(Dis)comfort food: connecting food, social media, and first-year college undergraduates

Abstract

This paper argues for, and reflects on, the introduction of social and mobile media into food studies pedagogies. Specifically, the paper describes the complications resulting from a pedagogical experiment addressing the rise and effects of “food porn” or “foodtography” alongside the tensions inherent in social network sites and higher education. Ultimately, such a review leads to the introduction of Georg Simmel and his use of boundaries as a lens through which to view the classroom discomfort expressed in food-related course projects.