[Sca-cooks] Required courses for RUM degrees

[Christine Seelye-King]

Greetings to all those within this e-realm interested in the Culinary
Sciences,
(My apologies for those of you receiving this more than once),
	I am working on setting up degrees within the School of Culinary Sciences.
I am trying to figure out how many classes should be required, how many of
them should be mandatory vs. electives, and what those mandatory classes
should be.
Here is the breakdown I have so far:

Students enrolled in the School of Culinary Sciences may receive any of the
following degrees based on their choice of studies:
(1) Scholar of Medieval Foods & Food Pathways- classes centering on the
study of SCA Period food, availability, trade routes, regional differences
(2) Scholar of Medieval Feasting - classes centering on SCA Period Food
Preparation, Feasting and Fasting, Period Techniques, SCA Feastcratting,
etc.
(3) Scholar of Botanical Studies - classes centering on SCA Period use of
Herbal Medicine, Period Herbals, Gardens and Gardening, should include some
practicums
(4) Scholar of Brewing and Vintning

So Degree #1 would be for the person who studied the foods and the history,
but not necessarily the preparation side of things.  Required courses could
include Feast Appreciation, a class on spices and seasonings, a class on the
spice trade such as the Silk Road or Urban Spice Merchants, a class on the
introduction of various foods to European cultures throughout our time
period; electives on specific foods, guilds, agriculture, etc.  Electives
could specialize on certain foods, guilds, regions, dietary requirements,
the Humoral Theory, etc.

Degree #2 could include the person who is intereted in studying the dining
habits of period, and can include the cook who actively re-creates those
foods.  Required - Feast Appreciation, SCA Feastcratting (a class or one [1]
feast cooked), Service Methods/Banquet Officers, electives on Feast and Fast
Days/Holiday Observances, technique classes/workshops on specific topics
such as subtleties, sauces, butchering, sugar creations (sugar plate,
marzipan, etc.), Effective Hall Stewarding, etc.  Note - this is not a
degree for how many feasts you cook.  (Just because you have cooked a feast,
doesn't mean you know the difference between period and non-period food).
The SCA Feastcratting class or actually cooking a feast is only good for one
credit toward this degree.  Additional specialization in this area can be
pursued with classes such as Budgeting and Planning, Basic Feast Planning,
Redaction, Scaling Up, etc.

Degree #3 includes those pursuing the use of herbs in period, History of
Medicine, agriculture, gardeners/horticulturists, and perhaps even animal
husbandry, although that gets away from Botanics and into other areas
depending on what's being bred - horses wouldn't be included (they can get a
degree from the Equestrian College), but Beekeeping might - especially if
study work is tied into the surrounding fields the bees gather pollen from.
So Required courses might include History of Herbals, Period Garden Design,
(I could use suggestions for other required Herbal courses), electives could
go into the use of various herbs, period medical practices using herbs, the
study of the Humoral Theory (this could also be done with degrees #1 & 2),
period farming/crops, Honey produced from clover fields as compared to
wildflower, etc.

Degree #4 is out of my area of expertise, and is not being worked on at this
time.  I'd love suggestions for what the brewers out there would consider
good required courses as well as elective ideas.

What I'd like is for folks to tell me what they think should absolutely be
required for a certain degree.  If you specialize in Herbs and were going to
certify that Lord Y had a working knowledge of herbs in period (not to
practice with, but could be able to write a paper or present a class with
appropriate references and enough knowledge to be a reliable source), what
would you want to make sure he had at least been exposed to? (Keeping in
mind the classes are usually 1 hour).
Thanks for any input, feel free to respond to me privately if you wish -
kingstaste at mindspring.com
Thanks,
Mistress Christianna MacGrain,
Dean of the School of Culinary Sciences,
Royal University of Meridies