Science on Tap with Professor Corinna Treitel

"Nature and the Nazi Diet"

Greetings! We hope you are enjoying our new venue! Washington University’s Science On Tap will meet on Wednesday, March 30th, 7pm-8:30pm at its new location: the Kirkwood Station Restaurant & Brewing Company (KSB), in Kirkwood at 105 E. Jefferson Ave Corinna Treitel, PhD, Associate Professor of History, will be speaking on Nature and the Nazi Diet.  Professor Treitel has extensively studied organic farming in Germany and the politics of food.  Students say Professor Treitel is “great!", “really engaging”, “keeps you interested the whole time”, "extremely organized” and “very approachable”.  Come hear from a top rated WU professor!

 

Conflicts over genetically modified crops have become a regular feature of the daily news. Advocates of transgenic crops decry the irrational and unscientific fears of their opponents. In contrast, critics lambast the environmental and political naiveté of their opponents and accuse them of trying to hide behind a mantle of science. Conflicts such as these go back at least to the Nineteenth Century, when worries about “artificial” and “natural” aspects of food and farming first came into wide discussion. Prof. Corinna Treitel will talk about her research into the history of natural foods and farming in Nazi Germany. Why did the state encourage Germans to eat and farm more naturally? What did “natural” mean in the context of a genocidal regime? What practical results came of the regime's ideological commitment to making foods and farming more natural? Finally, how does this episode help us understand our own historical moment better?

 

Please note that Science On Tap has moved, as we outgrew Schlafly Bottleworks. Kirkwood Station Restaurant & Brewing Company is able to accommodate 200+ people and thus you should not be turned away. We anticipate you’ll find parking somewhat easier, too. Parking is available in the brewery parking lot and in the adjacent parking lot at the First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood (corner of E. Adams and N. Taylor Aves.).  Street parking is also free. You can order a delicious dinner and enjoy the local brew, too. Come and let us know what you think!

 

Science On Tap is always a free event, sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis. We meet on the last Wednesday of the month during the academic year, except in November and December. For more information, please visit http://scienceontap.wustl.edu