SOAN 4750 (01)
Anthropology of Food and Eating
Fall 2002
Tuesday 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Julian M. Murchison
Room: SH 347
Office: SH 346
Office Hours: MW 3:30-4:30 and Tuesday 2:00-4:00, or by appointment
Email: murchjm@millsaps.edu
Phone: Ext. 1437
Contents:
All
human beings, with a few rare exceptions, eat food. Food fulfills a basic physical need for
humans. Food, however, does much more
than that. Human beings in different
contexts often eat very different things and in very different ways. In many cases, what we eat and how we eat it
is as important, if not more important, than the sustenance that we gain by
eating it. Issues of sociological and
anthropological concern extend from production to consumption of food.
The study of food and eating has long held a particular fascination for anthropologists and sociologists. They have examined a variety of specific topics, including subsistence strategies, nutritional intake, and food taboos. Cooking and eating often seem like relatively mundane activities due to their everyday regularity. These everyday activities, however, are packed with meaning and import. We will seek to unravel these meanings and to unearth the sociological and anthropological significance of food and eating from a variety of different perspectives.
Reading materials for this course include both classic pieces on food and eating and more recent and particularly innovative takes on these subjects in specific ethnographic contexts. Commensality, coming together at a table to eat, is an important focus in the literature primarily because eating is a social and cultural activity for human beings. We will come together at the seminar table to Afeast@ on ideas, but we will also come together to share food in the hopes that these experiences will provide unique insight for evaluation.
Required Texts:
Beardsworth, Alan and Teresa Keil
1997 Sociology on the Menu: An Invitation to the Study of Food and Society. New York: Routledge.
Conklin, Beth A.
2001 Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society. Austin: University of Texas.
Counihan, Carole and Penny van Esterik.
1997 Food and Culture: A Reader. New York: Routledge.
Eber, Christine
2000 Women and Alcohol in a Highland Maya Town: Water of Hope, Water of Sorrow. Revised edition. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Watson, James L.
1997 Golden Arches East: McDonald=s in East Asia. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Interesting and Relevant Resources on the Web:
AWorld Food Habits Bibliography: Resources for the Anthropological Study of Food Habits.@ Robert Dirks. Anthropology Program, Illinois State University. http://lilt.ilstu.edu/rtdirks/
AMexican Cuisine.@ Universidad de Guadelajara, Mexico. http://mexico.udg.mx/cocina/ingles/ingles.html
AInsects as Human Food (Microlivestock).@ Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet, Entomology. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg‑fact/2000/2160.html
AFood Reference Website.@ Prepared by James T. Ehler. http://www.foodreference.com/
AThe Food Timeline.@ Morris County Library. Lynne Oliver, editor. http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food.html
AFoods of the World.@ Section of the Minnesota State University EMuseum. http://emuseum.mankato.msus.edu/cultural/foods/index.shtml
1) Participation (25%) A seminar that meets once a week offers unique learning opportunities and challenges. Perhaps more than any other format, it requires preparation and active participation on your part. Therefore, participation will constitute a large component of your final grade for this course. I expect you to attend class and to participate in class discussions and activities. Full understanding of anthropological concepts requires engaging with them in an actively analytical and critical manner. You will be required to submit to me via email a personal evaluation of your class participation every three weeks. These personal evaluations will allow you to reflect on your own participation and assist me in determining participation grades at the end of the semester.
I have reserved the kitchen area in New South from 4:00-8:30 on Tuesdays. The class will be divided into four groups. Over the course of the semester, each group will be responsible for planning and cooking one meal. We will discuss specific dates and plans during the first or second week of class. Cooking and other preparation for the meal will occur before class B i.e., we should be ready to eat at 6:00. You should arrange your schedules accordingly. Remember that this is a key component of your class participation.
I will collect a class fee of $15 from each of you to cover the cost of food for the meals that we share as a class. Please make sure you pay your class fee by the second class meeting. Any leftover funds will help to finance a celebration on the last day of class.
Each of you is allowed one unexcused absence before your participation grade begins to suffer. Tardiness is disruptive for the entire class and will negatively affect your attendance and participation grade.
