The University of Gastronomic Sciences

The University of Gastronomic Sciences, born and promoted in 2004 by the International Slow Food
association in collaboration with the Piedmont and Emilia Romagna regional authorities is a private
university legally recognized by the Italian state.

Situated in Pollenzo near Bra, in the province of Cuneo, it offers three study programs: a three-year
undergraduate degree in Gastronomic Sciences, a two-year graduate degree in the Promotion and
Management of the gastronomic heritage and tourism, and a one-year Master in Food Culture and
Communication comprising three specialization coursesHuman Ecology and Sustainability; Food,
Place and Identity; Media, Representation and High-Quality Foodall taught in English only.

At the end of 2011, 1,009 students had studied at the University of Gastronomic Sciences since its
inception with a substantial balance between Italian and foreign (52% against 48%).
The students have come from 60 different countries and combined to form a sort of UNO in
miniature that has completely changed the face of the town of Bra. The fact that people set out
especially from countries like India, the United States, Mauritania and Brazil to come here make the
small outlying village of Pollenzo an exception on the local and national university scene.

All over the world, the relationships between food and society, food and the economy, food and
culture and the undeniable one between food and politics are assuming huge importance and are
attracting a great deal of interest. Continued pressure on the natural environment and its effects make
qualified skills vital in food systems. From production to processing, from distribution to consumption,
the choices we make have a huge impact on the community.
The Universitys purpose is thus to endow food with academic dignity as a complex,
multidisciplinary phenomenon through the study of a renewed food culture.

The new job title that emerges from its study programs is that of the gastronome, a person equipped
with knowledge and skills in the agricultural and food sector, capable of working in the fields of the
market economy and communication, driving food production and consumption towards proper,
useful choices and helping to create a sustainable future for the planet.

One fundamental feature of Pollenzo is the emphasis it places on the right to study, with the University
allocating about 600,000 euros every year to allow motivated, deserving students to attend its courses.
In the eight years since the University was founded, exemptions from the payment of fees have thus
totaled 4,900,000 euros. Over 140 students, 22% of total enrolments on our degree courses, have
benefited from the scheme.
The unique training experience offered by the UNISG, creates a well-knit, variegated student
community and a preferential channel with employers in the Italian and international agricultural and
food world. Classroom study is rounded off by a busy schedule of study trips in Italy and round the
world. Since 2004, 585 trips have been organized and 130 have been planned for the 2011-12 academic
year alone.
During trips students perform important documentation work, recording video interviews with and
collecting the testimonies of repositories of rural and gastronomic knowledge in the areas visited. They
thus make a contribution to the Granaries of Memory, a UNISG research project designed to build a
databank of farming and artisan knowledge from all over the world.

Study Programs
- Three-year Undergraduate Degree in Gastronomic Sciences

The three-year undergraduate degree in gastronomic sciences trains a new professional, the
gastronome, to work in agricultural and food production, distribution, promotion and communication.
Graduates in Gastronomic Sciences are qualified to work in food and wine communication and in
protection consortia, food companies and tourist bodies and the like on the marketing and
promotion of premium products.
The course combines the humanities and science with sensory training, direct experience (through
study trips) of industrial and artisan processes to provide students with a number of skills and a multi-
faceted approach to the complexity of the world of gastronomy.
The University is organizing more than 100 study trips in Italy and round the world. During the three-
year undergraduate degree course, students make 15 such trips (five a year).
Thematic trips focus on product supply chains, regional trips explore the distinctive features of a
given area or nation to discover its finest gastronomy.

