I graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Socialogy cum laude then trained at the Culinary Institute of America and worked in some of Boston's best restaurants before discovering the perfect program to combine my passions for academia and food. My disseration focuses on attitudes towards screwcap wines in the United States. Michael Meagher USA

Study on-Campus or Online

Courses are offered to both online and on-campus students, beginning in February each year. Full-time on-campus students spend eight months on coursework and six months on their dissertations (eligible students may elect to study part-time for the dissertation component of the Masters degree).

The on-campus teaching mode combines lectures, tutorials and seminars, all of which will require student attendance and participation for five hours per week. The University of Adelaide recommends that you will need to allocate an appropriate time commitment to your study to successfully pass your courses. In addition to the formal contact time required for each of your courses (e.g. lectures, tutorials, practicals), you will need to allocate non-contact time.

Non-contact time will be required for a range of activities which may include, but are not limited to, assessment tasks, reading, researching, note-taking, revision, writing, consultation with staff, and informal discussions with other students. While the relative proportion of contact and non-contact time may vary from course to course, as a guide, a full-time student should expect to spend, on average, a total of 48 hours per week on their studies during teaching periods.

On-campus students can choose to work part-time while studying. International full-time students are permitted to work up to 20 hours per week. On-campus students typically socialise in a variety of activities, such as eating at different restaurants, visiting wine and food festivals and touring in the outback. One such activity in 2007 was the Chili Cook-Off.

Online courses are part-time, and each course is offered over one University semester (12-14 weeks). Online students can study one or two courses each year and will be able to complete their coursework in a minimum of two years or a maximum of four years, with an additional year for the dissertation.

Online students interact through the 'Virtual Classroom' as well by means of online discussion groups, and communicate regularly with teaching staff. A residential week is arranged each year, usually in Adelaide in October or November, though attendance is not compulsory.

It is sometimes possible to combine online and on-campus study. For example, a student might complete Principles of Gastronomy on-campus (February-April) and then transfer to online study for the next course, Food & Drink in Contemporary Western Society (July-November) and subsequent courses.