2) Map Assignment (15%) For this assignment you will be paired with another class member. Together you will produce a social map of the Caf. This map should represent the physical layout of the cafeteria, but it should also represent much more than the physical layout. The map should include representation of the social dynamics of the Caf. You may want to begin this project by thinking about who sits where in the cafeteria and what and how they eat. Remember: Even if you eat there every day, don=t assume that you know what the Caf is all about. Base your map on careful observation. Working in pairs should help you to overcome some of these assumptions. You will ultimately have to come up with a representation that satisfies both of your perceptions of the Caf as a social space. Be creative in your style and media of presentation. Make sure you include a key for any symbols that you decide to use.
3) Midterm Exam (15%) This exam will take the form of short answers and an essay. It will be a take-home exam and you will be allowed to use your books and notes, but you will only have 24 hours to complete it.
4) Comparative Cookbook Assignment (15%) For this assignment you will work in pairs. You will choose two cookbooks that are representative of different regions, cultures, or time periods and compare these cookbooks in terms of what they reveal about the societies and cultures of which they are a product. You will need to bring in outside sources that help you to develop these contexts. Choosing your cookbooks wisely will make this assignment more feasible. Please do not limit yourself to the Millsaps library. You may want to ask friends and family members about cookbooks they have. You may also want to visit the public library. I must approve your choice of cookbooks by October 1. If at all possible, please bring the actual cookbooks for me to look at. The final product for this assignment will be a paper approximately 1,800-2,400 words in length.
5) Research Papers and Presentations (30%) For this project you will work in groups of three. Each group will research a particular issue or topic and present on that topic at a relevant point in the semester.
Potential topics are:
-Genetically altered foods -Slow food movement
-Hindu beef debate -Potlatches and Feasts
-Archaeology of food -Food and Sex
-Alcohol Studies -Food Aid
In addition to the group presentation (worth 5% of your final grade for the course), your group will also turn in a joint research paper (6,000-7,500 words) that is the culmination of your semester-long research project. This research paper should have an analytical focus and a clear thesis supported by a well developed argument. It will be worth 25% of your final grade for the course. You must arrange to meet with me as a group at least two weeks before your group presentation and no later than October 8. Following that meeting, you will submit to me a group plan detailing the direction of your research and how you have decided to share responsibilities.
Over the course of this research project, you should keep a personal journal in which you record your own personal research activities and group meetings. You will turn this journal in at the last class meeting. It is your opportunity to show what you personally have contributed to this project and how you have worked as a productive member of the group.
A Note About Group Projects:
Successful group projects require cooperation and planning ahead. As a member of a group, you are responsible for working toward the success of the entire group and its goals. Everyone does not always invest the same time and energy in their schoolwork, and different people bring different skills and attributes to the group. With that in mind, we will spend some class time in Week 2 developing an evaluation mechanism involving both self and peer evaluation that you will complete as part of each group assignment.
The dates provided on this syllabus for the submission of assignments are deadlines. You should submit all assignments by the beginning of the class meeting on the date due. You should also keep a hard copy of all assignments and save them on disk for your own records. Late submissions will only be accepted at the discretion of the instructor and, if accepted, will be penalized half of a letter grade (5%) for each day late. If legitimate, unavoidable circumstances require you to seek an extension, make sure you consult with me about an extension as early as possible before the deadline. No work will be accepted after the final exam date.
If you miss class, for whatever reason (i.e., excused or unexcused, including due to late registration), you are responsible for making up any work. Talk to me and fellow students to find out what was covered, get notes, etc. You will not be allowed to make up an exam without a medical excuse or other information that makes it clear you had a valid reason for missing class on that day.
You are responsible for doing all of the reading on time. Read ahead if you can. If a reading assignment is listed for a particular day, that reading assignment should be completed prior to the class meeting on that day. In order for reading to be useful, you must comprehend and engage with the material. Therefore, reading involves more than simply passing your eyes over the text; it involves taking notes and thinking critically about the words on the page. Reading will provide the basis for class discussion and examination of key anthropological topics. You should come to class prepared to discuss issues and questions that arise out of that day=s readings.
