community garden outreach (spring 2012)

Community Garden Outreach
Environmental Studies 145
Thursdays, 12:45 – 4:25 pm, in the USF Garden

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanovitz 141
Office Hours: Tues 1 – 2 pm & by appointment
Contact: dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Community Garden Outreach introduces students to ideas, skills, and practices in ultra-local, urban-based food production and distribution. Through course readings and discussions, harvesting in the USF garden, running the campus farmstand, and working on group projects, students will gain first-hand knowledge of and experience in ultra-local, urban-based food systems.


Learning Outcomes
1. Develop practical skills in harvesting, preparing, preserving, and distributing food;
2. Gain hands-on experience in designing, implementing, publicizing, and administering the campus farmstand;
3. Learn how to collaborate creatively and effectively.

Course Schedule
This course meets once-a-week for fifteen weeks. Approximately one-third of our class periods will be spent discussing assigned readings and films, sharing ideas and progress on group projects, and brainstorming our next farmstand. Another one-third of our class periods will be spent in cooking and homesteading workshops in the community kitchen at St. Cyprian's Church (2097 Turk Street). A final one-third of our class periods will be spent setting up, administering, documenting, and breaking down our campus farmstands.

Grading
33% - Quizzes, homework, in-class assignments, weekly reflections, and class participation.
33% - Participation in and contribution to campus farmstands, including designing, setting up, publicizing, preparing food, administering, documenting, and cleaning up.
33% - Individual contribution to group project. This includes: selecting a topic that sustains your attention for a semester; working with other team-members in a collective and generous manner; and devoting at least four hours a week to your project.

Attendance Policy
Missing class, or attending class unprepared, will significantly affect your final grade. If you do miss class, contact a classmate to find out what we discussed in class and ask to borrow his or her notes. Then, do the same with a second classmate. After doing this, if you have questions about missed material, visit me during office hours or send me an email.

Rules
1. No late work accepted.
2. No drinking out of non-reusable containers during class.

green media (spring 2012)

MS 301: Green Media
Tues & Thurs 9:55 – 11:40 am
Lone Mountain 350

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanovitz 141
Office Hours: Tues 1 – 2 pm & by appointment
Contact: dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Green Media is an advanced production media studies course devoted to making media about making food. In this class, we will learn how to combine words, photographs, video, and social media to tell and share compelling stories about food and food production. Along the way, we will explore different meanings of food, food politics, and connections between food and culture.


Learning Outcomes
1. Learn how to use social media to make and share engaging stories about food and food production;
2. Develop a unique, creative, and compelling voice within your media work; and
3. Learn how to collaborate creatively and effectively.

Course Texts/Costs
o All readings are free and online, available for free via Gleeson Library, or available for free outside my office.
o Students are required to purchase a flickr pro account ($25/year).
o Throughout the semester, students will accrue a number of food-related costs, including homework assignments involving shopping at local farmer’s markets and purchasing ingredients to cook or bake class-related assignments.

Course Schedule
On Tuesdays, we will discuss readings, films, and videos about food, food production, food politics, and food and culture. All readings/viewings will be assigned at least a week prior to being discussed. On Thursdays, we will have social media workshops in class, cooking workshops in the kitchen at St. Cyprian's Church (2097 Turk Street), and Demo Days – class periods when students demonstrate their green media. There is no final exam.

Grading
Quizzes, homework, and in class assignments - 20%
Class and online participation - 30%
Projects - 50%

Attendance Policies
o Missing class, or attending class unprepared, will significantly affect your final grade.
o If you do miss class, contact a classmate to find out what we discussed in class and ask to borrow his or her notes. Then, do the same with a second classmate. After doing this, if you have questions about missed material, visit me during office hours or send me an email.
o On Demo Days, a completed assignment is your ticket to ride. If you have not completed the assignment, do not come to class.

Rules
1. No late work accepted.
2. No drinking out of non-reusable containers during class.

mid-term 2 study guide

Mid-term 2 for Intro to Media Studies covers all the assigned readings, lectures, and guest lectures from September 27 to November 1. The test includes 33 multiple choice, true or false, and fill-in questions. You have the entire class period to take the test.

In preparing for mid-term 2, you should read and understand the following:

Steven Lubar, “Radio,” in InfoCulture: The Smithsonian Book of Information Age Inventions (Houghton Mifflin Co, 1993), pp. 213-241.

Reyhan Harmanci, Battle over KUSF’s Future Rages On, The Bay Citizen, March 19, 2011.

Sami Grover, Cutting-Edge Animation & Video, Made in Off-Grid Treehouses, Treehugger blog, July 20, 2011.

Robert A. Rosentone, “The Historical Film: Looking at the Past in a Postliterate Age,” in Marcia Landy (ed), The Historical Film: History and Memory in Media (Rutgers University Press, 2000): pp. 50-66.

Richard Campbell, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos, “Television and the Power of Visual Culture,” Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, 7th edition (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010), pp. 143-171.

Joseph Turow, “Understanding the Strategies of Media Giants,” Media Today: An Introduction to Mass Communication, 4th edition (Routledge, 2011): pp. 192-223.

You should also review your class notes and be familiar with the following:

* early amateur radio and DIY culture
* radio's development into a consumer product
* radio and advertising
* radio and war
* the current state of KUSF
* Trout Gulch
* How-to Homestead
* Professor Kaiser's lecture about film and memory
* mainstream films construction of historical worlds
* early television sponsorship
* quiz shows
* the economics of reality tv
* threats and challenges to television
* the basic strategies of Disney, News Corp, and Google
* Professor Silver's lecture on Bob Dylan.

Also, review notes from class discussions of popular music projects and student media fasts.

Friendly reminder: consider studying and discussing this material with a classmate or small group.

#occupywallstreet homework

During class on September 13, we discussed the current issue of Adbusters magazine, including their project #occupywallstreet.


Yesterday, September 27th, I asked students whether they thought #occupywallstreet had actually happened. Most of you said no. Then I asked if you thought it was still going on. Even more of you said no.

Your homework for Thursday, in addition to the reading on KUSF, is to answer the following three questions:

1. What's happening with #occupywallstreet?
2. What was the source or sources you used to find out what's happening?
3. Why did you use this source or sources?

