Course Schedule and Catalog
Course Schedule - Spring Semester 2027
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
COLL 156 001 (CRN: 26921)
CULTURE THROUGH THE SENSES
Long Title: BEYOND THE TEXT: CULTURE THROUGH SOUND, TASTE, AND IMAGE (JONES)
Department: College Courses
Instructors:
Meeting: 8:00PM - 8:50PM R (11-JAN-2027 - 23-APR-2027)
Part of Term: Full Term - No WL Purge
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Course Type: Seminar
Language of Instruction: Taught in English
Method of Instruction: Face to Face
Credit Hours: 1
Course Syllabus:
Course Materials: Rice Campus Store
Restrictions:
Must be enrolled in one of the following Level(s):
Undergraduate Professional
Visiting Undergraduate
Undergraduate
Section Max Enrollment: 19
Section Enrolled: 0
Waitlisted: 0 (Max 99)
Current members of the waitlist have priority for available seats.
Enrollment data as of: 2-NOV-2026 12:18PM
Final Exam: No Final Exam
Description: What if, instead of simply reading about a culture, you could experience it through different senses—through what you hear, smell, and taste? This course takes an immersive and interdisciplinary approach to exploring culture through food, beverages, music, and visual media from different regions, cultures, and time periods. Each week, students will learn about a particular culture through its traditions and history, before experiencing it through food, taste, sound, and visual media. We will explore how elements of music, movies, foods, and more can reflect and shape ideas about identity, tradition, migration, place, and cultural change. Through guided tastings, listening activities, viewing activities, class discussions, and short analyses, students will consider what food, beverages, music, and digital media can reveal about a culture and how their own experiences influence the way they interpret them. Students will also use scholarly readings from fields such as anthropology, food studies, ethnomusicology, sociology, and media studies to give academic context to these experiences. Rather than focusing on simply deciding whether we like something, this course encourages students to slow down, stay curious, and look for the story behind what they experience.