Social Analysis 70
Food and Culture
Harvard University
Department of Anthropology
Spring Semester, 2006
Lectures: Mondays & Wednesdays 10:05-11:00
Prof. James L. Watson
WatsonÕs Office hours: Tues.
10:00-11:00, Wed 11:15-12:15
Office: 370 William James
Hall
jwatson@wjh.harvard.edu
Head TF: Peter Benson
(pbenson@fas.harvard.edu)
Required Texts
Harris, Marvin. Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and
Culture. Waveland Press (1998). ISBN 1-57766-015-3 (paperback).
Watson, James L. and Melissa
L. Caldwell (editors), The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: A Reader. Basil Blackwell (2005). ISBN 0-6312-3093-9 (paperback)
Watson, James L. (editor), Golden
Arches East: McDonaldÕs in East Asia. Stanford University Press (1997). ISBN 0-8047-3205-8 (paperback).
Plus a set of readings
(articles and book chapters) reproduced as a Core Program Source Book. Other readings are available as
E-Reserves (on JSTOR, etc.) A
complete list of Course Readings, plus a weekly reading schedule, will be
posted on the course web site.
Recommended Text
Freidberg, Susanne. French Beans and Food Scares:
Culture and Commerce in an Anxious Age
(2004). Oxford University Press.
General Information
This course treats food as a
ÒlensÓ for the examination of political, economic, and social issues. Please
note that this is not a survey of nutritional or dietetic sciences.
Topics to be covered include:
Food and power relationships; gift giving and reciprocity; food exchanges and
the social construction of groups; food as a marker of social boundaries; food
taboos and restrictions; food symbolism and identity; fasting and abstinence;
food etiquette and manners; body image and the politics of obesity; standardization
of food preferences; globalization of food industries; changes in dietary
patterns; famine and food emergencies; vegetarianism and alternative
consumption regimes; food security and agroterrorism; trade barriers and global
food provisioning; bioengineering and the creation of new foods.
Course Web Site
http://my.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?course=fas-sa70
Students are advised to check
this web site at least once each week for announcements and postings relevant
to the course.
Lectures and Section
Meetings
Registered students are required
to attend a one-hour SECTION meeting each week (20% of the overall course grade
will be based on section participation).
Times and places of sections will be announced during the second week of
class. Please note that the LECTURES will not necessarily parallel the topics
covered in the SECTION meetings.
Course Requirements
Registered students are
required to take two exams (MIDTERM and FINAL) and write one RESEARCH
PAPER in order to fulfill the requirements for this course. The midterm is scheduled for Wednesday 22 March 2006 during the regular lecture period (in the course
lecture hall). The final
exam is tentatively scheduled for Friday, 19 May 2006, at a time and place to be determined by the
RegistrarÕs Office.
Topics for RESEARCH PAPERS
are to be chosen after
consultation with section leaders.
A list of suggested topics is appended to this course outline; please
note that the list is not meant to be prescriptive.
RESEARCH PAPERS should be no
more than 20 (typed/printed) double-spaced pages in length (12 point font), with separate
bibliography and a complete set of footnotes or endnotes citing sources
used. Section leaders will
discuss guidelines for the preparation of research papers later in the
course. Please consult with your
section leader before starting work on a paper topic. Deadline for paper submission is 26 April 2006.
GRADUATE STUDENTS who wish to
take this course for credit are required to write a Research Paper and take the
Final Exam on the date specified (no extensions or exceptions permitted). Graduate students are not required to
take the Midterm Exam and are not expected to attend Section Meetings. Graduate students will not be
given ÒIncompleteÓ grades for this course. Please consult with
Prof. Watson before writing a Research Paper (topics must be cleared in
advance).
Grading Scheme
FINAL GRADES (for registered
undergraduates) will be determined as follows:
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 35%
Section Participation 20%
Research Paper 30%
Library Reserve and
Reading List
Books and reference materials
required for this course will be kept on reserve at the TOZZER LIBRARY (located
next to the Peabody Museum, on Divinity Avenue). A course READING LIST (with weekly assignments) will be
distributed during the first week of class (and will be posted on the course
web site).
Lecture Schedule
Week 1
(1 Feb) Outline of Course.
