Curricular Structure
The curriculum is structured to include two (2) mandatory courses (8 credits) and a Teaching Internship (4 credits), requiring a minimum of 24 credits in coursework (384 hours) and six dissertation credits, with a standard duration of four semesters.
Mandatory courses are preferably taken in the first semester. Elective courses are typically taken in the second semester, along with the Teaching Internship.
Teaching Internship
The Teaching Internship provides practical experiences aimed at enhancing the master’s student’s training in gastronomic education. Students will engage in teaching activities within a course from the undergraduate gastronomy program, connecting theory and practice related to their research under the guidance and supervision of their academic advisor. This process is designed to consolidate a meaningful didactic essay and develop professional skills for teaching in higher education.
The structure of this internship incorporates foundational principles for teaching, promoting a critical and emancipatory perspective on educational practices. It surpasses traditional pedagogical and content-focused approaches by harmonizing these into a foundational disciplinary structure.
Proposed didactic strategies include:
– Seminars on pedagogical themes such as the act of teaching, lesson planning, the use and production of teaching resources, and the evaluation of learning, programs, and research-teaching-extension projects.
– Observation experiences within and beyond the classroom (e.g., laboratories, field visits to restaurants, markets, fairs).
– Teaching practice that includes creating didactic and gastronomic-artistic materials to support teaching, alongside the evaluation of teaching-learning processes.
This activity comprises 64 hours and is to be completed from the second semester onward, after students have completed mandatory courses and familiarized themselves with the academic setting in Gastronomy.
Flexibility and Adaptability in Curriculum Design
The curricular framework is designed to provide high adaptability, accommodating diverse training needs in the field of Gastronomy education. It reflects the specificities of the program’s concentration area while addressing the varied interests of students.
The core mandatory courses focus on formative and reflective aspects of the concentration area Gastronomy, Innovation, and Sustainability, as well as research methodologies in gastronomy. These courses also articulate the program’s research lines, Social Gastronomy and Sustainability and Gastronomic Technology and Innovation, encompassing activities across the entire food production and consumption chain.
Elective courses aim to immerse students in specialized aspects of Gastronomy, enabling them to tailor their education toward specific areas of interest. Given the complexity and multifaceted nature of this field, the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches inherent to Gastronomy are emphasized, ensuring a complementary and holistic training experience.