You should be able to fit your answers within one-third of a sheet of paper. Your homework is due at the beginning of class.

mid-term 1 study guide

Mid-term 1 for Intro to Media Studies covers all the assigned readings and all the lectures from August 25th to September 15th. The test includes approximately 30 multiple choice, true or false, and fill-in questions and one brief (1 page written) essay. You have the entire class period to take the test.

In preparing for mid-term 1, you should read (or listen to) and understand the following:

J. Charles Sterin, “Early American Newspaper Publishing,” from Mass Media Revolution, pp. 96-101.

Richard Campbell, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos, “Magazines in the Age of Specialization,” Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, 7th edition, pp. 280-303.

Tom Standage, A special report on the news industry: Bulletins from the future (especially The people formerly known as the audience; and The Foxification of news), The Economist, July 7, 2011.

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Late Night "Thank You Notes" From Jimmy Fallon, NPR, May 23, 2011 (45 minutes).

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Covering "Tainted Justice" And Winning A Pulitzer, NPR, May 3, 2010 (38 minutes).

You should also review the syllabus and your class notes and be familiar with the following:

* 10 elements of new media
* early stages of US newspapers
* the relationships among the Industrial Revolution, urbanization, literacy, and newspapers
* the relationships between news and technologies
* why newsrooms matter
* journalism and justice ("tainted justice")
* magazines as mass media
* muckrakers
* jacob riis
* magazines and gender
* magazines and specialization
* magazines and visual culture
* magazines and consumer society
* the relationships between transportation and media

Also, review notes from class discussions of Adbusters and Rebecca Solnit’s Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas.

Friendly suggestion: consider studying and discussing this material with a classmate or small group.

community garden outreach (spring 2011)

Community Garden Outreach
Environmental Studies 145
Fridays 11:45 am – 3:25 pm
Hayes Healy Formal Lounge

Professor Melinda Stone
Office: Kalmanovitz 120
Office Hours: Wed 10 – 12 & by appointment
Contact: stone [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu / 422-5755

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanovitz 141
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 3 – 4 pm & by appointment
Contact: [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Community Garden Outreach introduces students to environmental, cultural, social, political, and philosophical issues that circulate through and around food production, preparation, and distribution. Through readings, guests, and class discussions, students will learn about sustainable and unsustainable systems of food production. Through field trips, homestead workshops, and our on-campus farmstand, students will engage directly with various sustainable food practices. This service-learning course is offered in tandem with Justin Valone’s Urban Ag II and both are part of USF’s Garden Project living learning community.

Learning Goals:
1. To continue managing – effectively and collaboratively – the campus farmstand;
2. To develop advanced skills in preparing, preserving, and distributing food; and
3. Through field trips to San Francisco/Bay Area urban farms and gardens, to explore first-hand some of challenges and opportunities in urban agriculture.


Course Schedule:
Friday, January 28
Re-introductions

Friday, February 4
First Friday Farmstand

Friday, February 11
Field trip to Little City Gardens
Prior to field trip, read Chloe Roth, Little City Gardens makes a go of urban agriculture in San Francisco, SFGate, April 29, 2010; and Robert Selna, Urban agriculture: S.F. considers allowing sales, SFGate, December 23, 2010.

Friday, February 18
Homestead Workshop: Making Herbal salves, oils, teas and tinctures with Sarah Duscoe
Prior to homestead workshop, read: Sarah Holmes, Western Herbalism, September 11, 2000; Matthew Wood, The Three Basic Principles of Traditional Western Herbalism; and Jane E. Brody, Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You, New York Times, January 26, 2009.

Friday, February 25
Garden Guests: Daniel Tucker and Anne Hamersky
Read selected chapters from Amy Franceschini and Daniel Tucker’s Farm Together Now: A portrait of people, places and ideas for a new food movement (2010).

Friday, March 4
First Friday Farmstand

Friday, March 11
Field trip to UCSC Farm
Prior to field trip, read Patricia Allen and Martha Brown, Sustainable Agriculture at UC Santa Cruz, CASFS.

Friday, March 18
SPRING BREAK

Friday, March 25
Homestead Workshop: Foraging with Justin Valone
Readings TBD.

Friday, April 1
First Friday Farmstand

Friday, April 8
Garden Guest: Heather Hoag
Readings TBD.

Friday, April 15
Field trip to Garden for the Environment
Read: Can City Farmers Make a Living? Activist Eli Zigas on the Challenges of Urban Agriculture, Good, January 11, 2011.

Friday, April 22
Good Friday: No class.

Friday, April 29
Garden Guest: Marco Perez Navarrete, Permaculture Institute of El Salvador
Read selections from Raj Patel, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System (Melville House, 2008).

Friday, May 6
First Friday Farmstand

This class has no final.


Course Grading:
Weekly Reflections - 40%
Farmstand Participation - 40%
Classroom Participation - 20%

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

green media (2011)

Green Media
Media Studies 301
Tuesday & Thursdays 12:45 – 2:30 pm
Education 319

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanovitz 141
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 3 – 4 pm & by appointment
dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Green Media is a media studies production class devoted to making media about making food. In this class, we will learn how to use social media to research, prepare, document, and share a selection of dishes and meals. Along the way, we will explore different meanings of food, the history of television cooking shows, connections between food and culture, and strategies for seasonal cooking.


Learning Outcomes:
1. To learn how to use social media to make and share media about making food;
2. To develop a unique, creative, and compelling voice within your media work; and
3. To learn how to collaborate creatively and effectively.

Books:
o Kathleen Collins' Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows (Continuum, 2009).
o Novella Carpenter's Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer (Penguin Press, 2009).
o Although you will be able to complete your assignments with a free flickr account, you are strongly encouraged to purchase a flickr pro account for $25/year.

Calendar:
Tuesday, January 25
Introductions.

Thursday, January 27
Read: Patricia Harris, David Lyon, and Sue McLaughlin, “Food & Life,” from The Meaning of Food, pp. 1-59. Twitter Workshop.

Tuesday, February 1
Read: Kathleen Collins, “Stirrings: Radio, Home Economists, and James Beard,” from Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows, pp. 13-43.

Thursday, February 3
Read: Collins, “La Cuisine and Canned Soup: Dione Lucas vs. Convenience,” from Watching What We Eat, pp. 44-68. Flickr Workshop, Part 1

Tuesday, February 8
Read: Mark Bittman, Chop, Fry, Boil: Eating for One, or 6 Billion, New York Times, December 31, 2010. Flickr Workshop, Part 2.

