University of Gastronomic Sciences

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University of Gastronomic Sciences
Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche
Universita Scienze Gastronomiche (esterno).jpg
The main campus building, formerly a palatial summer lodge
Type Private, non-profit
Established2004
President Carlo Petrini
Rector Andrea Pieroni
Location
Bra
,
Piedmont
,
Italy
Website www.unisg.it

The University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) is an international university located in northern Italy. The campus is in Pollenzo, near Bra, a city in the north-west region of Piedmont. Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement, established the university to focus on gastronomic sciences and the organic relationships between food, ecology, and cultures. More than 2,500 students have taken courses at UNISG since it opened in 2004. UNISG offers a variety of courses leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees in areas related to gastronomic sciences, food cultures and heritage, food ecologies, and food communications and management. As part of their curriculum, students every year are engaged in a number of field study trips in Italy and also in other European and extra-European countries.

Contents

History

Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, established the international university in 2004 to train students for employment in food and tourism industries, food-related government departments, or food-related journalism. [1] UNISG is the only (slow)-food-centred university in the world. [2] The university mission is to foster first-class research and higher education around food with the specific aim of fostering food sustainability and food sovereignty. The university is engaged in projects that build bridges between scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge, protect food biocultural diversity, and foster the complex relationships among gastronomy, biological, agricultural and food/nutritional sciences, and social sciences and humanities. [3] It mirrors the mission of the Slow Food movement—which asserts that an understanding of food involves economics, environmental science, history, biology, and anthropology, as well as aesthetics—and is true to the movement's core principles of "good, clean, and fair". [1]

Petrini chose the Agenzia di Pollenzo, a 19th-century neo-Gothic palace, for the school's campus. [4] The Savoy royal family built the original structure in 1833 as a summer lodge. [1]

A second campus, at Colorno, opened in 2005. It offered master's degrees centered on gastronomic sciences, food culture, and communications. [5] Later in 2011 Colorno's campus was left and the programmes taught there merged with those taught in Pollenzo. UNISG enrolls approx. 100 students every year in the first year of the BSc program ("Laurea Triennale") in 'Gastronomic Sciences and Cultures' (taught both in English and Italian), approx. 40 in the 2-yrs Master's program ("Laurea Magistrale") in 'Food Innovation and Management'(in English), and about 100-150 in the 1-year Master's programs. In 2021 the university was hosting altogether approx. 500 students from more than 60 countries.

Organization and structure

The university's administration includes a rector, faculty council, board of directors, executive committee, administrative director, board of auditors, evaluation committee, and student representatives, each charged with a set of management duties. The board, who oversees the administrative and financial management of UNISG, nominates the Rector, who directs the university's academic and scientific activities. The faculty council includes all the full and associate professors, one representative of the researchers (assistant professors), and two student representatives.

Campus

The University of Gastronomic Sciences campus is in Pollenzo, a suburb of Bra, Italy. [1] Bra is in the province of Cuneo, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Turin. [6]

In 1997, the property that includes the campus was one of a group added to the list of World Heritage Sites under the general name, "Residences of the Royal House of Savoy". [7] Listed specifically as Castello di Pollenzo, the property covers 25.36 hectares (62.7 acres) and lies within a buffer zone of 492.44 hectares (1,216.8 acres). [7] The complex includes the Banca del Vino (wine bank), and the Albergo dell'Agenzia—a hotel with a restaurant—as well as the university. [8] A recent addition to the complex is the Corte Albertina, [9] home to the Pollenzo Food Lab. [10] The university's administrative buildings and teaching spaces have been retrofitted to modern standards.

Housing

UNISG students live mainly in Bra.

Academics

UNISG offers a 3-year undergraduate program leading to a BSc ("Laurea Triennale") in "Gastronomic Sciences and Cultures" (taught both in English and Italian, 180 ECTS credits); a 2-year Master's program ("Laurea Magistrale", ECTS 120 credits), entirely taught in English, in "Food Innovation & Management", and seven 1-year full-time Master's programs of 90 ECTS credits, entirely taught in English as well: 1. Master of Gastronomy-World Food Cultures and Mobility; 2. Master of Gastronomy-Creativity, Ecology, and Education; 3. Master in Food Culture, Communication & Marketing; 4. Master in Wine Culture and Communication; 5. Master of Applied Gastronomy - Culinary Arts; 6. Master in Agroecology and Food Sovereignty; 7. Master in Design for Food (together with Polytechnic University of Milan). In all courses, students study an integrated mix of humanities (history of food, food aesthetics), biosciences (food biodiversity, nutritional sciences, taste science, food science and technology, agroecology, sensory science, and ethnobiology), and social sciences (food anthropology and sociology, communications, economics, food law, and food design).

In addition to coursework, students are required to attend field-study trips throughout Europe and the world. During this process of hands-on learning, students meet Slow Food local food communities, [11] local farmers, shepherds, fishermen, food artisans, producers, and experts, who address the local food systems. The students also stay and visit these territories, analysing local and traditional practices and tasting a wide range of regional foods and beverages. [1] [12]

While pretty all courses are taught in English, students are encouraged to have a strong working knowledge of both Italian and English. [13]

The UNISG research area is structured within three macro-areas: 1. Environment; 2. Mobility; 3. Perception and Quality. [14] From 2018 the university runs a 3-year PhD program as well.

Extracurricular activities

UNISG students attend in October the biennial Terra Madre and Salone Del Gusto events in Turin. All students are encouraged to contribute and actively participate in numerous workshops and seminars on topics of interest. Ongoing participation in several food conferences and events, such as the bi-annual Slow Fish in Genova in spring, [15] are also part of the students' extracurricular activities.

