Social Kitchen: The Praxis of Food-Based Community
Course Description
Summary
This course explores the pedagogy and practice of Food Studies, specifically focusing on the methods used to build resilient, food-based communities. Drawing from the legacy of student-led "Social Kitchen" activities at Bennington College across FWT, internships, and independent research, we will reexamine the kitchen space as a crucial catalyst for collaboration and wellness.
The Social Kitchen courses are part of the Critical Kitchen Pedagogy, a concept developed by Visual Arts faculty member Yoko Inoue. This framework integrates interdisciplinary research-based contemporary art practices to create experiential learning spaces that consider food as both a material and a subject for research and creation. Course material is deeply anchored in the cultural discourse and social-political context of food, investigating how culinary spaces, recipes, and shared meals reflect identity and food sovereignty. Assignments and projects will be pursued through interdisciplinary creative practices and socially engaged art, combining creative arts, social inquiry, and community action to address systemic challenges like food security and social alienation.
Because of the highly experiential nature of this work, the class requires a deep commitment to collaborating fully on group projects and participatory activities. Students should bring flexible thinking and adaptability to navigate challenging, real-world situations as they arise.
Learning Outcomes
- Evaluate the kitchen as a collaborative, student-centric space that fosters community spirit.
- Built on radical collaboration to address systemic challenges such as food insecurity, isolation, and unequal resource distribution.
- Cultivate the kitchen as a "fourth space” by developing an intentional, communal environment outside of traditional academic, home, and work spheres to foster collective wellness and open dialogue.
- Examine how recipes, shared meals, and collaborative cooking practices reflect cultural identity, history, and food sovereignty.
- Develop the entrepreneurial and organizational capacity to seed student-led initiatives, establishing self-sustaining, food-based communities anchored in the institutional framework of the Field Work Term (FWT).