Mississippi State UniversityContact: Maridith Geuder(662) 325-3442[email protected]http://www.ur.msstate.edu/news/
Food to fuel discussions about life of the mind
STARKVILLE, Miss.--For those who believe philosophy is only about the human mind and ideas, an April 5-6 Mississippi State conference will offer enough thoughts about food to leave participants hungering for more.
The university's first philosophical meeting devoted exclusively to food will cover perspectives ranging from genetic engineering to art. Titled "Know Thyself: Food and the Human Condition," the meeting of invited participants will include philosophers, food and restaurant critics and chefs.
Glenn Kuehn, an assistant professor of philosophy and religion and the conference organizer, said the gathering's purpose is to focus on an often-underrepresented area of philosophical scholarship. A co-founder of Convivium, a philosophical forum promoting research and dialogue on food and philosophy, his professional interests include aesthetics and pragmatism.
"Food and the practices associated with it reveal much about our self-understanding," he explained. "Aside from scattered articles in journals, there are few resources for this topic."
He said one conference goal "is to collect presented and invited papers and to publish them as a reference. We also hope this meeting will serve as a preliminary step toward the establishment of a philosophy and food institute at Mississippi State to foster scholarship in the area."
Conference speakers and their topics will include:
--S.K. Wertz of the philosophy department at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, "Maize: the Native North American's Legacy of Cultural Diversity and Biodiversity."
--Fabio Parasecoli, United States editor of Gambero Rosso, an Italian magazine focusing on wine, travel and food, "Hungry Engrams: Food and Nonrepresentational Memory."
--Raymond Boisvert of the philosophy department at Sienna College in Loudonville, N.Y., "The Parasite as Fundamental Ontological Category: A Commentary on Michel Serres' 'Le Parasite.'" Boisvert is another co-founder of Convivium.
--Jeremy Iggers, restaurant critic of the Minneapolis (Minn.) Star-Tribune, "Gastroporn and the Erotics of Branding." Iggers is the author of the book "Garden of Eating: Food, Sex and the Hunger for Meaning."
--Marti Crouch, a Bloomington, Ind., botanist, "Golden Rice to the Rescue: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Food." She writes and lectures on issues related to food and the environment.
--Lisa Heldke of the philosophy department at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., "The (Extensive) Pleasures of Eating." Also a founding member of Convivium, she is co-editor of "Cooking, Eating, Thinking: Transformative Philosophies of Food."
For more information, visit the conference Web site at http://www.socrates.philosophy.msstate.edu/pr/.
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For more information, contact Dr. Kuehn at (662) 325-2382 or [email protected].
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