Soc CD 470 Senior Seminar: Food and Social Change
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Spring 2007
Instructor: Dr. Lynn Walter
Instructor Email: walterl@uwgb.edu Course Schedule: 2-3:15 TR
Office: MAC B308 Classroom: MAC 225
Class description: This course is the capstone seminar for majors and minors in Social Change and Development. Since it is a seminar, the expectations are that students will pursue independent research and writing related to the seminar topic, will lead discussions of the readings, and will participate fully as discussion participants, leaders, and presenters. The focus for this semester’s offering of the seminar is food and social change.
Texts:
Schlosser, Eric 2002. Fast Food Nation (New York: Perennial)
Levenstein, Harvey 2003. Paradox of Plenty (Berkeley: University of California Press)
Articles (on E-reserve):
Belasco, Warren 2005. “Food and the Counterculture: A Story of Bread and Politics” In The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating, James L. Watson and Melissa L. Caldwell, eds., Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 217-34.
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs and Ruth Striegel-Moore 2002. “Continuity and Change in Symptom Choice: Anorexia” In Food in the USA, A Reader, Carole M. Counihan, ed., New York: Routledge, pp. 205-18.
Field, Debbie 1999. “Putting Food First: Women’s Roles in Creating a Grassroots Food System outside the Marketplace” In Women Working the NAFTA Food Chain, Deborah Barndt, ed., Toronto: Second Story Press, pp. 194-208.
Friedman, Harriet 1999. “Remaking “Traditions”: How We Eat, What We Eat and the Changing Political Economy of Food” In Women Working the NAFTA Food Chain, Deborah Barndt, ed., Toronto: Second Story Press, pp. 36-60.
Henderson, Elizabeth 2000. “Rebuilding Local Food Systems from the Grassroots Up” In Hungry for Profit, The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment, Fred Magdoff, John Bellamy Foster, and Frederick H. Buttel, eds., New York: Monthly Review Press, pp. 175-88.
McMichael, Philip 2000. "Global Food Politics" In Hungry for Profit, The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment, Fred Magdoff, John Bellamy Foster, and Frederick H. Buttel, eds., New York: Monthly Review Press, pp. 125-43.
Middendorf, Gerad; Skladany, Mike; Ransom, Elizabeth; and Lawrence Busch 2002. “New Agricultural Biotechnologies: The Struggle for Democratic Choice” In Food in the USA, A Reader, Carole M. Counihan, ed., New York: Routledge, pp. 373-83.
Nestle, Marion 2002. “Hunger in the United States: Policy Implications” In Food in the USA, A Reader, Carole M. Counihan, ed., New York: Routledge, pp. 385-99.
Roseberry, William 2002. “The Rise of Yuppie Coffees and the Reimagination of Class in the United States” In Food in the USA, A Reader, Carole M. Counihan, ed., New York: Routledge, pp. 149-68.
Thompson, Becky Wangsgaard 2002. “”A Way Outa No Way” Eating Problems among African-American, Latina, and White Women” In Food in the USA, A Reader, Carole M. Counihan, ed., New York: Routledge, pp. 219-30..
Research topics: Select a specific social change issue about food, which will be the focus of a research paper, written in three sections. Some broad issues would include, for example,: 1. food security; 2. hunger and malnutrition; 3. concentration of ownership in commodity production and merchandizing; 4. environmental costs of food production; 5. overconsumption and eating disorders; 6. working conditions and wages in food production and merchandizing; 7. food safety; 8. food quality in general, or in specific institutions, such as schools or prisons; 9. health and food consumption patterns; 10. identity, sociability and eating practices; 11. welfare of farm animals 12. the impact of globalized agrifood systems on local agriculture and farm and peasant communities. Within one of these broad issues (or some other one, with the instructor’s approval), you should focus on a more specific one in a specific region of the world.
Interviews:
For at least one part of your term paper, you will conduct an interview with someone whose work involves your issue in a practical ways. For example, you might interview a local farmer who is using sustainable agricultural practices; a restaurateur, community gardener, or grocer serving specific populations underserved by the predominant forms; someone involved in the development or promotion of new food products; people directing food banks or soup kitchens; leaders of community organizations addressing your issue; etc. Turn in a typed transcript of your interview with the paper that for which you use the information from the interview.