Thursday, February 10
Demo Day: Breakfast Project

Tuesday, February 15
Read: Collins, “Julia Child and Revolution in the Kitchen,” from Watching What We Eat, pp. 71-100.

Thursday, February 17
Read: Brother Rick Curry, S.J., “Making Bread,” from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, pp. 11-21; Molly Katzen, "An Illustrated Guide to the Baking of Yeast Bread," from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, pp. 86-95. Wordpress Workshop.

Tuesday, February 22
Read: Collins, “The Me Decade and the Galloping Gourmet” & “Cultural Capital and the Frugal Gourmet,” from Watching What We Eat, pp. 101-155.

Thursday, February 24
Demo Day: Baking Bread Project

Tuesday, March 1
Read: Collins, “A Network of Its Own,” from Watching What We Eat, pp. 159-185.

Thursday, March 3
Read: Collins, “Good Television” & “‘Democratainment’: Gender, Class, and the Rachael-Martha Continuum,” from Watching What We Eat, pp. 186-231.

Tuesday, March 8
Read: Collins, “Evolution: How Did We Get Here and What’s On Next?” from Watching What We Eat, pp. 232-252.

Thursday, March 10
Demo Day: Food Person Project

March 15 & 17
SPRING BREAK

Tuesday, March 22
Read: Patricia Harris, David Lyon, and Sue McLaughlin, “Food & Culture,” from The Meaning of Food, pp. 61-105.

Thursday, March 24
Read: Sandra Cate, “‘Breaking Bread with a Spread’ in the San Francisco County Jail,” Gastronomica, Summer 2008, pp. 17-24.

Tuesday, March 29
Demo Day: Food and Culture Project

Thursday, March 31
Watch: Food, Inc.

Tuesday, April 5
Read: Lisa Miller, Divided We Eat, Newsweek, November 22, 2010.

Thursday, April 7
Read: Michael Pollan, Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch, New York Times Magazine, August 2, 2009.

Tuesday, April 12
Read: Elizabeth Kolbert, Green Like Me, The New Yorker, August 31, 2009; and Rachel Laudan, “A Plea for Culinary Modernism: Why We Should Love Fast, New, Processed Food,” Gastronomica, February 2001, pp. 36-44.

Thursday, April 14
Demo Day: Lunch Project

Tuesday, April 19
Read: Kim Severson, Neighbor, Can You Spare a Plum? New York Times, June 10, 2009; Fallen Fruit, “Take Back the Fruit: Public Space and Community Activism, from Food, edited by John Knechtel (MIT Press, 2007).

Thursday, April 21
No class.

Tuesday, April 26
Guest: Marco Perez Navarrete, Permaculture Institute of El Salvador. Readings TBD.

Thursday, April 28
Demo Day: Seasonal Dish Project

Tuesday, May 3
Read: Novella Carpenter, “Turkey,” from Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, pp. 1-98.

Thursday, May 5
Read: Carpenter, “Rabbit,” from Farm City, pp. 99-184.

Tuesday, May 10
Read: Carpenter, “Pig,” from Farm City, pp. 185-269. Guest: Novella Carpenter.

Thursday, May 12
Demo Day: Last Supper Project

This class has no final exam.


Grading:
Quizzes, homework, and in class assignments - 30%
Class participation - 20%
Projects - 30%
Demo Days - 20%

Attendance Policy:
Missing class, or attending class unprepared, will significantly affect your final grade. If you do miss class, contact a classmate or two to find out what we discussed in class and ask to borrow their notes. After doing this, if you have questions about missed material, visit me during office hours.

Rules:
1. No late work accepted.
2. No drinking out of non-reusable containers during class.

golden gate park (spring 2011)

Golden Gate Park
First-Year Seminar
Harney Science Center 143
Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:55-11:40

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanavitz 141
Office hours: Tues & Thurs 3-4 pm
Contact: dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Golden Gate Park is a First-Year Seminar that explores the history, built environment, popular narratives, and mixed uses of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Through readings, class discussions, and library workshops, students will develop a broad and keen understanding of the park; through field trips, students gain valuable on-site experience in and with the park. An accelerated writing seminar, Golden Gate Park fulfills USF’s Core A2 requirement.


Learning Outcomes
In this class, students will learn:
o How to read, analyze, and summarize complex texts from multiple fields and subjects;
o How to develop interesting research questions based on outside research and individual interests;
o How to use Gleeson Library and online tools to find relevant material from a range of sources and disciplines;
o How to write, edit, revise, and polish clear and compelling essays that, when necessary, keep with the conventions of academic and/or professional discourse; and
o How some sand dunes called the Outside Lands became Golden Gate Park.

Required Text:
o Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 2nd Edition (W. W. Norton, 2009)

Course Schedule:
Week 1:
Tuesday, January 25
Introductions.

Thursday, January 27
Read: Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, “‘They Say’: Starting with What Others Are Saying,” in They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (or TSIS), pp. 19-29. Twitter Workshop.

Week 2:
Tuesday, February 1
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘Her Point Is’: The Art of Summarizing,” in TSIS, pp. 30-41; and Raymond H. Clary, “The Birth of American Parks,” in Making of Golden Gate Park: The Early Years: 1865-1906, pp. 1-5.

Thursday, February 3
Read: Clary, “The Beginning of Golden Gate Park” and “The Visionary Plan of William Hammond Hall,” in Making of Golden Gate Park, pp. 11-27.

Week 3:
Tuesday, February 8
Field trip: Conservatory of Flowers

Thursday, February 10
Paper 1 due in class. Library Workshop.

Week 4:
Tuesday, February 15
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘As He Himself Puts It’: The Art of Quoting,” in TSIS, pp. 42-51; and Clary, “Politics in the Park,” in Making of Golden Gate Park, pp. 33-43.

Thursday, February 17
Read: Gray Brechin, Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin, pp. 80-89.

Week 5:
Tuesday, February 22
Field trip (with Peter Novak, Vice Provost for Student Life): National AIDS Memorial Grove. Prior to field trip, read: Christopher Pollock and Erica Katz, “The Eastern End,” in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park: A Thousand and Seventeen Acres of Stories, pp. 12-49; and "About the National AIDS Memorial Grove."

