From nourishment value to aesthetic concerns, Pratt faculty members challenge students to analyze the subject matter from new and interesting angles. On the design side, students attend courses that teach the aesthetics and functionality of tableware and restaurant design, the parallels between food preparation techniques and the industrial processes used to create products. In Pratt’s humanities and social sciences classes, students investigate the complex interplay among food, culture, and society. These explorations are very much in keeping with founder Charles Pratt’s vision to train students in the practical application of creativity and critical thinking. Pratt-trained fine artists have used their skills to examine that place where food intersects with our emotions, to comment on the relative value of food in our societies, and to make statements about the political realities wrought by food and lack of access to it.
