Hi guys,
Long time reader, first time writer. I am a CA community college student from Los Angeles torn between UCLA and Tulane, and am quickly losing time to decide between the two. I am majoring in Anthropology interested in Food from a cultural perspective, particularly in American culture. I also hope to pursue a Masters in Social Welfare down the line, somehow combining the two.
UCLA has a reputable Anthropology program as well as a newly created Food Studies minor. However, I just can’t seem to get excited about it. (Except for it’s price, I’m pretty excited about that.)
Tulane was the University I originally wanted to go to when I started going back to school–I love New Orleans and have always thought it would be an enriching locale for what I want to focus on. I like that the school is small, plus I would have to pick a second major to graduate which I find interesting. However, I am concerned because I can’t seem to find much information on their BA Anthropology program. The people I have spoken with stand by their Physical Anthro department but can’t say much for their cultural. How are social sciences there? Do they have any Food related programs/connections like what UCLA offers?
Thanks in advance!
@mcmurray86
I am not going to be a lot of help on this, because these are areas with which I just don’t know the profs and their research interests well. BUT! I do know that Tulane is really into food and nutrition from an academic standpoint and has a partnership with Johnson & Wales, a school with a well known culinary degree here in Rhode Island. I believe the latest dorm even has a demonstration kitchen, and I think there might be a second location downtown near the med school that is also designed for special classes. Tulane is also very flexible in allowing people to set up majors that are interdisciplinary. It is a big push the last decade or so and the new president feels very strongly about continuing to push in that direction.
My point is that it might take some strong planning work on your part, but I would think that you could find the people in the medical school that are running the nutrition/cooking program plus someone in anthropology that would be able to be your advisor in this area. Plus, while I know it seems a little off base at first, there are people that have have been studying and cataloging ethnic music and also disappearing languages at Tulane. They might be useful to help you model this.
Admittedly, what I have outlined above sounds more like a Ph.D. project than a few years of undergrad work where you are also required to take distribution requirements, etc., not to mention having a social life. But let me do some digging for some names and I can PM you what I find. Hopefully you can contact them even though it is summer.
Putting all that aside, Tulane does have a lot to offer in so many ways. And if you really have a picture of what you want to accomplish with regard to this area of study, I am confident you can make it happen. Like I said, Tulane is much more flexible, generally speaking, than much larger schools like UCLA. UCLA, on the other hand, does offer more resources overall, along with the extra red tape. It’s usually a trade off to some degree, depending on how much you are coloring outside the lines.
@fallenchemist I’ll be sure to look into some of this! Also, let me add that it’s nice to make your acquaintance, I’ve learned a lot of really valuable information from your posts over the past months. Thanks!
@mcmurray86
Meant to ask, would you be entering your second year at Tulane or coming in as a junior?
@fallenchemist I’d be entering as a junior and I have all of my core curriculum finished.