Culinary Arts and Science MS
Major: Culinary Arts and Science
Degree Awarded: Master of Science (MS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 45.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 12.0509
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9051
NOTE: This program is no longer accepting applications as of the 2020-2021 academic year.
About the Program
The Culinary Arts and Science (CAS) program investigates the modern system of food production and consumption by combining critical, systems-thinking based scholarship and experiential, hands-on culinary learning. Faculty in the CAS program come from a mix of disciplinary backgrounds and contribute a range of perspectives and approaches that all converge in the object of study: food and the system in which it is produced. The CAS program focuses on three core pillars of study: culinary arts, food and culinary science and food systems. Drexel University’s CAS program is unique, as it is the only program in which students can combine rigorous, academic studies with culinary arts training. While all students will take courses in all three pillars, each individual will be able to focus his or her program through electives on the particular area of CAS that they wish to engage with. Students will work individually with faculty or staff advisors to develop an individual plan of study.
Students who will fit well within the CAS program are independent, rigorous thinkers who are first and foremost interested in effecting change within the food system. Students come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds but share a deep commitment to understanding and responding to the world’s food-related challenges. The CAS program at Drexel offers more than just critique and theory development; classes emphasize the development of practical, real-world fixes to food-system problems. Students will have the opportunity to engage further with a required practicum course and the option for a research-based thesis project.
Students who are considering the CAS program see this degree as a dual opportunity: to gain the skills necessary to respond to the dilemmas facing the world’s food system and to advance their careers within the culinary world, food industry and non-profits who share their goals. The program appreciates and welcomes a diversity of backgrounds, including students from the liberal arts and professional studies, the hard sciences and professionals who are seeking to orient their career towards food-related work.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to the program must meet the general requirements for admission to graduate studies at Drexel University.
Prospective students must also submit a 500-word essay explaining why they want to enter the program and some of the issues related to food, cooking and society that they would like to study. These statements are read carefully by the faculty screening committee to evaluate each applicant’s sense of purpose and fit for the program.
Visit the Graduate Admissions website for more information about requirements and deadlines, as well as instructions for applying online.
This program has the following course requirements, which may be waived for equivalent professional/academic experience or taken as co-reqs in the first terms of the degree. Please contact the admissions coordinator or the program director for more information on possible equivalencies.
CULA 115 Culinary Fundamentals
CULA 125 Foundations of Professional Baking
FDSC 100 ServSafe
FDSC 154 Foods: Ingredients, Interactions, and Formulations
Degree Requirements
Basic Requirements (21 credits) | ||
FDSC 506 | Food Composition & Behavior | 3.0 |
FDSC 550 | Food Microbiology | 3.0 |
FOOD 503 | Global Cuisine Studio | 3.0 |
FOOD 520 | Culinary Studio | 3.0 |
FOOD 605 | Culture and Gastronomy | 3.0 |
FOOD 606 | The Contemporary Food System | 3.0 |
FOOD 801 | Food Systems Practicum/Project | 2.0 |
FOOD 890 | Seminar in Culinary Arts and Science | 1.0 |
Advanced Requirements (9 credits) * | 9.0 | |
Culinary Arts (select at least 1 of the following) | ||
Kitchen Garden | ||
Foundations of the Hospitality Industry | ||
Culinary Tourism | ||
Food Science (select at least 1 of the following) | ||
Advanced Food Product Development | ||
Functional Foods | ||
Food Engineering | ||
Food Systems (select at least 1 of the following) | ||
Contemporary Social Theory | ||
Campaigns for Health and Environment | ||
Introduction to Science, Technology and Society | ||
Material Culture | ||
Thesis and Electives † | 15.0 | |
Thesis Research in Culinary Arts and Science | ||
Culinary Arts Electives †† | ||
Global Cuisine Studio | ||
Garde Manger Laboratory | ||
Charcuterie | ||
Advanced Studies with a Master Chef | ||
Food Writing | ||
Kitchen Garden | ||
Foundations of the Hospitality Industry | ||
Culinary Tourism | ||
Food Science Electives †† | ||
Research Methods for Food Science | ||
Advanced Food Product Development | ||
Functional Foods | ||
Food Engineering | ||
Sensory Evaluation of Food | ||
Food Systems Electives †† | ||
Contemporary Social Theory | ||
Material Culture | ||
The Body Digital: Biopolitics and Media | ||
Campaigns for Health and Environment | ||
Science Writing | ||
Grant Writing | ||
Sustainability & Public Policy | ||
Introduction to Science, Technology and Society | ||
Research Methods | ||
Material Culture | ||
The Biopolitics of Health | ||
Theoretical and Sociological Aspects of Measurement | ||
Total Credits | 45.0 |
- *
Nine (9.0) credits of courses taken in completion of the Advanced Requirements do not count towards the Thesis and Elective Requirement. For example, if FOOD 626 is the only course a student completes under the Culinary Arts Advanced Requirement, it cannot count towards the 15.0 credits of Electives. However, if a student takes both FOOD 626 and HRM 501, this will count as 3.0 credits towards Electives.
- **
Students who elect to pursue the Thesis option should plan to complete 9.0 credits of FOOD 699 Thesis Research in Culinary Arts and Science, and select 6.0 credits from the list of suggested electives.
- †
The presence of a course on this list does not guarantee that it will be offered during any particular term. Some courses are offered at faculty discretion or only once every several years.
- ††
Graduate students in the MS Culinary Arts and Science program may take other electives from across Drexel University with prior approval from the Director of the MS Program in Culinary Arts and Science. Unless otherwise noted, these courses may not be repeated for credit.
Sample Plan of Study
First Year | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits |
FOOD 605 | 3.0 | FDSC 506 | 3.0 | FOOD 606 | 3.0 |
FOOD 520 | 3.0 | FOOD 503 | 3.0 | Food Science Elective | 3.0 |
Food Systems Elective | 3.0 | Food Systems Elective | 3.0 | Food Systems or Culinary Arts Elective | 3.0 |
9 | 9 | 9 | |||
Second Year | |||||
Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | ||
FDSC 550 | 3.0 | FOOD 801 | 2.0 | ||
FOOD 890 | 1.0 | Thesis or Food Science Elective* | 3.0 | ||
Thesis or Culinary Arts Elective* | 3.0 | Food Systems or Culinary Arts Elective | 3.0 | ||
Thesis or Food Systems Elective* | 3.0 | ||||
10 | 8 | ||||
Total Credits 45 |
- *
Students pursuing the Thesis option will generally take 6.0 credits of thesis research in the first quarter of their second year, and 3.0 credits the second quarter; however, if necessary in order to pursue desired electives this order can be modified by working with the Program Director or an advisor.