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    Sociology of Food - Syllabus

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    Mitch
    This course examines food and its social contexts. It will explore how food expresses social identities related to class, ethnicity, religion, and gender. It will also analyze how the economic system of food production and marketing affects what and how much we eat. Additionally, the course will consider how food is both an object and subject of politics through government regulation and social movements. Students will be graded based on a midterm exam, final exam, and class participation. An optional extra credit project involves research and a presentation on a food-related topic.

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    Sociology of Food - Syllabus

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    Mitch
    62 views8 pages
    This course examines food and its social contexts. It will explore how food expresses social identities related to class, ethnicity, religion, and gender. It will also analyze how the economic system of food production and marketing affects what and how much we eat. Additionally, the course will consider how food is both an object and subject of politics through government regulation and social movements. Students will be graded based on a midterm exam, final exam, and class participation. An optional extra credit project involves research and a presentation on a food-related topic.

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    This course examines food and its social contexts. It will explore how food expresses social identities related to class, ethnicity, religion, and gender. It will also analyze how the economic system of food production and marketing affects what and how much we eat. Additionally, the course will consider how food is both an object and subject of politics through government regulation and social movements. Students will be graded based on a midterm exam, final exam, and class participation. An optional extra credit project involves research and a presentation on a food-related topic.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    62 views8 pages

    Sociology of Food - Syllabus

    Uploaded by

    Mitch
    This course examines food and its social contexts. It will explore how food expresses social identities related to class, ethnicity, religion, and gender. It will also analyze how the economic system of food production and marketing affects what and how much we eat. Additionally, the course will consider how food is both an object and subject of politics through government regulation and social movements. Students will be graded based on a midterm exam, final exam, and class participation. An optional extra credit project involves research and a presentation on a food-related topic.

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    of 8

    Sociology 137 Jeffrey Haydu

    Winter, 2009 Office: SSB 496; 534-5310


    Center Hall 212, MWF 10-10:50 Email: [email protected]

    Sociology of Food

    Course description. This course puts food -- something we all know a lot about -- into its social contexts. We'll explore
    how what we eat and the way we eat it express our social identities (as members of social classes, ethnic groups, religions,
    etc.); how preparing and consuming (or not consuming) food reproduce gender roles; how the economic system for
    producing and marketing food affects what (and how much) we eat; and how food is both an object of politics (e.g., a
    target for government regulation) and a subject of politics (e.g., a basis for social movements). Because collective identity,
    gender, business, and politics are all important topics in sociology, the course covers a lot of sociological ground.

    Requirements. Grades will be based on an in-class midterm (40%) and final (60%). These will be "closed book" exams,
    with study questions (from which the test questions will be drawn) distributed a week in advance. I will also acknowledge
    students who regularly and constructively contribute to class discussions by adding up to 1/3 of a grade to their course
    average.

    Extra credit option. For extra credit, you may also do some research on a food-related topic, presenting your findings in
    a short paper AND a brief presentation to the class at the end of the quarter. The extra credit is 15% of the course grade
    (so if you got an "A" for the extra credit project, I would add 15% of those 4 grade points [.6] to your course grade,
    enough to bring a solid B+ [3.3] from the midterm and final up to an A for the course). The topic possibilities are wide
    open. You could, for example, do a case study of how a specific food (oregano, bagels, tuna noodle casserole, sports
    drinks, whatever) is produced, marketed, or consumed. You could trace how cookbooks have changed over time. You
    could analyse the role of undocumented immigrants in US restaurants. Follow your interests, but you must discuss your
    topic with me BY THE END OF WEEK 4 (JAN 30) (you can only do the extra credit paper if you meet this deadline) and
    you must conduct some academic research (using scholarly books and articles). The final paper should be no more than 10
    double-spaced pages, including bibliography; the presentation should be around 5-10 minutes (depending on how many
    there are), introducing the main questions you explored and summarizing the main answers you found.

    Readings.

    We will be reading large chunks of two books, which are available for purchase at Groundworks and are on reserve in the
    Social Science Library:

    Carole Counihan, ed., Food in the USA

    Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma


    Other readings are available online or through e-reserves, as indicated below.

