New MOOC: The geopolitics of hospitality

FutureLearn’s latest online course asks, what roles do cooking and hospitality play in international relations?

Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland, and Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM), France, combine their assets to deliver the first ever MOOC in the Geopolitics of Hospitality, available from 25th April 2016, on the FutureLearn platform. 

Both institutions are pairing their respective expertise, geopolitics for GEM and hospitality for EHL, to deliver this one of a kind MOOC. Delivered over 4 weeks, 4 hours per week, Certificates are available upon completion. 

“We are very excited to be launching this MOOC in collaboration with GEM. This will be the first online course for EHL, as part of a strategic priority to develop digital learning platforms for our students. Online academic programs, blended classroom-digital courses and more MOOCs are in the EHL pipeline for the upcoming months,” Fabien Fresnel, Chief Academic Officer at EHL. 

The Geopolitics of Hospitality course will be taught by Yves Schemeil, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, at the University of Grenoble Alpes, and current visiting professor at the two institutions. To deliver the four chapters that make up the MOOC he is joined by lecturers, chefs, butlers, wine stewards, EHL students and alumni. They will use diverse examples from around the world, and will rely on the work of historians, philosophers, anthropologists and political scientists.

Through the course, participants will gain a better understanding of the soft power exercised by States in the realms of hospitality and cooking and get another view on intercultural issues.

This course is designed for hospitality professionals, gourmet aficionados or foodies. Audiences with an interest in food and cuisine, but also intercultural issues, are welcome to register.

Chapters of the MOOC consist of:

1)   A Philosophy of Food and Mood
2)   The Anthropology of Banquets
3)   Gastronomy and Hospitality
4)   Gastro-diplomacy and the World Order
 

W: www.futurelearn.com