Patrisia Gonzales
Associate Professor, Department of Mexican American Studies
Dr. Patrisia Gonzales teaches courses on Indigenous healing systems. Food is integral to cultural and philosophical systems of Indigenous peoples, as they emerged from creation based on relationships to place and accords with the natural world. As part of understanding these integrated systems, students learn about food as medicine, as well as plant knowledge. More importantly, the values, ethics and protocols that guide Indigenous thought and lifeways provides the overall structure for understanding food as medicine. While these courses are not solely about food, they provide the intellectual and value-based frameworks of Indigenous knowledge systems to understand the cultural, spiritual, physical and political aspects of food for Indigenous peoples.