Cover Offered in partnership with France's University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, this programme blends culinary expertise with cultural insights (Photo: Taylor's University)
Offered in partnership with France's University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, this programme blends culinary expertise with cultural insights (Photo: Taylor's University)
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Offered in partnership with France’s University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, this programme looks into how food impacts every part of our lives, says programme director Associate Professor Dr Elise Line Mognard
Food is at the heart of our daily lives, connecting with our health, culture, and economy, from agriculture to marketing and tourism. It plays a critical role in political stability and addressing pressing global challenges like poverty and food security.
As the global food landscape evolves, the modern workplace needs versatile professionals equipped to tackle issues related to food security, national and international regulatory frameworks, and sustainability—ensuring our food systems are resilient and sustainable for future generations.
The Master of Food Studies and Gastronomy by Taylor’s University is designed to address these needs head-on, training students to interface academic research with real-world industrial and societal concerns. It also creates numerous opportunities for graduates from a wide range of backgrounds.
Equipped with a range of cutting-edge skills and practical experience, graduates will be adept at exploring the relationship between food and environmental, cultural, social and political and economic processes.
This versatile course represents an illustrious partnership between Taylor’s University and the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès (UT2J) School of Tourism, Hospitality Management, and Food Studies in France. The collaboration offers students an international dual award from Malaysia and France and co-teaching opportunities with international lecturers, providing much-needed exposure to a diversity of locally grounded insights.
Above Associate Professor Dr Elise Line Mognard is the programme director for postgraduate programmes in Food Studies (Master and PhD) at the School of Food Studies and Gastronomy at Taylor's University.
Associate Professor Dr Elise Line Mognard is the programme director for postgraduate programmes in Food Studies (Master and PhD) at the School of Food Studies and Gastronomy at Taylor's University.
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A highlight of the programme is the global immersion field trip in France, a 10-day experience that lets students explore food and culture, familiarising them with the roles and issues of the main players in global food systems. Students will have the opportunity to visit companies, institutions, places of wine production and different agro-producers, and engage with stakeholders, industry players, and NGOs to develop more diverse perspectives and understand food diversity through a global lens.
“Leading the global immersion field trip in food and cultures has also been very meaningful for me both at the personal and academic levels,” says Associate Professor Dr Elise Mognard, programme director for postgraduate programmes in Food Studies (Master and PhD) at the School of Food Studies and Gastronomy at Taylor’s University.
“At the personal level, it provided me with the privilege to introduce some features and key players of the French (and Swiss) food cultures, which reflect my homeland, to people from my host society. At the academic level, it is rich in laying the grounds or enacting international collaborations.”
Above In an increasingly complex world, the demand for food studies experts who can navigate local realities and provide insights into nutrition, policy-making, and sustainable practices has never been greater.
In an increasingly complex world, the demand for food studies experts who can navigate local realities and provide insights into nutrition, policy-making, and sustainable practices has never been greater.
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Holding a PhD in sociology from Université de Toulouse, CERTOP-CNRS (Toulouse - France), Mognard has 15 years of experience in education. Her research expertise lies in the study of transformations of food habits and systems, and their wider implications on cosmopolitanism, health and sustainability.
“Food studies has quickly developed and expanded–mainly in Europe and North America—since the 70s as a consequence of the rise in both the academic and public concerns on broader political or policy-oriented issues such as the increasing importance of a range of nutritional issues, food safety issues related to food production and consumption, animal welfare, and environmental degradation,” says Mognard. “The awareness of this field has yet to increase in Asia. The Master of Food Studies and Gastronomy offered at Taylor’s University is a route to develop a unique cutting-edge perspective since it allows the development of expertise on the Asian contexts and dynamics for transnational or local companies and organisations.”
“By gaining analytical and critical skills towards key issues in, of, and around food, the graduates are in a position of interfacing academic research with industrial and societal organisations and concerns as well as widening the questions from different departments within a food-related organisation.”
The career pathways that are open to Master of Food Studies and Gastronomy graduates are diverse and wide, ranging from F&B consultant and management roles in international agri-business companies to F&B business and market analysts, food policy analysts, quality assurance professionals, food and gastronomy think tank researchers, and even food journalists and food cultural heritage workers.
“For example, those with a background in nutrition, dietetics, and biological sciences, this programme broadens their understanding of eating behaviours so that they can contribute to transnational or local agri-business companies, with roles as regulatory affairs officers or market leaders in agri-food business, focusing on health education and food education,” says Mognard.
The programme is open to Bachelor Degree holders not just in Food Studies, but leveraging two main trajectories, generalisation and specialisation. The former includes graduates with a degree in nutrition or dietetics, culinary management, hospitality, tourism and agriculture among others. While the latter includes degree holders progressing from sociology, anthropology, international relations, business and psychology to name a few.
Built to accommodate the schedules of working adults, the programme’s flexibility allows for full-time or part-time study, with classes conducted at night and weekends for those completing the course on a part-time basis. The programme’s versatility lies in its application, enabling students to broaden their current range of competencies and skills while benefiting individuals seeking to specialise in food-related industries, thus enhancing their competitiveness on the global stage.
To learn more about the programme modules, entry requirements and available scholarships for the Master of Food Studies and Gastronomy at Taylor's University, click here
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