Thursday, February 24
Paper 2 due in class. Library Workshop.

Week 6:
Tuesday, March 1
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘Yes / No / Okay, But’: Three Ways to Respond,” in TSIS, pp. 55-67; and Clary, “Midwinter Fair,” in Making of Golden Gate Park, pp. 110-125.

Thursday, March 3
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘And Yet’: Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say,” in TSIS, pp. 68-77; and Pollock and Katz, “The Music Concourse,” in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, pp. 50-79.

Week 7:
Tuesday, March 8
Field trip: The Music Concourse and The Japanese Tea Garden

Thursday, March 10
Paper 3 due in class. Library Workshop.

Week 8 (March 15 & 17)
SPRING BREAK

Week 9:
Tuesday, March 22
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘Skeptics May Object’: Planting a Naysayer in Your Text,” in TSIS, pp. 78-91; and selections from Christopher Pollock’s Golden Gate Park: San Francisco's Urban Oasis in Vintage Postcards.

Thursday, March 24
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘So What? Who Cares?’: Saying Why It Matters,” in TSIS, pp. 92-101; and Sally B. Woodbridge, John M. Woodbridge, and Chuck Byrne, “Golden Gate Park & Vicinity,” in San Francisco Architecture: An Illustrated Guide to the Outstanding Buildings, Public Art Works, and Parks in the Bay Area of California, pp. 197-205.

Week 10:
Tuesday, March 29
Field trip: The de Young Museum

Thursday, March 31
Paper 4 due in class. USF Roundtable featuring Shawn Calhoun (Gleeson Library); Alex Hochman (Career Center); and Charlene P. Lobo Soriano (First Year Student Services).

Week 11:
Tuesday, April 5
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘As a Result’: Connecting the Parts,” in TSIS, pp. 105-120; and Clary, “The Great Disaster,” Making of Golden Gate Park, pp. 156-169.

Thursday, April 7
Read: Graff and Birkenstein, “‘Ain’t So / Is Not’: Academic Writing Doesn’t Always Mean Setting Aside Your Own Voice,” in TSIS, pp. 121-128.

Week 12:
Tuesday, April 12
Read: James R. Smith, “California Midwinter International Exposition – 1894,” in San Francisco's Lost Landmarks, pp. 111-126.

Thursday, April 14
James R. Smith, “Playland at the Beach,” in San Francisco's Lost Landmarks, pp. 44-53.

Week 13:
Tuesday, April 19
Graff and Birkenstein, “‘But Don’t Get Me Wrong’: The Art of Metacommentary,” in TSIS, pp. 129-138.

Thursday, April 21
Paper 5 due in class. Library Workshop.

Week 14:
Tuesday, April 26
Read: Josh Sides, “The Unspoken Sexuality of Golden Gate Park,” in Erotic City: Sexual Revolutions and the Making of Modern San Francisco, pp. 123-140.

Thursday, April 28
Read: Wikipedia entries for Golden Gate Park; Conservatory of Flowers; AIDS Memorial Grove; Music Concourse; and Japanese Tea Garden.

Week 15:
Tuesday, May 3
Read: Philip J. Dreyfus, “Greening the City,” in Our Better Nature: Environment and the Making of San Francisco, pp. 67-100.

Thursday, May 5
Paper 6 due in class.

Week 16:
Tuesday, May 10
Field trip: The Beach Chalet and Ocean Beach. Prior to field trip, read: Pollock and Katz’s “Facing West,” in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, pp. 112-125.

Thursday, May 12
Reflection Paper due in class.

There is no final exam in this class.


Grading:
Paper 1 - 10%
Paper 2 - 10%
Paper 3 - 10%
Paper 4 - 10%
Paper 5 - 10%
Paper 6 - 10%
Reflection Paper - 10%
Class participation - 15%
Field trip participation - 15%

Attendance Policy:
Because this is an accelerated writing seminar, attendance is crucial. Students are expected to attend each class and field trip, have all readings finished prior to class or field trip, and be ready to participate in class discussions. Missing class, or attending class unprepared, will significantly affect your final grade. If you do miss class, contact a classmate or two to find out what you missed and ask to borrow their notes. After doing this, if you have questions about missed material, visit me during office hours.

Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism is using another person’s words 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.

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

digital media production (fall 2010)

this fall, i'm teaching two classes. one of them is digital media production, or DMP. classes begin august 25, 2010.


digital media production
MWF 10:30-11:35 am
Cowell Hall 313

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanavitz 141
Office Hours: MW 9-10 am
Contact: dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Digital Media Production is a production course designed around creating, sharing, and collaborating with social media. Using tools and platforms like twitter, flickr, blogs, iPad, kiva, Creative Commons, youtube, yelp, USFPool, and Wikileaks, students will explore participatory media, digital storytelling, transmedia, co-authorship, user-generated content, and collective intelligence. Readings and discussions about digital media culture will accompany and inform our production and participation.

Learning Goals:
1. To learn how to use digital media creatively and effectively;
2. To learn how to use digital media collectively and collaboratively; and
3. To learn how to learn new digital media tools quickly and independently.

Course Texts/Costs:
o All readings are either free and online or free via Gleeson Library.
o Although you will be able to complete your assignments with a free flickr account, you are encouraged to purchase a flickr pro account for $25.
o In early October, we will be field tripping to see The Social Network in a local theater which will cost approximately $10.
o All students are required to make at least one $25 micro-loan, via kiva.org, which will be returned in full.

Calendar:
Week 1:
Wed, August 25
o Introduce ourselves, the course, and course expectations.
Fri, August 27
o Read/Watch: Clive Thompson, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, New York Times Magazine, September 5, 2008; and Ira Glass, On good taste … (Video: 5:20), This American Life, August 12, 2006.

Week 2:
Mon, August 30
Read: Steven Johnson, How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live, Time, June 5, 2009; Rachel Dry, What Would Warhol Blog? Washington Post, August 16, 2009; and Peggy Orenstein, I Tweet, Therefore I Am, New York Times Magazine, July 30, 2010.
Wed, September 1
o Read: Jennifer Woodard Maderazo, Flickr Changes Lives, Launches Photog Career, MediaShift, August 2, 2007; and Chris Colin, Nasty as they wanna be? Policing Flickr.com, SF Gate, September 29, 2008.
Fri, September 3
o Demo Day

Week 3:
Mon, September 6
o No class: Labor Day
Wed, September 8
o Read: Scott Rosenberg, Putting Everything Out There [Justin Hall], from Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters (2009); and Jason Pontius, On Blog Themes, Dwell, July 12, 2010.
Fri, September 10
o Guest panel: Shawn Calhoun (@GleesonLibrary), Thomas Listerman (@usfca), and Char Lobo Soriano (@itweetUSF).

