Coopersmith Career Consulting | Evaluated Learning Experience
Ice Cream: History, Culture, and Economics (HIS-417)
Varies (self-study; self-paced).
March 2022 - Present.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: trace the growth of the ice cream industry in the United States; describe the position of ice cream in American society and culture; achieve familiarity with iconic ice cream brands and novelties and what they represent; deduce inferences about consumers based on their ice cream choices; infer the era of an event based on the way ice cream was sold or presented; explain the role of marketing and strategic planning in the ice cream industry; discover the causes of success and failure in the ice cream industry; illustrate the influence of social trends on ice cream; explain the consequences to the ice cream industry caused by major historical events in the United States; describe some of the struggles of the ice cream industry and the reasons for its resiliency; compare and contrast American ice cream to its counterparts in history and in the global market; and identify modern trends in the ice cream industry.
Ice cream: History, Culture, and Economics (HIS-417) will assess the student’s knowledge of the history, culture and economics of ice cream. Although it will focus on ice cream in America, it will also examine the international origins of ice cream and the global ice cream market today. The student will learn what ice cream means in American culture and how it has gained that status over the years. From the economic perspective, the course will examine the rise and fall of various types of ice cream businesses as well as the reasons for success of certain brands and novelties. The student will become familiar with how the ice cream industry was affected by major historical events such as Prohibition, World Wars, and the Great Depression. Modern trends in the ice cream industry will also be addressed.
In the upper division baccalaureate degree category, 3 semester hours in Culinary History, Cultural Studies, Food Studies, or History (2/22).
