Anthropology 365 Food and Culture Online WORKING Syllabus Summer 2018 Instructor: Christina W. O’Bryan Office: Condon 274 Drop-in office hours: 2:30-4:00 Tuesdays & appointments in person, by phone or on Skype (or your favorite Skype-alternative—just give me a little time to learn it). Email: cwobryan@uoregon.edu COURSE DESCRIPTION Unless you are ailing or fasting, you eat every day. Is the food you eat a collection of biochemical substances that sustain your life? Or does eating have social, cultural and symbolic value? What, if anything, does it mean when you choose not to eat? Does it mean you are sick? Does it mean that you just aren’t hungry in the moment? Or does not-eating also have social, cultural and symbolic value? What are the biological underpinnings of the relationships of human beings to their food? The food we eat serves more than the biological need to nourish. It is also a part of our cultural nourishment in social behaviors, relationships and ideas and culture is part of the unique array of adaptations we have as human beings. This is a biocultural course in nutritional anthropology, which means that it examines issues relating to food from the perspectives of two subfields in our discipline—biological anthropology and cultural anthropology. We not only explore both biological and cultural aspects to food but how they interact. For example, consider the human gut, which appears to be like a second brain which mediates—among other things—immune function. So, what is the role of the food we choose in the health of the gut, i.e., what is the relation of culture to the biological action of the gut? Are there evolutionary considerations that may have influenced our adaptations in human digestion? How are processes of culture part of evolutionary biology in relation to food? What are the social and environmental consequences of how humans feed themselves? These and other considerations are part of “Food and Culture” and this course fulfills a departmental requirement for anthropology majors which can be applied to satisfy a requirement for either a biological anthropological course or a cultural anthropological course. This online summer version of the course is intended to provide you with the full 10week course in a condensed period of time, so you will want to plan your workload accordingly. Summer 2017 Anthropology 365 Food and Culture 2 of 8 COURSE OBJECTIVES A primary goal of this university is to help you to develop critical thinking skills. The primary goal of this course is to support development of your critical thinking in regard to social, environmental, symbolic, and evolutionary aspects of human foodways. In this context, critical thinking is not only about being critical or taking arguments and assertions apart. It is about developing within your intellect tools to wonder expansively and explore with attention to contexts of arguments. I hope that you will become a more critical consumer not just of the food you eat but of the processes by which it becomes part of your nourishment as well as some of the meanings that are attached to how you nourish yourself and your friends and family. By the end of the course, you should have enough information to appreciate what anthropologists call different “Foodways.” You will have tools to continue exploring in many directions the biological and cultural aspects of food and culture, but in particular, you will have tools to: 1. Decipher and deconstruct a meal nutritionally and culturally. 2. Explain the chain of circumstances, environments and people through which the food you eat had to pass before it could arrive in your mouth. 3. Explain the biocultural perspective as articulated in this course—in particular, the difference between bio anthro and cultural perspectives. 4. What are your goals and objectives for taking this course? (e.g., general education requirements, major field, food for life, ______, ______?) ACCOMMODATIONS If you have issues that affect how you function academically—e.g., if English is not your first language or if you hae documented learning issues like learning disorders or disabilities that affect how you process the various tasks involved in this course, please let me know at the beginning of the term so that I can make appropriate adjustments. Be sure to document any learning issues with the Accessible Education office (http://aec.uoregon.edu/). Some of the lectures and other materials for this term are primarily available through YouTube. REQUIRED READINGS AND OTHER RESOURCES Required textbooks and readings: • Nutritional Anthropology: Biocultural Perspectives on Food and Nutrition by Darna Dufour, Alan Goodman and Gretchen Pelto. New York: Oxford University Press. 2012. (NA) • Other readings will be posted on Canvas. COURSE STRUCTURE This course is organized around • readings and lectures and assignments from the instructor and • a mini-research project in which you will teach each other about something related to food and culture which interests you. • The mini-project will include some ethnographic field work and will consist of 3 parts: 1. a short, online presentation (3 to 5 minute video of your own narrated PowerPoint or other video format if you already know how to do it). Instructions will be provided if you don’t know how to do this already and Summer 2017 Anthropology 365 Food and Culture 3 of 8 there will be support for doing this through Dr. O’Bryan and the tech help desk (541-346-HELP). A sample video from another course will be provided in the Research Project module. 2. Peer feedback through the discussion board to an assigned group of your fellow students. 3. A final paper -- 1500-2000 words. Guidelines for your research project are provided on the canvas website under Modules. There is no midterm and there is no final exam. However, your project--the presentation, the feedback and the final paper--should all demonstrate your familiarity with all of the readings and lectures in the course. GRADES Breakdown of grading percentages 40% discussion board assignments and participation 60 % Research project: 1. (20 %) 3-5 minute narrated online presentation (instructions will be provided along with moral and at least some technical support) 2. (15 %) peer feedback 3. (25%) final paper Some written work will be uploaded through Vericite, so if you have problems with it, please get help from the tech help desk in the Computing Center (541/346-4412). If you have questions about content or about assignments, contact Dr. O’Bryan or John O’Connor. Grading Guidelines: A: Does the assignment exceptionally well—richer, deeper analysis and insightful discussion. Outstanding written work and participation. Shows a very high quality of understanding of course material. B: Does more than just the assignment and does it well. Very good written work and participation. Shows a high quality of understanding of course material. C: Does the assignment but nothing more. Acceptable written work and participation. Shows an understanding of course material. D: Does not really do the assignment. Poor written work. Shows minimal understanding of course material. F: Does not really do the assignment. Incomplete work and/or shows a lack of understanding of course material. Final grades will be determined as follows: 97-100 = A+ 87-89 = B+ 77-79 = C+ 60-69 = D
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