Students enrolled in a global foods literature course at Missouri University of Science and Technology will have an opportunity to spend a week in the Bahamas experiencing Caribbean food and culture, while others on the trip study the area’s geology and biodiversity.

“My global foods class has been invited to join the geology and biological sciences classes on a trip to San Salvador after classes end in May,” says Dr. Kathryn Dolan, assistant professor of English and technical communication. “All three classes will do presentations for the other classes at the end of the semester, so everyone will learn something new.”

Led by Dr. David Wronkowitz, associate professor of geology, the interdisciplinary trip will include Dr. Melanie Mormile, professor of biological sciences.

Dolan says during the trip she will assign all three classes to read a portion of John Steinbeck’s Log from the Sea of Cortez, where he details a marine specimen-collecting boat expedition he made in 1940. “It should help them get the idea of combining literature and science,” she says.

Dolan joined Missouri S&T’s faculty last semester. This is the first time the global foods course has been taught at S&T.

“My class will read seven books, including one by (chef and television personality) Anthony Bourdain, several travel narratives and Hemmingway’s Old Man and the Sea,” she says. “They’ll also read Twain’s Feast by Andrew Beahrs, which will help give them a framework on looking at literature in terms of food.”

Students will also view three films about food and will be asked to reinterpret one of the texts for their final class project. “Many of the texts they’ll be reading include recipes, so I expect a few students to choose a cooking project,” she says.

Dolan says the global foods course may count towards a minor in global studies.

“We all learn a little bit from experimenting with food from different areas,” says Dolan. “It changes us and is definitely part of the fun.”

Deposits for the trip are due by Feb. 6. Email Dolan for more information.