Week 4:
Mon, September 13
o Read: Ken Auletta, Publish or Perish: Can the iPad topple the Kindle, and save the book business? The New Yorker, April 26, 2010.
Wed, September 15
o Read/Watch: Frontline/World, Uganda - A Little Goes a Long Way, PBS, October 31, 2006; and additional Kiva readings TBA.
Fri, September 17
o Demo Day

Week 5:
Mon, September 20
o Prior to class, watch The Matrix (1999) and be ready to discuss it.
Wed, September 22
o Read: Henry Jenkins, "Searching for the Oragami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling," in Convergence Culture (2006), pp. 95-134.
Fri, September 24
o Read/Watch at least one other piece of Matrix-related transmedia (including but not limited to Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, the web comics, the anime, the computer game, or the massively multiplayer online game) and be ready to share your understanding of it in class.
o Project 1 due.

Week 6:
Mon, September 27
o Student-generated readings on Creative Commons, part 1.
Wed, September 29
o Student-generated readings on Creative Commons, part 2.
Fri, October 1
o Demo Day

Week 7:
Mon, October 4
o Read/Watch: Ethan Zuckerman, Listening to global voices, Ted Talks, July, 2010; and danah boyd, Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace, Apophenia blog, June 24, 2007.
Wed, October 6
o Read: Farhad Manjoo, How Black People Use Twitter: The latest research on race and microblogging, Slate, August 10, 2010; Jessica Faye Carter, A Response to Farhad Manjoo's "How Black People Use Twitter," Jessica Faye Carter blog, August 12, 2010; and Scott Poulson-Bryant, How One Black Person Responds to "How Black People Use Twitter," Scott Topics blog, August 13, 2010.
Fri, October 8
o Field trip to see The Social Network (2010).

Week 8:
Mon, October 11
o No class: Fall Break
Wed, October 13
o Watch: Michael Wesch, An anthropological introduction to YouTube (Video: 55.33), presented at the Library of Congress, June 23, 2008.
Fri, October 15
o Demo Day

Week 9:
Mon, October 18
o Read: Kathleen Richards, Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0, East Bay Express, February 18, 2009.
Wed, October 20
o Read: Stephen Baker, Will Work for Praise: The Web's Free-Labor Economy, Business Week, December 28, 2008; Eric Karjaluoto, Is Tim Ferriss acting like an asshole? ideasonideas, August 11, 2009; and Stephanie Clifford, Ads Follow Web Users, and Get More Personal, New York Times, July 30, 2009.
Fri, October 22
o Read: Rob Walker, Handmade 2.0, New York Times Magazine, December 16, 2007.

Week 10:
Mon, October 25
o Brainstorm Know Your Digital Rights exhibit.
Wed, October 27
o Build Know Your Digital Rights exhibit.
Fri, October 29
o No class: David out of town.
o Project 2 due.

Week 11:
Mon, November 1
o Student-generated readings on music and social media, part 1.
Wed, November 3
o Student-generated readings on music and social media, part 2.
Fri, November 5
o Guest lecture: Bennett Grassano, Director of Development, Kiva.org. Readings TBA.

Week 12:
Mon, November 8
o Read: Raffi Khatchadourian, No Secrets: Julian Assange’s mission for total transparency, The New Yorker, June 7, 2010.
Wed, November 10
o Read: Jay Rosen, The Afghanistan War Logs Released by Wikileaks, the World's First Stateless News Organization, PressThink blog, July 26, 2010; also read 2-3 of the links Rosen includes in his blog post and be ready to share your understanding of them in class.
Fri, November 12
o Demo Day

Week 13:
Mon, November 15
o Read/Use/Explore: Everyone Says They Have the Best Pancakes in San Francisco, Gridskipper, October 4, 2007; James Barron, Taking a Walk Through J. D. Salinger's New York and Walking in Holden's Footsteps, New York Times, January 28, 2010; A Peek Into Netflix Queues, New York Times, January 8, 2010; Frank Jacobs, Sense of POPOS: Secret Spaces of San Francisco, Big Think blog, January 27, 2010.
Wed, November 17
o Read: Rob Reed, 10 Ways Geolocation is Changing the World, tonic, July 31, 2010; and Victor Keegan, Meet the Wikipedia of the mapping world, Guardian, February 4, 2010.
Fri, November 19
o Read/Use/Explore: Kim Severson, Neighbor, Can You Spare A Plum? New York Times, June 10, 2009; Roxanne Webber, New iPhone App Finds You Free Fruit, Chow, January 12, 2010; and Seasonal Ingredient Map, Epicurious.
Week 14:
Mon, November 22
o Read: John Berger, Ways of Seeing (1972), pp. 7-34.
Wed, November 24
o Read: Robert Harrison, "On the Lost Art of Seeing," from Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition (2008), pp. 114-124.
Fri, November 26:
o No class: Thanksgiving Break

Week 15:
Mon, November 29
o Read: Steven Johnson, Yes, People Still Read, but Now It’s Social, New York Times, June 18, 2010; Henry Jenkins, Why Heather Can Write, Technology Review, February 6, 2004; and Tracy Seeley, Slowing Down My Own Monkey Mind, Tracy Seeley's Blog, July 17, 2010.
Wed, December 1
o Read/Watch: Clay Shirky, How cognitive surplus will change the world, Ted Talks, June 2010; Nicholas Carr, Does the Internet Make You Dumber? Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2010; Adrian Higgins, We can't see the forest for the T-Mobiles, Washington Post, December 15, 2009; and The Slow Media Manifesto.
Fri, December 3
o Read/Watch: Jane McGonigal, Gaming can make a better world, Ted Talks, February 2010; and Michael S. Rosenwald, FarmVille, other online social games mean big business, and bonding, Washington Post, August 3, 2010.

