Fall 2007 Freshman Seminar
HUM STUD 198: The Culture of Food
M W 2-3:15
Professor: Dr. Aeron Haynie
Office: TH 397; Office hours: M 1-2, T 2-3, W 3:30-5,
and by appointment; hayniea@uwgb.edu
"The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world." Michael Pollan
what is this course about?
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 many disciplines: nutrition, history, psychology, women’s studies, and anthropology. In addition, we will look how food is represented in art, literature, and film, to ask what values food represents.
This class is one of 14 freshman seminars that teach general education material in a small size seminar environment. This course satisfied the H-3 Humanities requirement, to “have a fundamental understanding of the Humanities, including the role of the humanities in identifying and clarifying individual and social values in a culture and understanding the implications of decisions made on the basis of those values.” Not only will you be learning about our topic, but you will also participate in activities with the other classes to help you get a better understanding of interdisciplinarity here at UWGB.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
This course is designed to teach the following skills and knowledge:
Readings:
Coursepack of selected articles—available at the Phoenix Bookstore (approximately $36.65)
Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma ($16.00)
And selected handouts (free!)
Assignments: % final grade
Papers
Paper #1: due 9/19: “Memories of food” 5%
Using the essays of Bobbie Ann Mason and Tim Morris as examples, write about a memorable family meal, one that illustrates something central about your family. Or describe your own food ritual.
Paper #2: “Politics of Food” 10%
Paper #3: “Gender of Eating” 10%
Revision 15%
Annotated Bibliography 10%
What most interests you about food? 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 one focused aspect of food studies. For your annotated bibliography you will find 8 useful, insightful articles about your topic (this may mean finding more articles initially and then discarding the ones that you don’t find useful). We will have a presentation on conducting library research that will help you understand how to find relevant sources.
Class participation 15%
Involving yourself in class discussion not only makes class more enjoyable, but you will learn more. In addition, your 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).
D2L electronic discussions: In addition to in-class discussions, you will have the chance to talk about our readings on our class’s D2L site. Go to “Current Students” then “D2L” then log on using your UWGB username and password, then click on “freshman seminar.”
Leading class discussion: 15%
Once during the semester you will lead a small group discussion on the assigned reading. (I will pass around a sign up sheet on the second week of class.) This is not meant to be a formal presentation, but a way for students to discuss the day’s reading in an organized, small group setting. It is the leader’s responsibility to be prepared 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.
On the day you present, hand in to me a written report containing: 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.
Fieldtrips: 5%
Select one of the following fieldtrips: Green Bay Farmer’s Market (every Saturday in downtown Green Bay from 7am -11) Paul’s Pantry, or try a type of food you’ve never tried (Bangkok Garden, Little Tokyo, Kokos, Taste of India). Hand in a one-page response to the fieldtrip within a week of your experience.
Interdisciplinary Exercise 5%
On November 12 and 14, we will be joining the other freshman seminar classes for a small group exercise. You will be teamed up with five other participants (each from a different FYE Seminar class) to complete the task. We will provide you with worksheets to help guide you through the exercise and we will discuss the exercise in more detail prior to November 12. The purpose of the exercise is to get you to work as a team to solve an issue by using a wide range of information and interdisciplinary knowledge some of which will be provided in class. The grading for this assignment is discussed in the materials provided in your binder.
Film Viewings 5%
The freshman seminar faculty is sponsoring a FYE film series on Fridays during the semester. Six films will be shown and you must attend Apollo 13 on Nov. 9th. Films will be shown on Friday afternoon beginning at 2:00 in the Christie Theatre (University Union). You must also attend a screening of Fast Food Nation on Oct. 19 in the 1965 room.
Other Activities: 5%
In addition, the university offers a number of co-curricular activities that can enhance your overall education. You are required to attend at least one (and I encourage you to attend more) from each of the following category of events: Healthy Relationships, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Programs, Diversity Programs, and Leadership Programs. For the co-curricular activities, you are required to turn in a completed worksheet (provided in your binder) of the event or activity. These are due to me no later than December 5 (I’ll take them as soon as you are done with them) and the group of them are worth 5% of your final grade.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schedule:
9/5. Introduction to course. Discuss description of pizza from Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love (handout)
Writing about food
9/10. Bobbie Ann Mason “The Burden of the Feast”
9/12. Tim Morris, “Breakfast”
9/17. Small group peer editing of papers
9/19. paper #1 due. Meet in 1965 room (University Union) for film viewing, Like Water for Chocolate
Food as Ethnic Identity
9/24. Discuss film
9/26. handout: Farrah, “Bad Taste”
10/1. CP: Mintz “Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom,” and Gloria Wade-Gayles “’Laying On Hands’ Through Cooking: Black Women’s Majesty and Mystery in Their Own Kitchens”
10/3. Presentation by Renee Ettinger on conducting research-- CL 304
10/8. handout: “The Chinese Kitchen”
Eating in American Today
10/10. Pollan, “The Processing Plant” “The Consumer: A Republic of Fat” 85-108
10/15. Pollan, “The Meal: Fast Food” 109-119.
10/17. CP: Schlosser “the Most Dangerous Job” (from Fast Food Nation)
10/19. Fast Food Nation—1965 Room, 2pm
10/22. CP: Nestle, “The Food Industry and ‘Eat More’”
10/24. conferences on paper #2
10/29. Paper #2 Due
10/31. David Sedaris, “Us and Them” http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2004/jun/sedaris/usandthem.html
Gender and food
11/5. Bordo “hunger as ideology” (e-reserve: for directions: http://www.uwgb.edu/library/reserves/locating.html)
11/7. CP: Fat Girl; handout: “Ideal”
11/9. Apollo 13, Christie Theater, 2pm
11/12, 11/14. Group project
11/19. Guest lecture: Carol Emmons on food in art. Annotated Bibliographies due
11/21. no class—assignment: read Pollan, “ethics of eating animals” 304-333, post comment on D2L
Hunger in America
11/26. Condito, “Making do with food stamps dinners,” and handout: “Here’s the challenge: eat for a week on $21 in food stamps”
11/28 Handout: Fitchen, Janet, “Hunger, Malnutrition, and Poverty in the Contemporary United States”
Paper #3 due.
12/3. Carver, “A Small Good Thing” http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/english/courses/eng201d/asmallgoodthing.html
12/5, 12/10. Conferences on revisions
12/12. Revisions due. 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.