Food, Sustainability, & Environmental Studies

The program in Food, Sustainability, & the Environment (FSE) at Umbra invites students and professors to participate in the study of food systems, sustainability and the environment. Whether enrolling in semester or summer courses, interning in a winery or Umbra’s campus garden, or discovering the complexities of Italian food culture and environmental policy, FSE students develop a deeper understanding of global food systems, sustainability, and the environment.

The Program in Food, Sustainability, & Environment

The Program in Food, Sustainability, & Environment (FSE) offers a semester-long, interdisciplinary certificate program open to all students with an interest in food, sustainability, and the environment. It is particularly well-suited to those hoping to cultivate a career in the food or environmental industries or seeking to continue their education at the graduate level.

This program includes a series of co- and extracurricular activities that are an integral part of the curriculum; they include guest lectures, site visits, field trips, culinary activities, research projects, and other hands-on experiences. These activities allow students to directly observe the concepts studied in the classroom and analyze issues surrounding food, sustainability, and the environment in an Italian and global context from varied perspectives.

Certificate Program Curriculum

All students who successfully complete the FSE will receive a certificate of completion from the Umbra Institute. To meet the requirements, one must complete the program’s 1-credit core course and at least three (3) electives from the list below for a total of ten (10) credits. The required 4-credit Italian course is offered in addition to the FSE curriculum. This allows participants to complete the program with fourteen (14) credits but they may also choose to add an additional elective from the FSE or other program offerings for a maximum total of seventeen (17) credits. 

Students interested both in the FSE and an independent research project may combine the FSE and Scholars Program curricula to create their own academic path. This option has limited availability so it is important that all interested students contact their ISI Abroad – Umbra Institute admissions advisor early to begin planning for their semester abroad.

Institutional Research

While teaching is central to the Institute’s mission, research serves both didactic and professional goals. Recent faculty research has included a monograph on the food businesses of Italian emigrants in Belgium, an edited collection on representations of Italian food, a critical analysis of the meaning of heritage in food, and a handbook for Italian winemakers looking to export to the United States. Current projects include a monograph on Italian women vintners making natural wine, an article exploring the absence of the enologist’s laboratory in the discourse about food landscapes, and anthropological research on one a Perugian market with an 800-year history. This research not only keeps the faculty actively involved with academic discussions on food and the environment but also provides readings for courses and opportunities for students to engage in faculty projects.

The Institute also promotes student research through faculty-led independent study projects or the more intensive semester-long Scholars Program. A recent student project on the Italian aversion to taking food home from restaurants led to a three-year-long community engagement project with the City of Perugia known as RepEAT, designed to promote doggie bags in the city’s restaurants. Students have also presented their research several times at both the biennial food conference and the Association for the Study of Food & Society. Two FSE students have won awards for their research in Perugia from the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition and the Forum on International Education.

Ongoing Research Project

The Institute is currently creating a long-term institutional research project in collaboration with the City of Perugia and the Region of Umbria. This five-year project will also develop an online wiki of Umbrian foods and foodways. Umbra students will contribute text, photographs, interviews, and video to the first bilingual archive of its type.