The interdisciplinary studies and the centrality of the Humanities area in the PACI PhD program are reflected in the general trend of research and work developed in understanding the phenomenon of food in a holistic and aggregating way. The methodologies of History, Literature, Anthropology, Geography and Tourism, Sociology, Medicine and Communication are at the service of studies applied to problems of the contemporary world.
Among the guiding issues of the work of PACI professors and students, in collaboration with guest specialists, are:
- contribution of historical-cultural analysis to the understanding of the dynamics of production, consumption and symbolic value of food; and also, for the development of the culture, health, tourism and agri-food sectors;
- role of the relations between food, cuisine, gastronomy and territory in revitalizing heritage, tourism, the economy and environmental sustainability;
- effects of local and global production and consumption on food crops and their impact on the health and well-being of populations;
- contribution of cultural and religious meanings on food in the formulation of codes of food ethics and sustainability and in the construction of discourses on what to eat;
- role of the concerns with health and pleasure in consumers' choices and eating habits;
- the Mediterranean diet as a healthy dietary model;
- influence of communication on the representations of food in the public and private space.
This profile of the areas of expertise is materialized in Publications, PhD thesis, Events, Collaborative projects.