HONORS 2305-H30
First Year Honors Seminar in the Humanities
Fall 2014 – 11:00-12:15 T/Th
Academic 121
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Christine Lamberson
OFFICE: Academic 210C
OFFICE PHONE: (325)942-2227
OFFICE HOURS: Monday, 9:30-11:00 and 1:00-2:00; Wednesday 9:30-11:00; and by appointment
EMAIL: [email protected]
COURSE OVERVIEW: HONR 2305 is designed to stimulate an exchange of ideas among firstyear Honors students majoring in various disciplines. Topics and readings vary by semester, but
focus on issues that can be viewed from multiple perspectives, including historical, cultural,
philosophical, artistic, and scientific. This semester’s theme is food in all of its manifestations,
including production, consumption, marketing, and distribution.
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students should be able to:
• demonstrate a basic understanding of historical, scientific, political, and cultural implications
of food production and consumption in specific settings and cultures
• critically analyze a range of scientific/medical, philosophical, literary, and artistic
representations of food
• demonstrate an understanding of how science, technology, and human culture advance
through inquiry and experimentation
• demonstrate an awareness of how social and political ideologies affect our relationship to
food in all of its manifestations
• present information effectively in both written and oral formats
REQUIRED READING:
Anthony Bourdain, A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines (Harper Perennial, 2002)
Articles and book chapters (noted on the schedule) available on blackboard
Additional articles/book chapters chosen in consultation with the instructor
COURSE PROCEDURE: Honors seminars are designed to encourage an interchange of ideas
and to foster the development of critical thinking and communication skills. The instructor’s
primary role is to facilitate discussion of the texts and to provide suggestions and responses to
students’ independent and group work. Students will be expected to cooperatively engage in class
discussion and activities and to bring insights from their specific disciplines into the discussion of
the assigned readings.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS/ASSIGNMENTS: Each student will be responsible for the
following:
1. Content Mastery: Students will be expected to have a clear understanding of assigned
readings and be able to effectively respond to questions from the readings in the form of inclass quizzes or brief reading responses and a final exam.
2. Independent work: Each student will:
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a. write a 3.5 to 4 page essay analyzing A Cook’s Tour. See 7-8 for essay options. Your
paper is due September 30 at the BEGINNING of class. You need to bring a paper
copy of your paper to class AND submit your paper electronically to Turnitin via
Blackboard. This electronic submission should be made before class.
b. write a 3.5 to 4 page persuasive essay. See 8 for essay options. Your paper is due
November 11 at the BEGINNING of class. You need to bring a paper copy of your
paper to class AND submit your paper electronically to Turnitin via Blackboard.
This electronic submission should be made before class.
NOTE ON ESSAY FORMAT: For all essays, your paper needs to be in 12-pt. Times
New Roman font, double-spaced, with one inch margins. You should have a title and
heading with your name and date, which should be single-spaced. All papers must
include proper citations. If you are not familiar with citations, you will receive a
formatting handout and you should meet with the instructor or writing center if you
have further questions.
3. Group Project: Students will work in small groups on a research project working to explore
one food related question or problem and provide a policy prescription. Some class time will
be set aside for the project, but as with any research project, additional time outside will be
required. Students will complete additional individual reading to assist their group with this
project. A detailed assignment will be provided on September 23 and groups will present
their findings between November 25 and December 4.
4. Daily Preparation and Performance: Each student will be expected to actively engage in
class discussion and respectfully listen to guest and student presentations. The preparation
and performance grade will be determined by
a. attendance (you cannot perform if you are not in attendance)
b. instructor’s assessment of the frequency, quality, and relevance of contributions to
class discussion and questions posed to speakers
c. performance in group presentation
Assessment/Grading:
Daily Preparation and Performance
Reading Quizzes and Responses
First Analysis Paper
Second Analysis Paper
Group Project
Final Exam
20%
15%
20%
20%
15%
10%
CLASSROOM POLICIES:
Attendance: Attendance (in body and mind) is critical as discussion cannot be “made up” and
insights from other students are critical elements of Honors education. Please note that there is a
participation grade, not an attendance grade. Simply showing up to class does not count as
participation, though you cannot participate without attending. Students are expected to attend every
session and are responsible for any material, announcements, schedule changes, or assignments that
are provided in class. Absences do not excuse the student from being prepared for the next day’s
work. Please check with a classmate or the instructor to find out about any changes to the syllabus.
