food, culture, and storytelling (fall 2017)

ENVA 390: Food, Culture, and Storytelling

Tues & Thurs 4:35–6:20 pm, Education 104

Professor David Silver (dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu)

Office / hours: Kalmanovitz 141, Tues & Thurs 1–2 pm & by appointment

This course examines the interplay between food and culture with a focus on cultural diversity and environmental sustainability. Using the SF/Bay Area as our landscape and laboratory, students will explore multiple examples of food production, preparation, and consumption. A production class, students will translate their findings into stories – spoken, written, photographic, and multimedia – to be shared within and outside the classroom. No production experience necessary.

 

Calendar

Week 1

Tuesday, 8/22: Introductions and expectations.

Thursday, 8/24: Demo Day 1: “Everything I ate and drank yesterday” project – presented and discussed in class.

Week 2

Tuesday, 8/29: Read Kathleen Collins, “Julia Child and Revolution in the Kitchen,” from Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows (Continuum, 2009): 71-100.

Thursday, 8/31: Demo Day 2: Food celebrity project.

Week 3

Tuesday, 9/5: Read Sandra Cate, “‘Breaking Bread with a Spread’ in a San Francisco County Jail,” Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies (Summer 2008): 17-24.

Thursday, 9/7: Demo Day 3: Lunch project.

Week 4

Tuesday, 9/12: Read selections from Diana Abu-Jaber, Trudy Condio, EL Cortés, Julie Dash, Louise DeSalvo, Elizabeth Ehrlich, Linda Furiya, Lucy Knisley, Jhumpa Lahiri, Andre Lorde, Paula Martinac, Jane Ormondroyd, Ruth Reichl, Leah Ryan, Ntozake Shange, Calvin Trillin, and Gloria Wade-Gayles.

Thursday, 9/14: Continue selections from Abu-Jaber, Condio, Cortés, Dash, DeSalvo, Ehrlich, Furiya, Knisley, Lahiri, Lorde, Martinac, Ormondroyd, Reichl, Ryan, Shange, Trillin, and Wade-Gayles. Also read: Bonnie Tsui, Shakirah Simley, Stephen Satterfield, Dakota Kim and Tunde Wey, “Why We Can’tTalk About Race in Food,” Civil Eats (June 27, 2017).

Week 5

Tuesday, 9/19: Demo Day 4: Food heritage project.

Thursday, 9/21: Cooking workshop at St Cyprians.

Week 6

Tuesday, 9/26: Read Vandana Shiva, “Manifestos on the Future of Seed” (2007): 76-102; and William Black, “How Watermelons Became a Racist Trope,” The Atlantic (December 8, 2014). 

Thursday, 9/28: No class. (David will be attending the Black Mountain College Conference in Asheville, North Carolina. We will pool these hours for two Thursday night community dinners (October 5 and November 2) at St Cyprian’s Church (Turk & Lyon).

Week 7

Tuesday, 10/3: Seed packet workshop in Gleeson Library. During class, we’ll take a field trip to USF Seed Library and meet Gleeson librarians Debbie Benrubi and Carol Spector.

Thursday, 10/5 Demo Day 5: Story Tell under the USF Sukkah. Also, as a class, we will attend the community dinner at St Cyprian’s from 6-8 pm.

Week 8

Tuesday, 10/10: Readings to be determined.

Thursday, 10/12: Storytelling Workshop with Sophia Lorenzi, Program Manager at Real Food Real Stories.

Week 9

Tuesday, 10/17: No class: Fall break.

Thursday, 10/19: Read Rebecca Solnit, “Revolutionary Plots: Urban agriculture is producing a lot more than food,” Orion Magazine (July/August 2012); and watch Ron Finley, “A guerilla gardener in South Central LA,” TED Talk (February 2013). Also, read selections from Urban Food Stories blog.

Week 10

Tuesday, 10/24: Read Black Panther Party, “Free Breakfast for Schoolchildren Program” and “Free Food Program,” in David Hiliard, editor, The Black Panther Party: Service to the People Programs (University of New Mexico Press, 2008): 30-39.

Also, read selections from Urban Food Stories blog.

Thursday, 10/26: No class during normal class-time. Instead, we will attend, as a class, USF’s Performing Arts Department’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s Public Enemy at 8 pm.

Week 11

Tuesday, 10/31: Demo Day 6: Urban Ag/Urban Food project.

Thursday, 11/2: Story Tell workshop. Also, as a class, we will attend the community dinner at St Cyprian’s (6-8 pm) and stage a group Story Tell at the dinner.

Week 12

Tuesday, 11/7: Recipe-related readings to be determined.

Thursday, 11/9: Recipe workshop.

Week 13

Tuesday, 11/14: Read Michael Pollan, “Out of theKitchen, Onto the Couch,” New York Times Magazine (August 2, 2009); and Tom Sietsema, "At the heart of every restaurant," Washington Post (August 7, 2017).

Thursday, 11/16: Baking workshop at St Cyprians.

Week 14

Tuesday, 11/21: Watch Agnès Varda, The Gleaners and I (2000): 82 minutes. Read Wendell Berry, “The Pleasures of Eating,” in Robert Clark, editor, Our Sustainable Table (North Point Press, 1990): pp. 125-131.

Thursday, 11/23: No class: Thanksgiving.

Week 15

Tuesday, 11/28: Guest lecture: Eric Andraos, Sets Shading Lead at Pixar. Readings to be determined.

Thursday, 11/30: Demo Day 7: Gleaning project.

Week 16

Tuesday, 12/5: Dinner project.

There is no final in this class.

Grading

Demo Days (7 x 10 points each)        70

Class Participation                              30

Attendance Policy

Attendance is crucial. Missing class (or attending class unprepared) will significantly affect your final grade. If you do miss class, contact a classmate to find out what you missed and ask to borrow her or his notes. Then, do it again with a different classmate. After doing this, if you have questions email me.

Academic Integrity

Plagiarism is using another person’s words, works, and/or ideas without giving appropriate credit. Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic honor and personal integrity and can result in failing an assignment, being removed from this course, or even being asked to leave USF. Plus, it’s just lazy.

Rules

1. No late work accepted.
2. In class and on field trips, no drinking out of non-reusable containers.

3. On Demo Days, we will share our work. If you have no new work on Demo Day, do not come to class.

Please note:

On numerous occasions – 3 to be exact – class takes place outside of regular class-time. On 10/5 and 11/2, we will be attending the St Cyprian’s community dinner until 8 pm. On 10/26, class will meet at 8 pm to attend USF’s Performing Arts Department’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s Public Enemy. Please plan accordingly.