College of Food Studies included in upcoming JWU FOCUS 2022 plan

PROVIDENCE – Expected to open in 2018 on the Harborside campus, a College of Food Studies is detailed in the not-yet-published Johnson & Wales University FOCUS 2022 strategic plan, said vice chancellor and executive vice president Thomas L. Dwyer Thursday in an interview with Providence Business News.

“There’s probably very few things in life that affect us as much as food,” said Dwyer of the new college’s focus.

He explained the college will be an interdisciplinary research center which will further define how the school educates students about food and its impact on day-to-day life.

Dwyer outlined multiple possible study areas for the College of Food Studies including: nutrition, taste, feeding the hungry as well as the politics and economics surrounding the industry.

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In addition, faculty and students at the new college will partner with The Food Innovation Nexus to develop “healthy snacks” said Dwyer. He added that the Providence-based consultant organization is “JWU-sponsored and developed.”

“Right now, we have several [endeavors] and [the College of Food Studies] will put them into one place with a little more focus,” he said.

In November 2017, the University of Rhode Island announced the development of an on-campus, research and development Food Center.

The impetus for the College of Food Studies, said Dwyer, came as a result of the increased interest in food sector research from other local higher education institutions.

“We feel we’re the leader in food and there are other institutions looking at food studies and we should be out there [too],” he said.

While the college has been approved by the board of trustees, as of Thursday, Dwyer said JWU has yet to fully define the college’s prospective departments.

Of the departmental structure, he added: “we’re leaving it open and faculty are looking at the different aspects of food” around which to craft a curriculum.

One goal of the college, said Dwyer, will be to create a “graduate-level certificate program on food.”

Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.