In one of the most diverse cities in the United States, UNLV is the ideal university for a class that explores food and the impact it has on culture, religion, and health.

Global Nutrition and Cultural Food Practices, or NUTR 301, is a course within the School of Integrated Health Sciences that examines how food systems operate across the globe.

“For some students, this class is often the first time they’re exposed to diversity and cultures that exist outside of their worlds,” said Samantha Coogan, a nutrition sciences professor who teaches NUTR 301.

The Course: NUTR 301 – Global Nutrition and Cultural Food Practices

This three-credit, online course includes weekly discussions and major projects examining how historical, geographic, political and religious forces shape the nutritional status, eating customs, and meal patterns of ethnic groups around the world. The class emphasizes how these influences intersect to affect food practices across cultures.

While it is a required course for nutrition sciences majors, its designation as an international course means any student on campus can sign up to fulfill their international credit.

Who teaches it?

This class is primarily taught by Coogan or fellow nutrition sciences professor Neda Akhavan, both of whom are registered dietitians. Coogan has taught this class for the past 10 years.

What are students learning in NUTR 301?

“We discuss different cultures from around the world and how politics, religion, location, and socioeconomic factors all play into the foods of that culture’s world,” Coogan said.

Coogan said there is a misconception where cultural foods have been stigmatized as “unhealthy.” She hopes students learn how that isn’t the case and how the “Americanization” of cultural foods has led to that bias.

“When food from other countries becomes ‘Americanized,’ it tends to lose its nutritional value,” she added. “When you’re here, you have to assimilate by using the ingredients you have available to you, meaning some of that nutrition may be lost. Sometimes the ingredients you need are only available in that certain part of the world.”

How is this class structured?

Each week, students discuss foods from a different part of the world. They also must contribute to discussion boards with their own posts and reply to the posts of at least two other students. This forum opens up a dialogue between students and allows them to better connect through food.

“The weekly discussion posts are my favorite part,” Coogan said. “There’s a lot of self-reflection and they’re able to think about their own cultural humility and their own unconscious bias. I hope they appreciate the lived experience of all these cultures and appreciate that we’re all different.”

Students also discuss stereotypes and how to overcome and correct them. Coogan said not only are students comfortable discussing these sensitive topics, most of them have found the experiences cathartic.

“I’ve heard from some of our students that they bring these stories to their parents, which leads to even deeper family discussions and shared experiences, particularly for our students who are first-generation,” she said.

What else can students expect to do in this class that distinguishes itself from other classes on campus?

Students are required to complete an ethnic restaurant review during the semester. But it can’t just be any restaurant; it must be a restaurant that offers an authentic cuisine from a culture that the student is unfamiliar with.

Coogan encourages students to observe the wait staff and to pay attention to the ways they interact with customers. She asks them to taste the food carefully and pick up on things that make the experience unique.

“It opens up their eyes to what cultural foods actually taste like compared to their perception of what it might taste like,” she said. “It also exposes them to the many types of restaurants we have in Las Vegas. Maybe it’s a place they might want to try again in the future.”

For another assignment, students complete a cultural interview where they ask questions about health disparities in respective cultures. Students are able to learn about how interactions with healthcare professionals differ in certain parts of the world and may be based on one’s culture, as well as why nutrition is such a vital component to our health.

“As someone who is Filipino and immigrated here to the U.S., representation and diversity is important to me,” said Bea Pilande, a junior in UNLV’s nutrition program. “UNLV is a minority-serving institution, which is why a class like NUTR 301 is important. Seeing my culture represented in the textbook and lectures was something that I found to be rewarding and exciting.”

Are all students local?

While a majority of students live in Southern Nevada, there are out-of-state students enrolled in this online class.

What else do you love about teaching this class?

“Aside from our discussion boards, I think teaching and learning about the holidays is my favorite part of this class,” Coogan said. “Holidays are such a wonderful time to celebrate in any culture, and food plays a big part in that celebration and togetherness.”