Call for papers
Food Heritage and Culinary Practices
International and interdisciplinary symposium
October 14 th -16th 2015
National Museum of Natural History
57 rue Cuvier, 75005 PARIS
We propose to bring together researchers from all fields around the core theme of cooking in order to collectively understand the construction process of food heritage. Specific combinations of ingredients and techniques, from daily, festive or professional cooking, allow achieving textures, flavors, aromas and aesthetics peculiar to a social or cultural group. We wish to combine different approaches to reach this global awareness. We will engage physicists, chemists and biologists, who work on ingredients, their origins, their properties, their processing, their impact on physiology and health, along with anthropologists, sociologists, geographers, historians, archaeologists who work on terroir, food processing techniques, old and modern recipe books, consumption patterns, representations, cultural expressions, identity and, of course, heritage.
Call for papers
We expect contributions, from all disciplines, that could enlighten our understanding of culinary practices and the construction of food heritage.
Papers may address topics such as (partial list):
PRODUCTS, TECHNIQUES AND IDENTITIES
– Evolution of practices and techniques (from prehistory to the present)
– Circulation, exchange and appropriation of products and associated knowledge
– Fermentations: implementations, diversity (meals, drinks)
– Sensory aspects
– Geographic distribution of taste and distaste
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF FOOD HERITAGE
– Origins and history of food systems
– Food diversification: management, production and use of biodiversity
– Propagations, innovations, crossings
– Terroirs and territories
– Heritage scenography
MARKETING AND FOOD MARKETS: QUALITY AND HEALTH ISSUES
– Economic advantages of heritagization
– Food trade channels: quality and sustainability
– The organic sector: economic and ecological issues
– Diet, lifestyle and metabolic diseases
– The development of food preferences: generational and cultural effects
The originality of the conference largely depends on its interdisciplinary nature, which constrains the content and form of presentations. In order to favor mutual understanding and to enhance discussions, speakers are asked to position their talk in a wide framework and avoid any technical jargon difficult to understand by people from other disciplines.
For any communication proposal, please send before July 10th, 2015 a title, abstract (< 400 words) in English or French, a brief CV (< 1 page) and contact information (phone / e-mail / postal address) both to Esther Katz (katz@mnhn.fr) and Christophe Lavelle (lavelle@mnhn.fr). Authors of selected proposals will be notified by end of July.
The conference will be held in French and English
Organizers (contact)
Esther Katz, IRD – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris – katz@mnhn.fr
Christophe Lavelle, CNRS – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris – lavelle@mnhn.fr
Scientific committee
Guy Chemla, Université Paris 4
Renaud Debailly, Université Paris 4
Charles-Édouard de Suremain, IRD – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris
Dominique Fournier, CNRS – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris
Jean-Pierre Grill, Université Paris 6
Esther Katz, IRD – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris
Christophe Lavelle, CNRS – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris
Vincent Maréchal, Université Paris 6
Vincent Moriniaux, Université Paris 4
Emilien Schultz, Université Paris 4
FoodAnthropology 