This is the home page of the course syllabus, which outlines all the instructions, logistics, and expectations for the course. The syllabus also has a schedule page, which details the reading and writing assignments for each day. Make sure you are ENTIRELY familiar with these two pages. We use Canvas to manage assignments and grading, but all course information is on these two pages. Note that the syllabus is not in Canvas itself, although there is a link to it.
When you think of Mexican food, or Italian, or Chinese, a range of dishes and ingredients immediately spring to mind. But what about American food? Is there such a thing? Does this concept even make sense? In many ways, no, but why do we still use it so much? How can food help us understand the nature of stereotypes?
This course explores both historical and contemporary ways of thinking about ‘American’ food and the relationship between food and identity. We look at the changing meanings of food and foodways throughout US history, particularly how people have attached cultural values to certain foods yet rejected others, and how foodways are so frequently an expression of personal, community, and national values.
While the history of food in the U.S. runs throughout the course, the main goal is to see how much fun we can have exploring different perspectives on how we use food as means of self-expression. The history is really a means to an end: to think more critically about meanings of food in the present.
Learning objectives are pretty standard for syllabi, so much so that they can become meaningless. But I think they are very important, and I want to be sure THEY ARE CLEARLY VISIBLE. Literally everything we do in this class works toward one or more of these goals.
Food history is not really about learning what people ate. That’s a means to an end, and the end is more critical thinking about food, identity, and culture.
These indicate something you have to DO or TURN IN.
These indicate something you should be aware of—usually an upcoming assignment or a longer reading—but isn’t anything you need to immediately do.
These indicate something that is important to know, but isn’t time sensitive.
There are NO REQUIRED BOOKS OR READERS for the course; everything is accessible online. LITERALLY EVERYTHING you need for the course is either already available online (and linked to on the syllabus), or is a PDF in our Zotero library as described below. You never need to find anything on your own!
We use one free, online textbook that we use to provide useful overview:
We use a tool called Zotero to organize and provide access to all readings for the course. To get connected, carefully follow the getting started guide. If it doesn’t work for you, please follow the directions more carefully. They’ve worked for hundreds of students!
american-food-unm
(in case you try to look it up on zotero.org, but you shouldn’t need to.)This lists the kinds of assignments you’ll be doing, with an approximate percent of your final grade (exact points are computed in Canvas)
Whatever the exact number of points we end up with, your grade is determined by percent, as indicated below. You can always see at any point exactly what your grade is in Canvas.
Percent | Grade |
---|---|
98+ | A+ |
92-97 | A |
90-91 | A- |
87-89 | B+ |
82-86 | B |
80-81 | B- |
77-79 | C+ |
73-76 | C |
70-72 | C- |
66-69 | D+ |
60-65 | D |
59- | F |
Ideally, all coursework assigned in a week should be submitted via Canvas by the time you go to bed on Friday. But you also have a grace period until the end of the weekend. Find whatever timing works for your schedule and stick with it. You lose one grade each day (A to B, say), for each day it’s late beyond the weekend. Assignments will be closed for submissions the Friday after they’re due. This prevents well-meaning students from hoarding work to make it better. Just turn it in!
If you ever want more feedback, PLEASE EMAIL ME and ask for it. I will be more than happy to write or chat with you about course material or how you’re doing in the course.
Some of you just want a C to fulfill a UNM requirement. Some of you want a B to maintain a solid GPA. Some of you want an A because top grades are really important to you. Put in the work that justifies the grade you want for each assignment, and if you’re not getting the scores you want, LET ME KNOW. Usually a few minor tweaks go a long way towards improving your scores. Please know I want to do everything I can to ensure that the work you’re putting in matches the grade you want.
If life gets overwhelming during the course (and something will come up!), it’s easy to miss a few classes and assignments and then drift away because feel you’re hopelessly behind. Don’t do that! let’s talk about how we can accommodate your circumstances, including shifting deadlines, figuring out a target grade that you can meet with reduced assignments, switching to CR/NC grade mode, taking an Incomplete to buy a little extra time, etc. Please get in touch and let me know what would help you!
On all the assignments, the goal is to show how much you learned from the reading(s). Writing more than the quiz question or assignment requires, if clearly informed by the readings, will usually get you extra credit points for that question. If you’re really into a topic and have a little extra time for an assignment, it’s an easy way to make sure you’re on track for the grade you want. These add up and make a difference!
If you are worried you are falling just short of a grade you’re aiming for, there is an easy way to ensure you get it! Do a Food Documentary Critique (worth up to 15 points). WARNING: This critique assignment is EXTRA. You can do this ONLY if all other work is turned in on time. This should be emailed to me directly.
If you peek at the schedule page, you might think there is a lot of reading, comapred to non-humanities courses. You’re right! There’s usually at least one article or book chapter for each class meeting.
One of the main skills we develop in this course is sorting through a long reading to extract the main point and evaluate argument and evidence. For almost everything we read, we’re reading to ENGAGE with it, NOT because it’s right. There is a LOT to disagree with across the readings, and we don’t all have to agree on everything.
You cannot possibly read every word, or every page, or master all the ideas, and that’s just fine. I expect you to gain a familiarity across all the readings so that you can write a thoughtful response about them. Because we cover a lot of ground over the whole semester, broad familiarity is far more important than specific details.
True literacy is not just understanding words and sentences. It’s being able to read relatively quickly, think critically about what you read, and take away something useful from it (or decide you don’t need to). That’s one of the things we’re deliberately practicing in this course.