The Culture of Food
HUM STUD 383: Contemporary
World
Fall 2007
Professor: Dr. Aeron Haynie
Office: TH 397; Office hours: M 1-2, T
2-3, TR 2-3, and by appointment; hayniea@uwgb.edu
"The
way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural
world." Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
"What
people eat (and don't eat) has always been determined by a complex interplay of
social, economic, and technological forces. The early
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well,
if one has not dined well.” Virginia Woolf
COURSE Objectives:
Humanistic Studies
383: The Contemporary World is “a study of values shaping the contemporary
world through reflection on historical, literary, philosophical, artistic, and
other cultural products from the Second World War to the present.” This course
will focus our study of contemporary values on a central, often overlooked
“cultural product”: food.
On the surface, our relationship with food is simple: we eat in order
to live. However, what we eat and how that food is produced, distributed,
marketed, and consumed raises many fascinating questions. For those of us who
live in an environment of abundance, how do we decide what to eat? How do these
choices define and reflect who we are: our values, our ethic identities, our
gender, etc.? Why do certain populations still not have enough to eat? Has food production always been this way? We
will look at articles from a multitude of disciplines: nutrition, history, psychology,
women’s studies, anthropology, art, literature, and film.
Texts:
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan
Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquirel
Fast Food Nation, Schlosser
Coursepack of articles
And selected handouts
Assignments:
Short paper on food metaphors: due 9/13. 5%
Participation 15%
A note on the importance of participation and discussion:
Involving yourself in class discussion not only makes class more enjoyable, but
you will learn more. In addition, students' comments and questions show me what
you understand and what needs clarification. In order to hear everyone’s ideas
and so that you get the most from the readings, come to class with 2-3
questions written down on an index card about the day’s reading. I will invite
some of you to read your cards in class, and collect the cards after each class.
Cards will receive checks (fine) check pluses (great) or a check minus
(unsatisfactory). In addition, you will be required to attend one of the
screenings of the film, Fast Food Nation (either Oct. 19 at 2pm in 1965
room or Dec. 7 at 2pm in the
Leading class discussion: 15%
Each student is responsible for leading a small group
discussion on the assigned reading once during the semester. (I will pass
around a sign-up sheet on the second week of class.) On this day it will be
your responsibility to engage a small group of your fellow students by briefly
summarizing the material, bringing up your own questions and concerns, and
connecting the material to other readings we’ve done. Read the required
material carefully ahead of time and consult with me if you have questions.
In addition to leading the discussion, you are required
to hand in a written report on that day containing the following:
*Brief summary of the material read
*Confusing or difficult
sections and your own attempts at understanding
*Connections to other works
discussed in class (or in your other courses)
*Questions raised by the material
Community outreach component: 5%
In order to more fully understand issues of hunger and food scarcity
in our community, our class will volunteer at a local food distribution center,
Paul’s Pantry, a local volunteer association that provides food for those who
do not have the resources to feed themselves or their families.
Personal eating experiments: 10%
(see directions on class D2L)
Research project:
What most interests you? The ethics of hunting, reforms in school
lunches, polemics of breastfeeding, food as symbolism in children’s literature,
the difference between American and French eating habits, cooking and feminism,
hunger in Brown County, community-sponsored agriculture, or something else? Your research project is your opportunity to
explore an aspect of food studies that most interests you. Ideally, you will
work on this project throughout the semester, sharing an initial article with
the class, compiling a bibliography of several sources, consulting with me as
you develop your argument, and finally, presenting your work to the class.
However, you may start with one topic for your outside reading report, but end
up veering toward another topic for your final paper.
·
Report on Outside
There have been an incredible number of provocative books published
on our topic in the past few years – from Steve Ettinger’s Twinkie
Deconstructed to Katherine Parkin’s analysis of advertising and gender
roles to Ann Cooper’s criticism of school lunches. Find a provocative, engaging
article or book chapter on your topic and present it to the class. I will work
with students to schedule presentations to coincide (as much as possible) with
class readings. For example, a student researching vegetarianism might read a
chapter from Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation and then present her
summary to the class on the day we read Pollan’s chapter “The Ethics of Eating
Animals.” You can consult the bibliography on our class D2L, or you may conduct
your own research; in this case, make sure you clear your source with me
first.
Reports will be graded on their accuracy, ability to engage the class
(which means speaking to the class, not reading off a sheet), and connections
to the course questions.
·
Paper proposal. Due:
11/6. 15%
Summarize 10 sources (roughly one paragraph each), and describe in
2-3 pages the questions youwill be examining in your paper. No conclusions
necessary at this point.
·
Conferences on proposals.
·
Final papers: Due Dec. 4 (10-15 pages) 20%
*A summary of your final paper will be presented
to the class during the final two weeks of the semester.
SCHEDULE
Introductions
9/4. Introduction to course. (Metaphors for eating exercise)
9/6. Read Vissers, “Behaving” from The Rituals of Dinner
UNIT ONE: Cooking and Identity
9/11. handouts: : “Food Rules in the
Sign up to lead small-group discussion.
9/13. handouts: Farrah, “Bad Taste” and Steve Yarbrough “Grandma’s Table”
Short paper on food metaphors due
9/18. Esquirel, Like Water for Chocolate, chapters 1-4
9/20. chapters 5-8
9/25. finish LWfC
FOOD AND GENDER
9/27. handout: Mason, “The Burden of the Feast”
10/2. Bordo, “Hunger as Ideology” (on e-reserve)
10/4. CP: excerpt from Fat Girl, (film clip, Thin);
Popenoe, “Ideal”
POLITICS OF FOOD
10/9. CP: Nestle, “The Food Industry and ‘eat more’”
10/11. CP: Mintz, pages 1-16
and 25-32 and Pollan "Introduction” 1-11
10/16. Schlosser “The most dangerous job” and “global realization”
10/18. Schlosser, “behind the counter” 59-88; Article “Here’s the
Challenge: Eat for a Week on $21 in food stamps”
Friday, Oct. 19, 2pm: Fast Food Nation
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
10/23. Pollan, “The Plant: Corn’s Conquest,” “The Farm,” “The
Elevator,”15-64
10/25. Pollan,85-119: “The Feedlot,” “The Processing Plant,” “The
Consumer,” “Fast Food”
10/30. film, SuperSize Me
(Halloween bonus: David Sedaris essay, “Us and Them” http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2004/jun/sedaris/usandthem.html)
11/1. CP: Cooper “Putting the Lesson in lunch” 32-87.
11/6. Film, Black Gold Paper proposals due.
11/8. discuss film
11/13. Guest lecture on food in art by Professor Carol Emmons—location
TBA
11/15. Pollan, 277-363 (Ethics of eating animals and hunting)
FINAL THOUGHTS:
11/20. Guest lecture: Prof. Illene Noppe on food and the grieving
process
Read Raymond Carver’s short story, “A Small, Good Thing” http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/english/courses/eng201d/asmallgoodthing.html
11/22. Class field trip: Thanksgiving!
11/27. Pollan, “The Perfect Meal” pages 391-411;
11/29. film, Chocolate
12/4. Presentations of Final projects
12/6. Presentations of Final projects
Friday, Dec. 7, 2pm: Fast Food
Nation
12/11. Presentations of Final projects
12/13. Class feast!
As required by federal law and UWGB
policy for individuals with disabilities, students with a documented disability
will be accommodated in this course. Please contact the Disability Services
Offices at 465-2841, and inform the instructor of any disability.