Week 16:
Mon, December 6
o Read: Jaron Lanier, World Wide Mush, Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2010; and Caterina Fake, Participatory media and why I love it (and must defend it), Caterina.net blog, January 19, 2010.
Wed, December 8
o Class party
o Project 3 due.

Course Grading:
Reading quizzes - 10%
Homework assignments - 10%
Class participation (this includes student-generated reading exercises) - 20%
Demo Days - 10%
Projects (3) - 30%
Know Your Digital Rights exhibit group project - 20%

Course Rules:
1. No late work accepted.
2. If you have no new work on Demo Day, do not come to class.
3. Whenever possible, publish your work under your own name.
4. Starting Friday, August 27, no drinking out of non-reusable containers in class. Be creative with your thirst-quenching solutions.

community garden outreach (fall 2010)

i'm teaching two classes this fall. one of them is community garden outreach which i'm co-teaching with melinda stone. classes begin august 25, 2010.


Community Garden Outreach
Environmental Studies 145
Wednesdays 11:45 am - 3:25 pm
Hayes Healy Formal Lounge

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanovitz 141
Office Hours: Mon and Wed 9 – 10 am & by appointment
Contact: dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Professor Melinda Stone
Office: Kalmanovitz 120
Office Hours: Tues 10 am – noon & by appointment
Contact: stone [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu / 422-5755

Course Description:
Community Garden Outreach introduces students to environmental, cultural, social, political, and philosophical issues that circulate through and around food production, preparation, preservation, and distribution. Through readings, films, and class discussions, students will learn about sustainable and unsustainable systems of food production. Through field trips, homestead workshops, and an on-campus farmstand, students will engaged directly with various food production, preparation, preservation, and distribution practices. This service learning course is offered in tandem with Justin Valone’s Urban Ag I and both are part of USF’s Garden Project living learning community.

Learning Goals:
1. Discuss some of the key contemporary issues revolving around food and food production;
2. Develop practical skills in preparing, preserving, and distributing food;
3. Design, implement, and manage the campus farmstand;
4. Create and distribute farmstand recipes that engage and educate the campus community; and
5. Demonstrate effective and creative collaboration.

Book:
Michael Pollan’s Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, 1991.

Course Calendar:
August 25:
In class we will introduce ourselves, the course, and course expectations. At the end of class, we will field trip to the Upper Haight Farmers Market. Your homework, in addition to your weekly reflection, is to visit the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on either Thursday, August 26 or Saturday, August 28.

September 1:
Discussion about farmers markets and our farmstand. Class guests will include a few past Garden Project students who will share their experiences with running farmstand. Class will also include a visit from Sarah Klein, who will help us assess our kitchen and garden. Keep in mind: On Thursday, September 2, we will have our 1st campus farmstand!

September 8:
Prior to class, read Mollie Katzen's "Useful Tools," from The New Moosewood Cookbook, pp. xvi- xvii; and Joan Dye Gussow, “Is It Worth It?” from This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, pp. 200-214. Full kitchen/cooking day with Sarah Klein. At the end of class, be ready to commit to particular tasks for this semester's farmstand.

September 15:
Prior to class, watch Food, Inc., which we will discuss in class. We will end class with a discussion and early assessment of our farmstand.

September 22:
Prior to class, read Michael Pollan’s “Introduction” & “Two Gardens,” pp. 1-34, which we will discuss in class.

September 29:
Prior to class, read Joseph Radabaugh's "A History of Solar Cooking," "Designing & Building Your Own Solar Cooker," and "Building the SunStar," from Heaven's Flame: A Guide to Solar Cookers, pp. 1-4, 71-110. Homestead workshop: Solar Ovens and Sour Dough Crackers.

October 6:
Prior to class, read Molly Katzen's “An Illustrated Guide to the Baking of Yeast Bread,” from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, pp. 86-95; Mark Bittman's Making No-Knead Bread (Video – 4:58), New York Times, December 29, 2006; and Brother Rick Curry, S.J., “Making Bread,” from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, pp. 11-21. Homestead workshop: Baking Bread.

October 13:
We will not have our regular Wednesday class this week in preparation for our field trip to Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC), on Friday and Saturday, October 15-16.

October 20:
Prior to class, read Kim Severson's “Neighbor, Can You Spare A Plum?” New York Times, June 10, 2009; Fallen Fruit, “Take Back the Fruit: Public Space and Community Activism,” from Food, edited by John Knechtel, pp. 94-103; Roxanne Webber's 10 Ways to Barter for Food, Chow, August 6, 2009; and Pollan’s “The Harvest,” pp. 137-149. Homestead workshop: Green Media.

October 27:
Prior to class, read Pollan's “Compost and Its Moral Imperatives,” pp. 66-75. Homestead workshop: Canning.

November 3:
Prior to class, watch Chet Bentley's Elixir of Life, from How-to Homestead (2010); and David Owens, Brittany Rowles and Reece Snyder's Jerusalem Artichokes, from How-to Homestead (2009). Homestead workshop: Gleaning & Preserving.

November 10:
Prior to class, watch Ruth Stout’s Garden (23 minutes); Close to Nature Garden (24 minutes); and Garden Song (28 minutes). Be ready to discuss the three films in class.

November 17:
Prior to class, read Pollan's “Weeds Are Us,” pp. 98-116. (Important: Field trip to GFE has been postponed until spring semester) Field trip to Garden for the Environment.

November 24:
No class: Thanksgiving

December 1:
Prior to class, watch Dirt! which we will discuss in class.

December 8:
Wrap up first semester and prepare for Vision Day, Thursday, December 9.

Grading:
o Weekly 1-page reflection papers - 25%
o Classroom, field trip, and workshop participation - 25%
o Farmstand participation - 25%
o Creating and distributing farmstand recipes (Students enrolled in 2 units will be required to create – either individually or collectively – 2 farmstand recipes; students enrolled in 4 units will be required to create 4.) - 25%

Please note: Students enrolled in 2 units will be expected to work at least 2 hours a week towards our campus farmstand; students enrolled in 4 units will be expected to work at least 4 hours a week towards our campus farmstand.