Students who miss more than 4 classes will be reported to the Honors Program director and will
incur a 5% grade reduction from the final course grade per additional absence. (This means that for
each absence beyond four, 5% points will be subtracted from your total grade).
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Absences for official university commitments, accompanied by official documentation from the
sponsoring faculty or staff member, will not incur penalties but may impact overall participation
grades. There are also exceptions for religious holidays as noted under the University Policies
section.
Three tardy arrivals (3 minutes late or more) constitute an absence. Students who arrive late must
contact the instructor immediately after class that day to have the roll sheet corrected; otherwise, the
absence stands.
Academic Integrity: Academic work is built on trust. Plagiarism (using another author’s work
without proper attribution) of any sort will not be tolerated. Plagiarism includes both copying other
another person or sources work word for word without proper citation AND using the ideas of
another person or source without proper citation. (This includes internet sources). All plagiarized
papers will receive a zero and be reported to the Honors Program and the administration. For
clarification, please see the professor.
Cheating on exams will not be tolerated either. This includes (but is not limited to) the use of cell
phones. The use of a cell phone during an exam will result in automatically failing the exam. I will
assume you are using the phone to cheat if you are using it in any matter during the exam. Turn your
phone off, leave it at home, or leave it at the front of the room to avoid suspicion.
Signing in for someone else or having one sign in for you qualifies as cheating. It will result in a zero
for your participation grade in the course.
Two violations of the Academic Integrity policy will result in automatically failing thing course.
The ASU Student Handbook contains important information about campus services, programs,
policies, and procedures, including such areas as the campus disciplinary rules and the Academic
Honor Code. All students are expected to be familiar with this publication and to comply with the
policies contained therein, among them maintaining complete honesty and integrity in their
academic pursuits according to the Academic Honor Code. The ASU Student Handbook is available
via the ASU website at www.angelo.edu (“Current Students:/University Publications.”) Large print
versions are available in the Student Life Office, Room 112 University Center.
The Classroom Environment: Please be respectful of your classmates and professor. This includes
arriving on time, not disrupting the class if you are late or must leave during class, turning off cell
phones and other electronic devices, and using laptops for note taking purposes only. Violation
of the laptop policy may result in your no longer being allowed to use a laptop in class. Additionally,
please be respectful of your classmates’ opinions and views during class discussion. Disagreement
should be voiced with respect in all cases. Please refrain from carrying on personal conversations
once class has started. Recording devices (audio or video) are not permitted. Disruptive
classroom behaviors will not be tolerated and may result in dismissal from the class and referral for
disciplinary action.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES:
Disabilities Accommodation (OP 10.15): Persons with disabilities which may warrant academic
accommodations must contact the Student Life Office (Room 112 University Center; (325) 942Prof. Lamberson
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2191 or (325) 942-2126 (TDD/FAX); or [email protected]) in order to request such
accommodations prior to any accommodations being implemented. You are encouraged to make
this request early in the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Faculty members
are not allowed to provide accommodation for a student’s disability needs without approval from
the Office of Student Life.
Absences for Observance of Religious Holy Day (OP 10.19): Students who intend to be absent from
class to observe a religious holy day (as defined in ASU OP 10.19) must inform the instructor in
writing prior to the absence and make up any scheduled assignments within an appropriate
timeframe determined by the professor. While the absence will not be penalized, failure to complete
the make-up assignment satisfactorily and within the required timeframe will result in penalties
consistent with other absences and assignments.
Questions? Please feel free to email me or come by my office at any time with questions, concerns,
or other thoughts about the class.
SCHEDULE: Please note that the reading and assignments are listed for the day they are DUE.
This syllabus is not carved in stone. As the semester progresses, the instructor reserves the right to
make alterations, with proper and timely notification, as needed. Please take note of changes
announced in class and pay attention to blackboard/email announcements.
Unit One: Food in World History
Week 1: Why does food matter?
8/26—Introduction
8/28—Discussion: Why does food matter?