Term Paper:
Your term paper will be written in three parts. Each part should have its own bibliography listing all the references cited in your paper. Each part should be 5-6 pages, double-spaced pages. You should use and cite the class readings in your research paper along with other sources. You should include sources from refereed professional journal articles. For each page that you cite, whether from a book, a journal article, or web page, you must turn in a copy of that page with your term paper.
Section I: Historical Perspectives on Food and Social Change: 1. Describe the issue and its significance for the specific region of the world you are focusing your research on. What are the most important changes in the your issue since 1950? Why have these changes occurred?
Section II: Comparative Perspectives on Food and Social Change In what ways do differential access to resources and power affect your issue? Consider not only the size of the commodity producing or merchandizing enterprise but also such variables as culture, class, gender, race, ethnicity, and the global position of the country.
Section III: Critical Perspectives on Food and Social Change What criticisms do people in the region have of the current conditions with respect to this issue? In what ways are people trying to promote social change to address this issue? Is their analysis of the problem and their strategies for addressing adequate and effective? Explain.
Discussion Participation
Minimal participation is your presence and some participation with indications that you have read the class readings. This is C-level participation.
Good participation is your presence and regular involvement in the discussion and indications that you have read and understood the class readings. This is B-level participation.
Excellent participation is your presence and regular involvement in the discussion with indications that you have read and understood the class readings. In addition, excellent participation 1) demonstrates that you have identified the critical questions 2) addresses these questions and 3) furthers the conversation by attending to other class participants’ ideas. This is A-level participation.
Discussion Leadership
You will be expected to lead the discussion of certain readings and to present your papers orally during the class periods allotted to oral presentations.
Grading:
Section I of Term Paper 25%
Section II of Term Paper 25%
Section III of Term Paper 25%
Discussion Participation and Leadership 25%
Schedule of Readings and Assignments
Week One: Introduction to the Seminar
Jan. 16 & 18
Reading: Levenstein, Prologue, Chapters 1-2, 4.
Week Two: History of Food Practices in the USA
Discussion of Term Paper Topics
Jan. 23 & 25
Reading: Levenstein, Chapters 7-9.
Week Three: History (continued)
Jan. 30 & Feb. 1
Reading: Levenstein, Chapters 10-12, 15-16
Topic paper due on Thursday, Feb.1. Turn in a one-page statement of the problem, the region, and why it is a significant problem in the region.
Week Four: Culture and Food
Feb. 6 & 8
Reading: Belasco
Schlosser, Introduction, Chapters 1-2
Film: “Supersize Me”
Week Five: Labor and Class
Feb. 13 & 15
Reading: Schlosser, Chapter s 3-4, 7-8
Roseberry
Section I of Term Paper due Thursday, Feb. 15
Week Six: Food Quality and Safety
Feb. 20 & 22
Reading: Schlosser, Chapters 5-6, 9, and Afterword on the Meaning of Mad Cow
Week Seven: Global Perspectives
Feb. 27 & Mar. 1
Reading: Schlosser, Chapter 10
McMichael
Friedman
Film: “Black Gold”
Week Eight: Hunger
Reading: Nestle
Mar. 6 & 8
Guest Lecture by Karen Early, UW-Cooperative Extension, Nutritionist on Hunger in Brown County on March 6.
Spring Break: March 10-18
Week Nine: Eating Disorders
Mar. 20 & 22
Reading: Brumberg & Striegel-Moore
Thompson
Section II of Term Paper due on Thursday, March 22
Week Ten: Biotechnologies
Mar. 27 & 29
Reading: Middendorf, et. al.
Week Eleven: Strategies for Social Change
Apr. 3 & 5
Reading: Field
Henderson
Week Twelve: Strategies for Social Change (continued)
Apr. 10 & 12
Week Thirteen Presentation of Papers
Apr. 17 & 19
Section III of Term Paper due on Tuesday, April 17.
Week Fourteen Presentation of Papers
Apr. 24 & 26
Week Fifteen Presentation of Papers
May 1 & 3
May 7 Make-up Day
Consistent with the federal law and the policies of the University of Wisconsin, it is the policy of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to provide appropriate and necessary accommodations to students with documented physical and learning disabilities. If you anticipate requiring any auxiliary aids or services, you should contact me or the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities at 465-2671 as soon as possible to discuss your needs and arrange for the provision of services.