    Schedule. (daily outlines available here)

    Part One: Food and Social Identities

    Jan. 5: Introduction to course

    Jan. 7: What to eat? Food, identity, and social boundaries

    Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, pp. 1-11

    Sharon Sherman, "The Passover Seder," in Counihan, pp. 193-204

    Jan. 9, 12: Food and social class

    Excerpt from documentary "People Like Us," in class

    Jan 14, 16: "Ethnic" food in the U.S.

    Counihan anthology, essays by Gabaccia (on postmodern ethnic food, pp. 35-40), Levenstein
    (assimilating Italian food, pp. 75-90), Poe (inventing soul food, pp. 91-108)

    Hannah Miller, "Identity Takeout: How American Jews Made Chinese Food Their Ethnic Cuisine,"
    Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 39, No.3 (2006), pp. 430-465. Available online through UCSD
    library.

    Jan. 19: university holiday

    Jan. 21: National cuisines

    Counihan anthology, essays by Mintz (is there an "American" cuisine? pp. 23-34), Siskind (inventing
    Thanksgiving, pp. 41-58), Weiner (Coca Cola and freedom in America, pp. 123-142)
    Kolleen Guy, "Rituals of Pleasure in the Land of Treasures: Wine Consumption and the Making of
    French Identity in the Late Nineteenth Century," in Belasco and Scranton, ed., Food Nations:
    Selling Taste in Consumer Societies, pp. 34�47. On e-reserves

    Jan. 23: How we eat: Minding your manners

    Margaret Visser, Rituals of Dinner, pp. 39-68. Available here

    Stephen Mennell, All Manners of Food, pp. 20-39. On e-reserves

    Jan. 26: Eating in, eating out

    Jan. 28, 30: How much we eat: over- and under-eating

    Pollan, pp. 100-108

    Abigail Saguy, "French Women Don't Get Fat? French News Reporting on Obesity," Health at Every Size
    Journal vol. 19, no. 4 (2006), pp. 219-234. Available online here
    Feb. 2, 4: What, how, and how much we eat: food and gender

    Laura Shapiro, "'I Guarantee': Betty Crocker and the Woman in the Kitchen," in Avakian and Haber,
    From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies, pp. 29-40. On e-reserves

    Counihan anthology, essays by Counihan (food as women's voice, pp. 295-304) and Taggart (food and
    masculinity, pp. 305-314)

    Feb. 6: MIDTERM EXAM

    Part Two: The Business of Food

    Feb. 9: Modern food production

    Pollan, Omnivore's Dilemma, pp. 15-99, 100-119, 134-184 (for this and next few meetings)

    Selections from "Our Daily Bread," a documentary on industrialized food production, in class

    Feb. 11, 13: Rationalized and scientific food

    George Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society, pp. 1-20. On e-reserves

    Counihan anthology, essay by Middendorf (agricultural biotechnology, pp. 373-384)

    Feb. 16: university holiday

    Feb. 18, 20: Globalized food

    Counihan anthology, essay by Watson (McDonald's in China, pp. 347-358)

    Part Three: The Politics of Food

    Feb. 23: Regulating food


    Marion Nestle, Food Politics, pp. 51-66 on the food pyramid. On e-reserves

    Feb. 25, 27: Food choice as personal politics; food advice

    Pollan, pp. 298-333

    March 2, 4: Food movements -- Fighting corporate food

    Warren Belasco, "Food and the Counterculture," in Watson and Caldwell, ed., The Cultural Politics of
    Food and Eating, pp. 217-234. On e-reserves

    Rachel Schurman, "Fighting 'Frankenfoods': Industry Opportunity Structures and the Efficacy of the
    Anti-Biotech Movement in Western Europe," Social Problems vol. 51, no. 2 (2004), pp. 243-268.
    Available online through UCSD library

    April Linton, Cindy Chiayuan Liou, and Kelly Ann Shaw, "A Taste of Trade Justice: Marketing Global
    Social Responsibility Via Fair Trade Coffee," Globalizations vol. 1, no. 2 (2004), pp. 223�46.
    Available online through UCSD library
    March 6: Alternative food systems

    March 9, 11, 13: Presentations of optional student projects and review. Bring food!

    FINAL EXAM: Friday, March 20, 8-11 am

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