Course Rules:
1. Starting September 1, no drinking out of non-reusable containers in class and during farmstand. Be creative with your thirst-quenching solutions.
2. In class, on field trips, and during farmstand, try your best to listen to and learn from everyone.
3. No late work accepted.

why i teach what i teach

(video made by Madhouse Muse)

novella carpenter visits USF

last friday, urban homesteader and author novella carpenter visited USF. she met with green media and garden project students who are two-thirds finished reading novella's book, farm city: the education of an urban farmer.

novella began the day with my green media class. she asked my students question and they gave answers, and then my students asked novella questions and she gave answers. we talked about farm city, about urban homesteading, about raising, killing, and eating rabbits, about pop up farming, about interacting with the media, and about the role of the internet in today's urban ag.


around noon, we walked out of the education building, across the parking lot, and into USF's organic garden. while green media students showed novella the veggie plot we planted last week, i rounded up a few garden project students to give novella a tour of our campus garden.

after the tour, we surrounded a table full of food that students cooked, baked, and prepared for lunch - two loaves of homemade bread, a delicious soup, a garden quiche, a fresh garden salad, and a tasty rhubarb pie baked with rhubarb from the garden. it was a delicious feast.



with loaded bowls and plates, we took a seat in a circle, ate our food, and talked about farm city, about making homemade cheese and salami, about raising ducks, and about today and tomorrow's directions in urban ag. as novella writes on her own blog, "it made my heart sing to see these good citizens fired up about growing food." indeed.




as a teacher, the best part of the day was when garden project students took novella and green media students on a tour of the garden (captured so well by kate greenspan). it was cool to watch the mostly freshmen garden project students teach novella about our garden, but it was even cooler to watch them teach the mostly seniors in green media. students teaching students.

bake yer own bread - 9 delicious bread recipes from the students in green media

last week in green media, the students and professor baked bread. although the assignment included some readings on bread-making, it included no hands-on instructions. "bake bread," i told my students, "and if you don't know how, learn."

in class on friday, we broke bread. we sampled each other's creations and shared tips and suggestions.

(2nd pic: erin venables)

as usual, students were required to make and share their recipes. together, the students created an online cookbook. enjoy.

Marco Abellera's Making Bread: Focaccia
Daniele Dominguez's How to Make Sourdough Bread
Kate Greenspan & Sophia Lorenzi's Soph's Loaf of Chocolate Banana Bread
Christina Hammill's No-Knead Bread
Samuel Hernandez & Peter Thoene's rosemary rock salt focaccia
Michael Kao's Bread Noobie
Kelli McCloskey & Joseph Montana's Bread Making
Erin Venables' Rosemary Garlic Bread
Joel Weston's Mama D's Italian Bread

rules and recipes from green media's breakfast project

the ground rules for green media's first project, breakfast project, were fairly straight-forward:

1. cook a delicious meal for breakfast.

2. bring the meal to class on friday, february 12. also bring some kind of serving utensil. share your meal with others.

3. also bring to class your favorite bowl (or plate) and fork (or spoon) so that you can sample other people's meals.

4. have a delicious (and collective) breakfast in class.

5. using multimedia, make a recipe for your meal and share it online via the platform of your choice.

6. once finished, and certainly before sunset on sunday, tweet about it. be sure to include a link to your recipe.


here's our breakfast recipes:

Marco Abellera's Pancakes
Daniele Dominguez's Vegan Lemon Scones with Lemon Glaze
Christina Hammill's Mixed Fruit Salad with Feta and Mint
Sam Hernandez's Grapefruit In The Morning
Michael Kao's Corn Beef Hash
Sophia Lorenzi's Cinnamon Rollz
Kelli McCloskey's Bagels
Joe Montana's egg & cheese souffle
David Silver's fresh salad with a mustard vinaigrette
Peter Thoene's A Light Breakfast
Joel Weston's Blueberry-Lime Poundcake


our next project, lunch project, will require us to research and cook seasonal, regional meals from ingredients harvested from our garden plot. stay tuned.

flickr project

flickr assignment for digital media production

1. we spent a significant portion of today's class taking digital photographs of USF. feel free to take more.

2. if you do not already have a flickr account, create one. if you have an interest in photography, consider opening a pro account ($25/year). if not, sign up a for a free account.

3. find and follow on flickr all DMP students and professor.

4. upload your photos of campus to your flickr account. title and tag all of the photos. be smart and strategic with your tags.

5. using no less than 5 and no more than 10 photos, make a flickr set. title the set. add a description to the set.

6. join the flickr group "USF photography and photographers."

7. revisit your flickr set of campus. add any - or all - of your photos to the "USF photography and photographers" flickr group. be aware that by adding your photo or photos, they can be featured on USF's web site.

8. once finished with steps 1-7, tweet about it. include a link to your flickr set so that other people can see your work.

9. use twitter to keep up with your classmates' work and visit and view their flickr sets.

10. comment on at least 5 photographs taken by 5 different DMPers.


rules:

1. follow all directions.

2. flickr project is due saturday, february 13, at noon. no late work accepted.

green media (spring 10)

in spring, i'm teaching three classes - two of them new. one of the new ones is green media. classes begin friday, january 29th.


Green Media
Fridays 9:40 am-12:25 pm (and some lunches, too)
Education 104 (and sometimes in the Garden)

Professor: David Silver
Office: Kalmanovitz 141
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 10:30-11:30 am & by appointment

Green Media is a special topics production class devoted to making media about making food. Throughout the semester, students will plan, plant, tend, and harvest a veggie plot in USF's organic garden; research, cook, and share a selection of seasonal, regional recipes; and eat, experience, and experiment with real food. Further, using social media like twitter, flickr, facebook, blogs, and video, students will make and share media about growing, cooking, and eating food. Finally, students will work collaboratively to design and build two food-related exhibits in Gleeson Library.

Learning Goals:
o to learn how to plan and plant a garden;
o to learn how to research and cook 3-4 seasonal, regional, and delicious meals;
o to learn how to use social media to document the planting and preparing of food;
o to learn how to work collaboratively; and
o to become more aware of and in tune with seasons.

Book:
Please purchase Novella Carpenter's Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer (Penguin Press, 2009).

* All other course readings are either free and online, available outside my office, or available at Gleeson Library.

Calendar:
Friday, January 29
Discuss the syllabus and course expectations. Visit our garden plot. Begin using twitter.

Friday, February 5
Read Patricia Harris, David Lyon, and Sue McLaughlin, “Food & Life,” from The Meaning of Food, pp. 1-59; Michael Pollan, Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch, New York Times Magazine, July 29, 2009. Watch Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray, Window Farms (Video - 1:38), November 3, 2009. Library workshop with USF librarians Debbie Benrubi and Sherise Kimura.

