This course has already started! However, you can still join if you’d like to (and we hope you will!). Students enrolling after the course start date and time will have access to a recording of the first session (which will be emailed to participants within 72 hours) as well as the option to attend remaining sessions live. Please select the “Join Late” ticket type to enroll after the course has begun.
In this four-part lecture series, explore foraging, food, festivals, and folklore associated with the coming of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
Course Description
Join herbalist and forager Felicity Roberts on a four-week culinary journey into the dark season. As the days grow shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, we’ll explore seasonal festivals, folklore, and metaphysical philosophy from across the globe—knitted together by common plants and the sacred foods they’ve been a part of for millennia. We’ll appreciate abundance, examine our dependence on the whims of nature, explore mortality, and cultivate curiosity for the other side of the veil: the land of the dead. Some of these festivals will introduce us to ideas of modern paganism and witchcraft, including basic spellcraft, brought to us by notable scholars and theologists. We’ll explore ethical, sustainable foraging in the urban wild; walk through simple ways to preserve, prepare, and present our harvest; and put what we’ve learned to action with some cooking demonstrations. Along the way, we’ll be joined by special guests from folklorists to brewmasters. By the end of our time together, we’ll have begun preparing for a new seasonal chapter with the impending Winter Solstice and the return of the light.
Gastro Obscura Courses: delving deep into the world’s culinary curiosities with expert instructors.
Syllabus At A Glance
There are four total sessions included in this purchase, each lasting for 1.5 hours on four consecutive Thursdays beginning November 4, skipping November 25.
Session 1 (Thursday, 11/4, 6-7:30 PM ET): Season of Gratitude: Thanksgiving in two countries (with guest Des Tapper, head bartender and cocktail designer at locavore restaurants such as Chinched in St. Johns, Newfoundland)
Session 2 (Thursday, 11/11, 6-7:30 PM ET): Food for the Dead: The role of sacrifice and death in spiritual thought
Session 3 (Thursday, 11/18, 6-7:30 PM ET): The Divine Sensuality of Foraging: Ardvi Sura Anahita, mushrooms, and beyond (with guest Zane Caplansky, owner of Caplansky's Deli and maker of Caplansky's Mustard)
-week off-
Session 4 (Thursday, 12/2, 6-7:30 PM ET): Trees of Knowledge: Ruis, Winter Solstice, and the rebirth of light (with guest folklorist Jules Larson and alewife, baker, and community matriarch Colleen Work)
Between Sessions
Students will be provided with additional readings and an optional final assignment to complete outside of class.
Pricing Options
We currently offer tiered ticket pricing in an effort to increase accessibility for all students, regardless of their economic situation. Our lecture series are available at three ticket prices, with a limited number of no-pay spots available for students who could not otherwise participate. This model is intended to support a wider range of students as well as our instructors. To learn more about our tiered sliding scale pricing model, please visit our FAQ page.
Atlas Obscura Online Courses
This online course is offered by Atlas Obscura. Founded in 2009, Atlas Obscura created the definitive, community-driven guide to the most incredible places on the planet and is now an award-winning travel company that shares the world’s hidden wonders in person and online.
Our online courses offer opportunities for participants to emerge with new skills, knowledge, connections, and perspectives through multi-session classes designed and taught by expert instructors. Courses can take one of two forms: Seminars are intimate, interactive classes—capped at nine to 25 students—exploring topics and crafts through discussion, workshops, assignments, and in-class activities. We also offer lecture series that can be attended live, or viewed via a recording that will be shared within 72 hours after each session airs. Class recordings for lecture series will be available with a temporary password for up to two weeks following the final session of the course.
To learn more about our current course offerings, please visit www.atlasobscura.com/online-courses.
For answers to commonly asked questions, check out our FAQ page here.
Once registered, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Eventbrite that will provide access to the class meeting. Please save the confirmation email as you’ll use it to access your course via Zoom on each scheduled date and time.
Felicity Roberts is an herbalist, witch, urban farmer, food and cocktail writer, textile artist, lichen specialist, and passionate home cook who gets excited about discovering simple, low-tech, and environmentally friendly ways to grow, gather, and prepare food. Her knowledge of plants, landscape, folk history, and foods is matched by an eclectic knowledge base acquired from a decade spent hitchhiking, farming, and cooking around North America with notable stops in British Columbia, Texas, and Maine. She has been featured on NPR and is an Atlas Obscura trip guide.
This lecture series is designed so students can participate live or watch a recording after each session airs. Sessions will take place live over Zoom, with dedicated Q&A segments for students to ask questions via video or chat. Within 72 hours after each session airs, we will email all enrolled students a recording of the session, which they can watch using a temporary password for up to two weeks after the course concludes.
In most cases, instructors will use Google Classroom to communicate with students outside of class. While students aren’t required to use Classroom, instructors will be using this platform to post resources, discussion questions, and assignments, when applicable.
We provide closed captioning for all of our courses, as well as transcripts upon request. Please reach out to us at experiences@atlasobscura.com if you have any questions, requests, or access needs.
