Food Studies features the voices of 11 volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and agriculture-related programs at universities around the world. You can explore the full series here. Hops and habaneros.Photo: Erin RossI feel like I've always known that the nose plays an important part in the way that we taste. I have a childhood memory of my mom asking my sister and I to do an experiment where we pinched our noses and, with our eyes closed, ate something (a raspberry, I think) and had to guess what it was. I still remember that it was …

Photo: Erin Ross Food Studies features the voices of 11 volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and agriculture-related programs at universities around the world. You can explore the full series here. Since I moved from Pittsburgh to attend Boston University in August 2010, I've been repeatedly confronted with a rather daunting question: "What are you in school for?" I still have to pause before I tell people "Oh, I'm getting my Masters in gastronomy." The exchange can get a little awkward here when they reply either, "Oh, so you're studying the stars?" or they blink and say …