Reading: Michael Pollan, “An Eater’s Manifesto,” in In Defense of Food; Jonathon Safran Foer
“Storytelling,” in Eating Animals; and Mark Bittman, “Why Take Food Seriously?” in the New York
Times.
Week 2: Foodways of the Distant Past
9/2—From Hunter-Gatherers to Farmers
Reading: Bourdain, “Dear Nancy” through “The Burn,” ix-64
9/4—World Trade and Empire
Reading: Bourdain, “Where the Boys Are/Where the Girls Are” through “Something Very Special,”
65-127
Week 3: A New Food System
9/9—Feeding the Industrial World
Reading: Bourdain, “Highway of Death” through “Road to Pailin,” 128-185
9/11—The Rise of Industrial Food
Reading: Cronon, “The Great Bovine City of the World,” in Nature’s Metropolis, 207-213 and
Bourdain, “Fire over England” and “Where Cooks Come From,” 186-217
Week 4: World Cultures: Cooking and Eating with Anthony Bourdain
9/16—Celebrating Diversity of World Food Cultures
Reading: Bourdain “Can Charlie Surf?” through “Perfect,” 218-End
9/18—Gender, Food Preparation, and Celebrity
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Reading: Read statistics on chefs, cooking, and gender (posted on blackboard) and watch several
food commercials as instructed in posted assignment on blackboard.
Unit Two: New Foodways and Reforms Begin
Week 5: Moving Towards a Modern Food System
9/23—Turn of the Century Food Fashions and Reforms
Reading: William Cronon, “Triumph of the Packers,” in Nature’s Metropolis, 235-247
9/25—1920s and food safety/workers
Reading: Upton Sinclair, The Jungle Excerpt
Week 6: Post-War Foodways
9/30—Wartime food innovations and celebrations
Assignment: Paper on A Cook’s Tour due
10/2—1960s and 1970s radical foodways
Reading: Eleanor Agnew Getting Close to Nature and Natural Processes” Back from the Land: How
Young Americans Went to Nature in the 1970s and Why They Came Back. Excerpt.
Thomas McNamee, Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, Excerpt
Week 7: Globalization and the Modern Food System
10/7—The Green Revolution
Reading: Kendra Smith-Howard, “Reassessing the Risks of Nature: milk after 1950” Pure and Modern
Milk: An Environmental History Since 1900.
Meet with Instructor no later than October 7 about your group project research.
10/9—The Westernization of traditional food ways
Reading: Mark Bittman “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler,” New York Times, January 21, 2008
At least one article for your group project
Unit Three: Food Wars in the Modern Day
Week 8: Costs to Animals and the Planet
10/14—Global damage?
Reading: Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Chapters 1-3.
10/16— Animal Ethics?
Reading: Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Chapters 4-6.
Week 9: What should we eat?
10/21—Nutritionism?
Reading: Gyorgy Scrinis “On the Ideology of Nutritionism,” Gastronomica
Second article for your group project
10/23--Fast food nation?
Reading: Schlossen, “Why the Fries Taste Good” in Fast Food Nation
Week 10: What Should We Eat? And Inequity in the Food System
10/28—Taste, Culture, and Pleasure?
Assignment: Pick two episodes of the podcasts and tv shows listed on blackboard (1 podcast and 1
tv show) to watch/listen to. Read: Marcel Proust, The Madeleine Excerpt in Remembrance of Things
Past: Volume I Swann’s Way.
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10/30— Economics and Inequality in the American Food System
Reading: Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi “Accessing Food” in Food Justice, 39-58
Food cost exercise (See blackboard for directions)
Week 11: Inequity in the Food System continued
11/4—Labor and Farming
Reading: TBA
11/6—Discussion/Debate on the Food Wars
Reading: Rachel Lauden “A Plea for Culinary Modernism: Why We Should Love New, Fast,
Processed Food” in Gastronomica, Winter 2001
Unit Four: Solutions and Ways of the Future
Week 12: Some Solutions?
11/11—Your Views on Food
Assignment: Persuasive Essay Due
11/13—Experts and Advocates
Reading: Michael Pollan, “Unhappy Meals” excerpt.
Lizzie Widdicombe, “The End of Food: Has a tech entrepreneur come up with a product to replace
our meals?” The New Yorker, May 12, 2014.
Explore two of the websites listed on blackboard.