Friday, February 12
Read Maggie Gosselin, Sarah Klein, and Jessica Prentice’s “San Francisco Bay Area Local Foods Wheel”; Localvore Network, California availability guide; selections from Pam Pierce’s Golden Gate Gardening: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area & Coastal California; Allison Arieff, “Hive Minds: As Honeybees around the world vanish, one Bay Area biologist is enlisting an army of backyard gardeners to help figure out why,” Sunset, August 2009, pp. 54-56; and Maira Kalman, Back to the Land ... And the Pursuit of Happiness, New York Times, November 26, 2009. Plan our garden plot. Begin using flickr. Due in class: Breakfast Project.

Friday, February 19
Read Novella Carpenter, “Turkey,” from Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, pp. 1-98; Field trip with Justin Valone to forage for wild greens and stinging nettles.

Friday, February 26
Read “Basic White Bread – Ten Steps to Fresh-baked Goodness,” from Sunset Cook Book of Breads, pp. 8-9; Mark Bittman, Making No-Knead Bread (Video – 4:58), New York Times, December 29, 2006; Brother Rick Curry, S.J., “Making Bread,” from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, pp. 11-21; Molly Katzen, "An Illustrated Guide to the Baking of Yeast Bread," from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, pp. 86-95; and Lulu McCllister, How to Make a Delicious Omelet Using Wild Foods. Watch Giselle Kennedy, Brew (Video - 13:50), How-to Homestead, 2009; and Sergey Yazvinsky, One Minute Apple Pie (Video - 1:29), Serious Eats, September 10, 2009. Bake a loaf of bread. Begin blogging.

Friday, March 5
Read Novella Carpenter, “Rabbit,” from Farm City, pp. 99-184; and John Emerson, Neo Gardenism, Social Design Notes blog, June 15, 2009. Library workshop with USF librarians Debbie Benrubi and Sherise Kimura. Join garden guest Novella Carpenter, author (Farm City) and urban homesteader (Ghost Town Farm), for lunch and discussion.

Friday, March 12
Read Patricia Harris, David Lyon, and Sue McLaughlin, “Food & Culture,” from The Meaning of Food, pp. 61-105; Keith McHenry, The Story of Food Not Bombs (Parts 1-4); and Sandra Cate, "'Breaking Bread with a Spread' in the San Francisco County Jail," Gastronomica, Summer 2008, pp. 17-24. Join garden guest Keith McHenry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, for lunch and discussion.

Friday, March 19:
SPRING BREAK (No Class)

Friday, March 26
Read Novella Carpenter, “Pig,” from Farm City, pp. 185-269; and Ian Frazier, The Cursing Mommy Cooks Italian, The New Yorker, January 11, 2010, pp. 34-35. Due in class: Media-Food Person Research Project.

Friday, April 2:
GOOD FRIDAY (No Class)
Read Tina Peterson, "Bringing Up Baby (Carrots), Gastronomica, Fall 2008, pp. 55-59. Watch Deborah Koons Garcia’s The Future of Food (Video - 1:28:51); and The Meatrix (I, II, and II 1/2).

Friday, April 9
Read Douglas Quenqua, To Harvest Squash, Click Here, New York Times, October 28, 2009. Watch expertvillage, How to Grow Squash in a Vegetable Garden (Video - 2:44), October 24, 2008; Melinda Stone, The Humanure Cycle (Video: 8:27), How-to Homestead, 2008; and a healthy dose of River Cottage. Visit, play, and be ready to discuss in class FarmVille. Due in class: Lunch Project.

Friday, April 16
Read Kim Severson, Neighbor, Can You Spare A Plum? New York Times, June 10, 2009; Emma Brown, Changing How We Live and Eat, One Fig at a Time, Common Dreams, February 2, 2009; Fallen Fruit, "Take Back the Fruit: Public Space and Community Activism," from Food, edited by John Knechtel, pp. 94-103; and Roxanne Webber, New iPhone App Finds You Free Fruit, Chow, January 12, 2010. Visit and be ready to discuss in class City Fruit Tree Mapper; Neighborhood Fruit; Fallen Fruit; and Urban Edibles.

Friday, April 23 (David out of town)
Read Elizabeth Kolbert, Green Like Me: Living without a fridge, and other experiments in environmentalism, The New Yorker, August 31, 2009, pp. 70-74; Ten websites that will help you eat with greater awareness, Culinate blog, August 10, 2009; and Megan Gordon, Eat, Read, Look: Food Websites Worth Your Time, Bay Area Bites blog, January 18, 2010.

Friday, April 30
Read Rachel Laudan, “A Plea for Culinary Modernism: Why We Should Love New, Fast, Processed Food,” Gastronomica, February 2001, pp 36-44; Caitlin Flanagan, Cultivating Failure: How school gardens are cheating our most vulnerable students, The Atlantic, January/February 2010; Angela McGregor, Cultivating Conversation: How Caitlin Flanagan has got us all thinking out loud, Cornell Garden-Based Learning blog, January 27, 2010; and at least two of the essays McGregor links to. Discuss semester’s successes and shortcomings. Brainstorm final party.

Friday, May 7
Read Mark Andrew Boyer, Is a Food Revolution Now in Season? Yes, It Is, OrganicNation.tv blog, September 4, 2009; Sarah van Gelder, 8 Ways to Join the Local Food Movement, Yes! Magazine, February 13, 2009; and Remi Bouvier, Vallicans Guerilla Gardening Skate (Video - 6:00), Eggheads blog, November 2, 2009. Due in class: Last Supper Project.

This class has no final exam.


Grading:
20% Class and Garden Participation
10% Breakfast Project
10% Lunch Project
10% Last Supper Project
20% Media-Food Person Research Project
20% Seasonal Foods Library Exhibit Group Project
20% Food & Culture Library Exhibit Group Project

* If you are curious or concerned about your grade, you can request a meeting with me anytime during the semester.

Rulez:
1. Read all assigned readings, watch all assigned videos, and visit all assigned web sites prior to class.
2. In class, in the garden, and in the kitchen, listen to and learn from everyone.
3. No late work accepted.
4. No drinking out of non-reusable containers in class.