Food Studies

Faculty

Occidental faculty members do impressive work in their fields regarding food. From scientific research to books about social movements, Oxy has a wide range of involvement. 

Clinton Chapman, Psychology, conducts research on the relationship of anxiety and fear to eating.

Alexa Delwiche, Urban and Environmental Policy (UEP), has works for the Los Angeles Food Policy Council as a food policy coordinator and has been a sustainable agriculture consultant for San Francisco Board of supervisors as well as a researcher for the United Farm Workers. She helped with the book “Cheap Food: Workers Pay the Price” and taught one of the Food Justice classes.

Nancy Dess, Psychology, conducts research with a focus on emotions and eating disorders.

Lynn Dumenil, History, teaches a class on modern US Food Policy.

Robert Gottlieb, UEP, advises UEP 246/247, a student led class on good food practices. He has taught classes on Food Justice and a number of food justice related CSPs. He has written a book on Food Justice, is the co-founder of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, among other notable things.

David Kasunic, Music, teaches a class on music and food that examined the correlation of music and dining from the 16th century on.

John Lang, Sociology, in addition to teaching Sociology of Food and the CSP writing-intensive seminar on Restaurant Culture, John is deeply interested in food as a site for sociological exploration. His research, found in highly-regarded academic journals, involves the relationship between food, risk, trust, consumers and consumption. See his list of publications, presentations, or full curriculum vitae for more.

Carmel Levitan, Cognitive Science, researches the influences of visual, auditory, and cognitive cues on flavor.

Zoë Phillips, UEP, is the Farm to Preschool Program manager at UEPI and has worked as a Health Educator LA Department of Public Health. She will be teaching a class on Food Justice class in the spring. 

Eric Sternlicht, Kinesiology, is interested in the nutritional needs of the body. He has taught a Kinesiology class on Diet, Disease and Exercise and a CSP on Nutrition and Disease.

Jeffrey Tobin, CTSJ, has researched the cultural expressions of Argentine masculinity, partially through the study of Argentinian Barbecue, asado.

Mark Vallianatos, UEP, has authored publications on food access and is involved with UEPI’s Food Justice section. He has also taught UEP 246/247 on food and environmental problem solving and is helping students research the feasibility of an Occidental Food Truck.