Tutorial

  
 

Food for Thought

  

Kathy Kamp

      

Goodnow 208

      

X3140

      

Kamp@grinnell.edu

      
       

Please contact me for appointments via email or just drop by; I am in most days 8-5, but teach MWF 8-9 and 11-12, W 1-4, and TTH 8:30-10.
       

Tutorial Description--Food is more than just the nutrition that allows you to survive; a concern with eating and its contexts pervades almost every aspect of everyone’s lives.  This course will examine some of the scientific, artistic, social, political, and economic ramifications of food.  In addition to books and articles, sources will include advertising, films, cookbooks, and interviews.
       

NOTE: Unless otherwise informed, class will begin PROMPTLY at 8:30. 

       

Required Texts

      
       

Critser, Greg  2003.  Fat Land: How Americans became the Fattest People in the World.  Boston, Mass.  Houghton Mifflin Co.
       

Ginsberg, Debra 2001. Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress.  New York: Perennial.
       

Ruth Reichl  1998.  Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table.  New York: Broadway Books.
       

Schlosser, Eric  2001.   Fast Food Nation: The Dark side of the All-American Meal.  New York: Perennial.
       

Types of Assignments

    
       

Since the ultimate goal of the tutorial is to provide you with the skills needed to succeed at Grinnell, it will include a wide range of the types of assignments you will encounter during your four years here. 

       
  1. Class discussion.  As do all Grinnell College instructors, I expect you to come to class every time, to be prepared, and to participate actively and intelligently.
  2. Writing assignments.  This class will require a number of writing assignments.  Most will be short, but that is to ensure that you have the time to polish them.  Take care that you a) have a clear thesis, b) support your thesis with data, c) have a logical organization, and d) have corrected errors in spelling and grammar.
  3. Paper rewrites.  During the semester you should undertake to rewrite at least 2 of your papers, but may rewrite more, if you choose.  Rewrites are due within one week of when the paper is returned with comments. Grades will be adjusted by averaging the two marks.  At least one of your rewrites must be completed before fall break.
  4. Peer reviews.  Twice during the semester you will be asked to write helpful comments on the writing of several peers.  In turn, you will receive their comments.  This is a very important assignment for several reasons.  First, the comments from peers often demonstrate that an issue with organization or phrasing is not the idiosyncratic whim of one person, but a real problem in effective communication.  Second, it is easier to see weaknesses and strengths in others writing; nevertheless, the issues are probably the same in your own.  Thus, reading and reviewing others writing will ultimately help you with your own.
  5. Oral Presentations. There will be two formal oral presentations.  One of these will use PowerPoint as a presentation vehicle.
  6. Research.  A number of the assignments entail research of various types.  The course will try to give you a basic background in a number of research strategies, including the collection and analysis of original data.  Good research strategies often make the difference between turning a merely good paper and one that really wows the professor.
       

Tentative Class Schedule

    
       

All assignments are due in class on the day listed on the syllabus.  This includes readings.  NO late assignments will be accepted without penalty AND prior permission for an extension.  If an assignment is to be critiqued by classmates, it may not be late under any circumstances.
       

8/28--Assignment 1 (personal experience) due.

 

Read Angelou, Maya  2000.  The Cook, Her Son, and a Secret. In Best food Writing 2000,  edited by Holly Hughes and Alice Waters, pp. 136-140.  New York: Marlowe and Co. and Balliett and Fitzgerald, Inc.  Originally published in Gourmet.
       

Start reading Reichel. 

   
       

9/2—Finish Reichel.

   
       

9/4-- Assignment 2 (abstract) due.  

   

Read: Douglas, Mary  1957.  Animals in Lele Religious Thought Africa 27(1):46-58.  Reprinted in Myth and Cosmos: Readings in Mythology and Symbolism, edited by John Middleton, pp. 231-247.  Garden City, New York: Natural History Press.
       

9/9—Read Harris, Marvin   1974.  Pig Lovers and Pig Haters.  In Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: the Riddles of Culture,  pp. 28-50.  New York: Random House.  Bring to class an outline that provides a one sentence thesis statement and an outline of the arguments he uses to support his thesis.  You will discuss using this, then turn it in.
       

Read Armelagos, George  1987.  Biocultural Aspects of Food Choice.  In Food and Evolution : Toward a Theory of Human Food Habits, edited by Marvin Harris and Eric B. Ross, pp. 579-594. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
       

9/11—Library Session.  Please start attempting the research for the paper before you attend the library session.
       

9/16-- Assignment 3 (short research paper) due via email attachment to Kamp@grinnell.edu AND your discussion group members by 8:30 a.m.  No class at the normal time.  Watch Like Water for Chocolate and chocolate potluck at my house 9/16 at 7 p.m.
       

9/18— Small group discussions of Assignment 3. Attend at your assigned time. Comments are due at the group meeting time. 

       

9/23—Everyone will read Kalčik, Susan  1984.  Ethnic Foodways in America: Symbol and the Performance of Identity.  In Ethnic and Regional Foodways in the United States: The Performance of Group Identity, edited by Linda Keller Brown and Kay Mussell, pp. 37-65. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
       

Half the class will read Levenstein, Harvey 2002.  The American Response to Italian Food, 1880-1930.  In Food in the USA: A Reader, edited by Carole M. Counihan, pp. 75-90.  New York: Routledge.
       

The other half will read Poe, Tracey N.  2002. The Origins of Soul Food in Black Urban Identity: Chicago, 1915-1947.  In Food in the USA: A Reader, edited by Carole M. Counihan,  pp.  pp.91-108.  New York: Routledge.
       

Try to see if these case studies illustrate the more general points made in the article by Kalčik.
       

9/25—Watch Babette’s Feast.  Class will start at 8 a.m. today.
       

9/30-- Assignment 4 (analysis of cookbook) due.  Discuss the cultural context of cookery. Workshop on PowerPoint and Minitab, if needed.

       

10/2— Appointments to discuss writing/discussion skills- Individual appointments should be scheduled for the beginning of this week.  Start reading Fast Food Nation.
       

10/7— Have read Fast Food Nation,  pp. 1-189
       

10/9—Finish Fast Food Nation.
       

10/14--Assignment 5 (inclusion of original data) due. Oral reports. Class will start at 8 a.m.
       

10/16-- Oral reports continue.  Class will start at 8 a.m.
       
Fall Break      
       

10/28—Read Waiting, chs. 1-6.
       

10/30—Finish Waiting. 

       

11/4— Watch The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.  

       

11/6-- Assignment 6 (observational/interview paper) due.   Discuss observations.
       

11/11—Read Fat Land, pp. 1-108.
       

11/13— Finish Fat Land. 

       

11/18-- Assignment 7 (critique including research) due. 

       

11/20—No class—at AAA meetings
       

11/25-- Siskind, Janet  2002.  The Invention of Thanksgiving: a Ritual of American Nationality. In Food in the USA: A Reader, edited by Carole M. Counihan,  pp.  pp. 41-58.  New York: Routledge.
       

11/27—Thanksgiving Holiday
       

12/2 -- Assignment 8 (thesis paper about the interpretation of art or film) due. Student presentations on final project.
       

12/4-- Student presentations continue.
       

12/9— Potluck at my house. Film (TBA).
       

12/11--- Wrap-up.