Week 2
(6 Feb) Food in the Hindu Caste System, I
(8 Feb) Hindu Caste System, II
Week 3
(13 Feb) Mosaic Food Restrictions
(15 Feb) Kosher Practices in the Contemporary
World
Week 4
(20 Feb) No Class, PresidentsÕ Day
(22 Feb) Debate: Explanations of Food Taboos
Week 5
(27 Feb) Christianity and Dietary History
(1 Mar) QurÕanic Food Restrictions
Week 6
(6 Mar) Halal: Food and Modern Muslim
Identities
(8 Mar) Cantonese Ancestor Worship and
Food Exchange (with slides)
Week 7
(13 Mar) Meat, Rice, & Nationalism
(15 Mar) Food as Gift, Food as Threat:
Potlatch, Reciprocity, and Exchange (with associated exhibit at Peabody Museum,
see link on course web site)
Week 8
(20 Mar) Food and Revolution: Public
Canteens in Maoist China
(22 Mar) MIDTERM EXAM (in class)
Week 9
(27 Mar & 29 Mar) SPRING BREAK (no classes)
Week 10
(3 Apr) McDonaldÕs in Late-Soviet Moscow
(video)
(5 Apr) Globalization and Localization:
Transnational Food Corporations
Week 11
(10 Apr) Class, Social Hierarchy, and Cuisines
(12 Apr) Vegetarianism, KelloggÕs, and the
American Breakfast
Week 12
(17 Apr) Nostalgia Cuisine, Postmodernity, and
Cultural Identity
(19 Apr) Etiquette and Table Manners
Week 13
(24 Apr) Obesity in the USA: Explanations and
Debates (guest lecture by Prof. David Cutler, Economics Department, Harvard)
(26 Apr) Body Image, Fat, and Food
[RESEARCH PAPER DUE Wednesday, 26 April 2006]
Week 14
(1 May) Mad Cows, Food Panics, and the
ÒOrganicÓ Revolution
(3 May) Bioengineering and the Future of
Food
Suggested Topics for Research
Papers
Feel free to select other
topics if the following are not of interest. Before proceeding, however, discuss your topic with your
section leader:
1) Drawing Ethnic Boundaries with Food.
2)
Observing Kosher Restrictions in the Modern/Postmodern World.
3) The
Structure and Social History of Islamic (Halal) Food Restrictions.
4) Pigs
and Ethnic Boundaries in Central Asia/Northwest China/Indonesia/Malaysia.
5) The
Structure of Italian/Hungarian/Japanese/Brazilian/Greek/Cuban/English Cuisine.
6) The
Social History of European Eating Utensils.
7) The
Etiquette of Eating-By-Hand in India/Southeast Asia/North Africa.
8) The
Social History and Etiquette of Chopstick Eating.
9)
Food and the Symbolism of Exchange in the ---------- Buddhist Context.
10) Passover
Rites and the Symbolism of Food in Jewish Culture.
11) Fasting as
a Political and/or Religious Act.
12) Ramadan in
the Postindustrial World.
13) The
Cultural/Biological/Evolutionary Significance of Human Fat.
14) As American
As Apple Pie: Foods and the
Pursuit of National Identity.
15) Food,
Caste, and Politics in Modern India.
16) Defining
"Food": The Limits of the Human Diet.
17) The Social
History of Food Preservation.
18) Food and
Foodways in the Archaeological Record.
19) Rituals of
Coffee and/or Tea Drinking in --------- Society.
20) The
Organization of Meals in the Modern American Family: Unity or Fragmentation?
21)
Territoriality in Fast Food Restaurants: Privacy and the Commodification of Space.
22) Status
Rankings of American Restaurants: A Yuppie World View.
23) Let's Do
Lunch: Food, Status, and Power among American Business Executives.
24)
Vegetarianism in the United States/India/England/Japan/China/Wales.
25) Food and
Egalitarianism in Communist Societies: The End of High Cuisine?
26) Food Taboos
in Modern America: The Social
Construction of ÒMeat.Ó
27) Cooking and
the Sexual Division of Labor.
28) Food Fit
For The Gods: Feeding and Eating in the ------ Religious Context.
29) Food For
Royalty: Dining at the ------ Court.
30) Fusion
Foods and Ethnic Blending in Modern America.
31) Food in
Total Institutions (e.g., prisons, mental hospitals, nursing homes, etc.).
32) The Gift of
Food: Reciprocity, Exchange, and Social Status in Modern Mexico.
33) Eating
Alone: Food Consumption in Social Isolation.
34) Vitamins
and Changing Notions of Health in the USA.
35) Famine
Food: Feeding and Eating during Crises.
36) Insects as
Food for Humans.
37)
"Hot" and "Cold" Foods in Non-Western Medical
System(s).
38) The Role of
Fish and Fish Eating in the History of Christianity.
39) Miracles
and Food in the --------- Religious Context.
40) Food For
Thought: Folk Notions of Brain Stimulation and Intellectual Development.
41) Is There a
ÒGlobal CuisineÓ? Fast Foods in
Transnational Contexts.
42) Rice and
Nationalism in Japan/Taiwan/Korea.
43) A Social
History of the Hot ÒChiliÓ Pepper (Capsicum).
44) The
Introduction of the Sweet Potato and its Impact on Chinese Demographic History
45) Maize
(Corn) and Social Stigma in the European Diet: Class and Consumption.
46) Kosher
Restrictions and McDonaldÕs in Israel:
Hold the Cheese.
47) Chicken
Dinners and Smorgasbords: Church
Life in the American Midwest.
48) Halal Foods
in Boston: Defining Communities of
Muslims.
49) Nostalgia
Cuisine in the African-American Community: Reliving the Struggle?
50) Spam as an
American Cultural Icon: More Than
Just a Food?
51) Spam in
Korea: The Social History of
Military Cuisine.
52) Coca Cola
and the Vietnamese Market:
Americana Returns.
53) Greenpeace
and ÒFrankenfoodsÓ: Reactions to Bioengineering in Europe.