Related Research Articles

An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including bachelor's, master's and doctorates, often alongside other academic certificates and professional degrees. The most common undergraduate degree is the bachelor's degree, although in some countries there are lower level higher education qualifications that are also titled degrees and higher level.

A master's degree is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. A master's degree normally requires previous study at the bachelor's level, either as a separate degree or as part of an integrated course. Within the area studied, master's graduates are expected to possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theoretical and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, critical evaluation, or professional application; and the ability to solve complex problems and think rigorously and independently.

Slow Food Organization

Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds, and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It promotes local small businesses and sustainable foods. It also focuses on food quality, rather than quantity. It was the first established part of the broader slow movement. It speaks out against overproduction and food waste. It sees globalization as a process in which small and local farmers and food producers should be simultaneously protected from and included in the global food system.

Eco-gastronomy is an approach to alternative consumption that stresses the importance of the interaction between humans and food and the effect produced by that. It aims to get a healthier and more sustainable food and, at the same time, to reduce the impact on the environment, from the productive and the consumptive side.

Master of Science Masters degree awarded for post-graduate study in the sciences

A Master of Science is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine and is usually for programs that are more focused on scientific and mathematical subjects; however, different universities have different conventions and may also offer the degree for fields typically considered within the humanities and social sciences. While it ultimately depends upon the specific program, earning a Master of Science degree typically includes writing a thesis.

Bologna Process System for compatibility of higher education qualifications in the European region

The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements between European countries to ensure comparability in the standards and quality of higher-education qualifications. The process has created the European Higher Education Area under the Lisbon Recognition Convention. It is named after the University of Bologna, where the Bologna declaration was signed by education ministers from 29 European countries in 1999. The process was opened to other countries in the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe, and governmental meetings have been held in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003), Bergen (2005), London (2007), Leuven (2009), Budapest-Vienna (2010), Bucharest (2012), Yerevan (2015), Paris (2018), and Rome (2020).

Bocconi University Private university in Milan, Italy

Bocconi University is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, and public administration. SDA Bocconi, the university's business school, offers MBA and Executive MBA programs.

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A Master of Engineering is either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering.

Bra, Piedmont Comune in Piedmont, Italy

Bra is a town and comune in the province of Cuneo in the northwest Italian region of Piedmont. It is situated 50 kilometres southeast of Turin and 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Cuneo in the area known as Roero.

University of Rome Tor Vergata

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The Master of Philosophy is a postgraduate degree. An MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil may be awarded to postgraduate students after completing taught coursework and one to two years of original research, which may also serve as a provisional enrollment for a PhD programme.

In Italy, the Iaurea is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremony and sometimes during the graduation party. A graduate is known as a laureato, literally "crowned with laurel."

Pollentia Human settlement in Bra, Province of Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy

Pollentia, known today as Pollenzo, was an ancient city on the left bank of the Tanaro. It is now a frazione (parish) of Bra in the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy.

The Bologna process for standardisation of European higher education specified an undergraduate degree of at least three years called the "licence" or bachelor's degree, followed by a two-year diploma called the master's degree, then a doctorate, meant to be obtained in at least three years. Because of these indicated schedules, the reform is sometimes (erroneously) referred to as "3-5-8". The system applies to the European Higher Education Area.

Carlo Petrini

Carlo Petrini, born in the province of Cuneo in the commune of Bra in Italy, is the founder of the International Slow Food Movement. He first came to prominence in the 1980s for taking part in a campaign against the fast food chain McDonald's opening near the Spanish Steps in Rome. In 1983, he helped to create and develop the Italian non-profit food and wine association known as Arcigola.

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Food studies is the critical examination of food and its contexts within science, art, history, society, and other fields. It is distinctive from other food-related areas of study such as nutrition, agriculture, gastronomy, and culinary arts in that it tends to look beyond the consumption, production, and aesthetic appreciation of food and tries to illuminate food as it relates to a vast number of academic fields. It is thus a field that involves and attracts philosophers, historians, scientists, literary scholars, sociologists, art historians, anthropologists, and others.

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Basque Culinary Center

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kummer, Corby (1 January 2008). "Slow Food, High Gear". The Atlantic. No. January/February 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Kindel, Constanze (2 November 2014). "Italiens Slow-Food-Uni: Hogwarts aus Parmesan". Frankfurter Allgemeine (in German). Frankfurt, Germany: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "History and Mission". University of Gastronomic Sciences. 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Bruni, Frank (2 April 2004). "Pollenzo Journal; A New Italian Campus, Where the Thought Is for Food". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Campanini, Antonella; Cinotto, Simone (2008). "The UNISG Master Programs". Gastronomic Sciences. University of Gastronomic Sciences. 8 (4): 127–31.
  6. ↑ "Bra". Cittaslow International. 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Residences of the Royal House of Savoy". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 2012–2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "L'Agenzia di Pollenzo" (in Italian). Agenzia di Pollenzo. 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Italian Cooking Schools". Gourmet Traveller. ninemsn. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  10. ↑ https://www.unisg.it/campus/la-scuola-cucina-pollenzo/ Pollenzo Food Lab]
  11. ↑ "Archivi Comunità del cibo". Terra Madre.
  12. ↑ "Study Trips". University of Gastronomic Sciences. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Program". University of Gastronomic Sciences. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  14. ↑ UNISG Academic Research
  15. ↑ "UNISG @ Slow Fish 2015". University of Gastronomic Sciences. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

Coordinates: 44°40′59.90″N7°53′41.90″E / 44.6833056°N 7.8949722°E / 44.6833056; 7.8949722

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