If you have a question about a topic covered in the readings, class, or elsewhere, please do not hesitate to ask me about it. You are welcome to contact me over email or to come to see me in office hours, but I also encourage you to ask questions in class, where your classmates can benefit from your questions.
As students at Millsaps, you have all pledged to abide by the Millsaps Honor Code. I expect you to meet the high standards of academic honesty embodied in the Honor Code. Academic honesty is vital for our intellectual endeavors. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are acts of dishonesty. If I find that a student has been academically dishonest, college policies require that I report the case to the academic dean for consideration by the Honor Council. Please take your responsibilities under the Honor Code very seriously. You should always submit your own original work for this class and cite all sources upon which you have drawn in developing papers and other projects. I will be unable to grade your work if you fail to provide proper citations. If you have questions about these issues, please see me.
If you are challenged with a learning disability, it is your responsibility to register with Student Services and to inform me of any allowances granted by the college. I will be happy to work with you to make sure that we arrange for the appropriate allowances.
Week 1 (8/27/02):Introduction
Reading: Syllabus
Film: ATampopo@
Week 2 (9/3/02): Subsistence and Structures of Production and Consumption
Reading: Sociology on the Menu, 1-6, 13-46; Food and Culture, 11-19
Study AThe Food Timeline@ at http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food.html
Week 3 (9/10/02): How and What does Food Mean?
Reading: Sociology on the Menu, 47-70; Food and Culture, 20-79, 95-106
*MAP
ASSIGNMENT DUE*
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY WEDNESDAY AT NOON
Week 4 (9/17/02): Food=s Role in Family and Society
Reading: Sociology on the Menu, 73-99; Food and Culture, 117-137, 272-280
Week 5 (9/24/02): Vegetarianism and the Consumption of Meat
Reading: Sociology on the Menu, 193-241
Group Presentation: Hindu beef debate
Week 6 (10/1/02): Anthropophagy: AThe Other Meat@
Reading: Consuming Grief, xv-xxxi, 3-108
Group Presentation: Potlatches and Feasts
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY WEDNESDAY AT NOON
Week 7 (10/8/02): Anthropophagy (cont.)
Reading: Consuming Grief, 109-241
*MIDTERM EXAM*
Group Presentation: Archaeology of Food
Week 8 (10/15/02): Body Images and Types
Reading: Food and Culture, 138-179 and 201-271; Sociology on the Menu, 173-192
*COOKBOOK ASSIGNMENT DUE*
MIDSEMESTER BREAK (10/22/02)
Week 9 (10/29/02): Sugars and Sweets
Reading: Food and Culture, 357-369; Sociology on the Menu, 242-253
Listen to "NPR : Social History of Ice Cream" at http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=145260
Listen to "NPR : The Sugar Industry" at http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=66162
Group Presentation: Food and Sex
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY WEDNESDAY AT NOON
Week 10 (11/5/02): Different Meanings and Functions of Alcohol
Reading: ABeer and America,@ American Heritage. July 2002. Volume 53(3). Available at http://www.americanheritage.com/AMHER/2002/03/beer.shtml
Women and Alcohol in a Highland Maya Town, xix-xxiv, 3-134
Group Presentation: Alcohol Studies
Week 11 (11/12/02): Gendered Aspects of Production and Consumption
Reading: Women and Alcohol in a Highland Maya Town, 135-261; Food and Culture, 180-199
Week 12 (11/19/02): Industrialization and Globalization of Food
Reading: Food and Culture, 283-356; Sociology on the Menu, 100-149
Group Presentation: Genetically altered foods
Week 13 (11/26/02): McDonald=s as an Example of Globalization and Localization
Reading: Golden Arches East (all)
Group Presentation: Slow food movement
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY WEDNESDAY AT NOON
Week 14 (12/3/02): Food Security
Reading: Food and Culture, 370-412
Group Presentation: Food aid
*FINAL PAPERS DUE*