School & Community News

Navarrete to Study in Spain

Greencastle, Ind. – Slater High School 2008 graduate and current DePauw University sophomore Anthony E. Navarrete will spend January 6-20, 2010 studying in Spain and Portugal as part of one of DePauw University’s off-campus winter-term study projects.

The project that Anthony will participate in is entitled The Changing Role of Food in Spain and Portugal. The project will combine two disciplines, anthropology and psychology, two disciplines that allow for an exploration of the experience, meaning and conceptualization of food and eating. The group Anthony will travel with includes 21 other students and 2 faculty members from DePauw University. The group will travel to the cities of Madrid, Segovia, Burgos, San Sebastian, and Valencia in Spain and will conclude their trip in Lisbon, Portugal.

Spain and Portugal offer unique situations in terms of the convergence of various cultural groups, such as the Spaniards, the Basque and the Moors. These meetings of cultures, both past and present, have created a rich environment for the study of food and its meanings to identity, nationalism, conflict and culinary arts. Students will visit archaeological sites, food markets, museums and kitchens to trace the changing role of food in Spanish and Portuguese society. Students will also attend courses to learn how to prepare some of the traditional dishes of the regions, as well as participate in seminars that examine issues of food ethics and competing food globalization and lo