduce the history of cacao cultivation, the present day state of the global chocolate industry, the diverse cultural constructions surrounding chocolate, and the implications for chocolate’s future of scientific study, international politics, alternative trade models, and the food movement. This course examines the sociohistorical legacy of chocolate, with a delicious emphasis on the eating and appreciation of the so-called food of the gods. Martin PhD, Associate, African and African American Studies, Harvard University Chocolate, Culture, and the Politics of FoodĬarla D.
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