Stimulating Cultural Appetites: an Experiential Gourmet Approach

This article is an extension of a presentation that won “Best Exercise” at the Eastern Academy of Management, 1998. The authors introduce an experiential gourmet approach using food stories to stimulate an aura of acceptance and appreciation for human commonalities before delving into human differences. The authors use a semester long active-learning approach. An underlying premise of active learning is that intrinsically motivated students have fun learning and learn more by taking ownership of the learning process. The use of food is an approach to a variety of concerns dating back to the beginning of time—but it still works.