Examples of thematic study trips

Animal products Oil Beer
Coffee Confectionery Fishing
Pasta Vegetable products LOD

and of regional study trips

Campania France United States
Piedmont United Kingdom Canada
Puglia Spain Kenya
Trentino Germany Mexico

These in-the-field experiences allow future gastronomes to learn by using their five senses, follow the
production chain and discover biodiversity by tasting food, meeting the people who grow, produce and
process it and attending lessons held by experts and producers.
During trips students also perform video-documentation work, interviewing farmers, fisherfolk and
artisans, all repositories of traditional knowledge. The resulting material will supplement The
Granaries of Memory, a University of Gastronomic Sciences project for a databank of traditional
knowledge from all over the world.
Syllabus

Year 1
Biology
IT and Statistics
Molecular Sciences
Nutrition Physiology & the Molecular Bases of Taste
Food Microbiology
History of Agriculture and Food
Computer skills
Italian for foreigners
English
Gastronomy Workshop 1st Year

Year II
Agricultural and Food Production and Viticulture
Sensory Analysis
Food Technologies I
History of Cuisine and Wine
Elements of European Law
Geography and Tourism
Gastronomy Workshop 2nd year

Year III
Economics and Agricultural and Food Law
Systemic Approach to Gastronomy
Catering Systems and Technologies
General and Territorial Sociology
Nutrition and Dietetics
Cultural Anthropology
Philosophy and Semiotics of Food
Gastronomy Workshop 3rd year

Optional courses are available at the students discretion.

- Graduate Degree Course in the Promotion and Management of the gastronomic heritage and
tourism

The Graduate Degree Course in the Promotion and Management of the gastronomic heritage and
tourism trains students to become experts on the organization and management of food and wine
tourism and the promotion of quality food production. Subject areas comprise economics and food
and wine marketing, multimedia food and quality communication and the historical and cultural aspects
of food.
The distinctive feature of the graduate course is that it includes a paid internship at one of the
companies in our Strategic Partners club. The UNISGs channel with its Strategic Partner joins
academia and business in an innovative teaching model.

Besides lectures, the course comprises:

basic training in the elements of gastronomy for students from other universities.
a study period abroadin food communities, universities, cookery schools, bodies and
institutionsfor students from the UNISG three-year undergraduate course, during which they
develop a project on the interests they have developed.
intramural workshops and complementary activities for all students. Tastings and company and
farm visits are also organized to allow students from other universities to gain firsthand
knowledge of production procedures.
paid internships. The UNISG Job Placement services plans each students individual training,
including employment in a company for a period of four/five months.

SUBJECT AREAS
Ethics and Communication
Economics and Law
Sociology and Tradition
Farm and Food Company Management
Food Technologies
Gastronomic Language and Culture in the English-speaking World
Regional History and Typical Products
Geography of the Terroir
- Master in Food Culture and Communications
Human Ecology and Sustainability
Food, Place and Identity
Media, Representations and High-Quality Food

The Master in Food Culture and Communications is divided into three courses, each centered round a
gastronomy-related subject. Part of the syllabus is common to all three coursesaimed at international
students interested in an innovative approach to the study and representation of foodand is specially
designed to supplement their specific subjects.

Through a mixture of exercises, guided tastings, projects and study trips in Italy and abroad, the
program gives students multidisciplinary knowledge not only of quality artisan and industrial food
products, but also of the skills required to communicate the history, ecology, technology and the social
and cultural significance of food.

A method combining anthropology, history, ecology, food policy and tastings with communication
provides students with tools to develop new promotional and educational strategies. The Master trains
a new type of professional capable of working in community project management, training, marketing
and public relations.
Each of the three Master courses has its own distinct focus specializing on the following subjects.

Master in Food Culture and Communications: Human Ecology and Sustainability

This course addresses the importance of social, economic and environmental sustainability in food
production and consumer networks, and, above all, of a human ecological approach to understand how
traditional knowledge adapts to the small-scale production of high-quality local products, to diversity
and to the bio-cultural heritage.

Master in Food Culture and Communication: Food, Place and Identity

This course explores the relationships between food, place and identity from the point of view of food
policy, geography, tourism, history, memory and cultural production, from cinema to literature.
It involves study of the complexities of food and production policies, from the local to the global,
focusing on Italian history and culture as a cue for throwing light on the link between food and place.

Master in Food Culture and Communication: Media, Representation and High-Quality Food
The course is structured to build new, integrated communication capacities and to help improve the
quality of food culture as a whole.
Based on an ecosystem of communication theory, it teaches students to identify with the problems
facing the communication professionals of today, such as journalists, trainers, authors, food and wine
critics and managers.

All lectures are in English. The program lasts for twelve months and attendance is compulsory.