Week 13: More Food Advocates and Work Week
11/18—More Experts and Advocates
Assignment: Work on group project
11/20—More Experts and Advocates
Assignment: Work on group project
Week 14: Presentations
11/25—First presentations
Week 15: Presentations
12/2—Presentations
12/4—Final Thoughts/Wrap Up
Final Exam: Tuesday December 9, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
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FIRST ESSAY ASSIGNMENT:
1. Searching for the perfect meal:
a. Anthony Bourdain’s book is about his quest to find the “perfect” meal. For this
option, you need to either eat or plan a perfect meal for yourself. If there is a perfect
meal you have had in the past, you can also use that for the paper.
b. In your paper, you should both analyze your own eating experience and compare it
to Bourdain’s. First, BRIEFLY summarize Bourdain’s overall quest and criteria for a
perfect meal. Next, you should describe your own experience in more detail and
explain what makes your meal the perfect meal. Finally you should compare your
idea of a perfect meal with Bourdain’s and consider the meaning of food in people’s
lives more generally.
c. As you write, consider the following questions. You do not need to answer all of
them nor should you answer them one at a time. Rather, you should write a cohesive
paper discussing and analyzing your experience on its own and in comparison with
Bourdain’s using the questions as a guide.
i. What did/would you eat? Why do you think of it as the “perfect” meal? Is
your perfect meal something new to you or a family favorite? Does the
context you eat the meal in (i.e. who you eat it with or where) matter most or
the food itself? Or is there something else entirely that makes it the perfect
meal?
ii. What sort of characteristics does Bourdain seem to be looking for in a meal
throughout the book?
iii. Are there broader conclusions you can draw from both your and Bourdain’s
experience about the importance of food in our lives? Do you agree with
Bourdain’s conclusions about the “perfect” meal?
d. With this option include an additional one-page menu and a short (3-5 sentence)
description of the setting for your perfect meal, including if you actually ate this meal
(now or in the past) or if it is more of a plan.
2. Book Analysis:
a. We have been talking about both the importance of food in shaping human history
and how much food culture, access, and agriculture has changed throughout human
history. Bourdain’s book gives one American’s view of food cultures throughout the
world in the early 21st century. If you were a historian looking back on this period,
what conclusions might you draw about food culture, trade networks, and the role of
food in the early 21st century using Bourdain’s book?
b. Consider some of the following questions. (You do not need to answer all of them.
These are questions to help you start thinking about the main question above.)
i. How are food cultures connected throughout the world? How much
variation is there? Is there more or less variation than in the past? Why or
why not?
ii. Beyond cuisine, are there variations or similarities across the globe in access
to food, agricultural practices, or food sources (hunting vs. industrial farming
for instance)?
iii. Do some societies dominate world food culture or food trade systems? Why
or why not?
iv. What might a historian conclude about class or gender and food at this
moment from Bourdain’s book?
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c. Provide evidence from the book for all of your answers and analysis. You should
also draw on lectures from the first weeks of class for this option.
3. Pick your own:
a. You may also submit an idea for your own question or topic. This topic MUST be
approved by Prof. Lamberson no later than September 22.
SECOND ESSAY ASSIGNMENT:
In Units Two and Three, we have been talking about problems, challenges, questions, and debates
about food in the modern day. Pick one such issue, take a position on it, and write a persuasive essay
in support of your position. Your essay can be written in an academic tone, as an op-ed style piece
with a more journalistic tone, or as an essay offering a policy proposal aimed at policymakers.
Regardless of the style you choose, you need a thesis, supporting evidence from class readings and
lectures, and citations for that evidence. You may use outside sources, though this is not a research
paper and you are not required to do additional reading. If you do use outside reading, consult with
Prof. Lamberson for approval of your outside reading. Your position on the issue can be a proposed
solution (i.e. a way to reduce food inequality), an argument about the value or importance of food
(i.e. cultural heritage should guide our food choices), a side within a debate (i.e. arguing for or
against a local approach to eating), or some similar position on a food question.
You can coordinate this essay with your group project. However, this is an individual essay. You
cannot simply write your part of the group project or the group's position in essay form. You can
pick a topic that relates to the group project or a topic that can draw upon your reading for the
group project.
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