ANS 378:
Senior Seminar:
Lecture Date & Time:
Location:
Instructor:
Office & Phone
Office Hours:
E-mail:
Cuisine and Culture in Asia
T TH 11:00 - 12:30
WCH 4.118
Dr. Nancy Stalker
WCH 5.128
T TH 1 - 3 or by appointment
nancy.stalker@mail.utexas.edu
Description
This interdisciplinary senior seminar explores historical, cultural, economic,
and geopolitical aspects of food in Asian culture. Food is common to all
humankind, but different varieties of foods or cuisine also serve to identify
nations, religious groups, classes/castes and other communities, marking
boundaries between ourselves and “Others.” Topics include: the relationship
between food and national identity and between food and
imperialism/colonialism. We will read histories and ethnographies of
representative Asian foods; analyze gender and class dimensions of food;
examine the health claims of certain Asian cuisines; and read accounts of
culinary travel.
Course Requirements
Your final grade will be determined according to the following:
30% Participation and Attendance - Attendance is required; if you are absent
you cannot participate. Active participation means contributing to class
discussions with quality comments and questions based on the reading
assignment. This does not mean either dominating class discussions or
offering observations just for the sake of contributing. Your participation
grade will also include evaluation of your class presentations, including the
following
• Reading Presentations
For each class session, one person will be assigned to give a 5 - 10 minute
presentation of their analysis of the readings. Presentations should try to
connect that week’s reading and should include points or questions you would
like to discuss in class.
• Dinner and a Movie Assignment
For the two movie nights, members of the class will be divided into two
groups, (one for each night). Each group will subdivide into groups of
three to four. Each of these small groups will prepare an Asian dish to
share with the class. Each small group will give a brief (4 -5 minute)
presentation on their dish, including information such as the region,
ingredients, times consumed (e.g. festival, everyday, New Year’s). You
can also discuss your experiences shopping for and preparing your dish.
You will not be graded on your cooking ability. You will receive a
group score for the quality of your research and overall presentation.
• Final Paper Presentation
During the final two weeks of the course, each class member will deliver an 810 minute presentation on
their research project and findings.
30% Class Assignments - There will be several assignments over the course of
the semester, including (but not limited to) the following
• Reading Diary
In order to prepare for each class discussion, you will keep a reading diary,
which I will occasionally collect in class. This assignment will not be
graded,. Your diary should contain comments on or questions about the reading
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and should attempt to tie together the readings for the week and/or tie the
week’s readings to previous class readings and discussions. It should be
completed before the class meets and the minimum entry is one paragraph per
class meeting (no maximum). The format is up to you--I recommend you keep your
entries in a separate notebook, but if you keep an online diary, you should
bring all of your collected entries to each class,.
• Cookbook Analysis - 4 - 6 pages
Select one type of Asian cuisine and examine TWO cookbooks on that type
of cuisine, one that is contemporary and one that is pre-1980. Write a
1000 - 1500 word essay (excluding notes and bibliography) comparing
these two. Questions to consider include: What are the differences or
similarities between the two? What do we learn about the culture or
nation through each? Who is the audience? Does the cookbook make
accommodations for its audience?
• Abstract & Preliminary Bibliography for Final Research Paper
You will prepare a one-page abstract on your plans for your research paper and
a preliminary biography of at least ten library sources. No websites are
allowed, but you can use articles posted online in academic journals.
40% Final Paper - You will complete a research project and final paper of 12 15 pages related to food culture or history in Asia. For additional details on
the final paper, please see Blackboard.
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Course Materials
The books listed below are available at the Co-op or via on-line sources like
Amazon.com or powellsbooks.com.
Caroline Korsmeyer, ed. The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink
(Berg, 2005)
Lizzie Collingham, Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors (Oxford, 2006)
Erling Hoh and Victor H. Mair, The True History of Tea (Thames & Hudson, 2009)
Fuschia Dunlop, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating
in China (W.W. Norton, 2008)
Andrew Coe, Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in America (Oxford,
2009)
Additional required readings will be either be posted on Blackboard or
accessible online.
Course Policies
Academic Integrity
You are expected to adhere to university requirements on academic honesty and
integrity. Behaviors such as plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, copying
of another student’s work, or cheating on examinations in any form will be
viewed as an offense against the academic community and will be dealt with
accordingly. If you are uncertain about what constitutes academic integrity,
visit the web site of Student Judicial Services
(http://www.utexas.edu/depts/dos/sjs/). In the event that a student is found
engaging in behavior that violates university policies on academic integrity,
as stipulated by the office of Student Judicial Services, the student will
receive the grade of F for the course and will be reported to the office of
Student Judicial Services, where further disciplinary action may be taken.
There will be no exceptions.
E-Mail & Communications
I will occasionally use e-mail and Blackboard for course-related announcements
and communications.
E-mail will be sent to your official email address so make
certain this is current in UT Direct. Missed email is not an acceptable excuse
for missed communications. Check Blackboard and e-mail regularly--at least once
per week --to make certain you are aware of current course announcements.
If you have questions or course related issues to discuss with me, I strongly
suggest you come to my office hours, rather than sending an email. If you choose
to send email instead, include the course number in the subject line and be
advised that I will not respond immediately and you may have to wait up to 48
hours for a response.
Laptops are not allowed in class. While in class, turn off cell phones and
pagers and do not send text messages or read newspapers or other materials.
Special Needs
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon Request appropriate academic
accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. To determine if you
qualify, please contact the Dean of Students at 471-6259; 471-4641 TTY. If
they certify your needs, I will work with you to make appropriate
arrangements. If you have already been certified, please visit me during
office hours before the first midterm exam so that we can discuss your needs.
Religious Holy Day Observance
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If an exam or assignment falls due on a day when you are observing a religious
holy day, I will work with you to find an acceptable alternative time to
complete the assignment.
NOTE: I reserve the right to modify this syllabus, course assignments and
course requirements during the course.
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Course Schedule and Reading Assignments
Part 1:
Appetizers:
Introductions, Basic Background, Key Issues
8/26 Introduction
8/31 Interrogating Taste & Cuisine
Brillat-Savarin, “On Taste” in The Taste Culture Reader (Hereafter TC)
Rozin & Rozin, “Culinary Themes and Variations” in TC
Bourdieu, “Taste of Luxury, Taste of Necessity” in TC
Goody, “The High and the Low: Culinary Culture in Asia and Europe” in TC
Kothari,”If you are what you eat then what am I?” Blackboard (hereafter B)
9/2 National Cuisines in Asia
Newman, Food Culture in China – B
Ashkenazi & Jacob, Food Culture in Japan - B
Sen, Food Culture in India, - B
Pettid, Korean Cuisine, 7-67 -- B
Thompson, Thai Food, pp. - B
9/7 Food & National Identity
Appadurai, “Gastro-Politics in Hindu South Asia” - B
Appadurai, “How to Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India” B
Ferguson, “Culinary Nationalism” - B
Cwiertka, Modern Japanese Cuisine, pp. 115 - 155 - B
Part II:
Entrees - Quintessential Foods of Asia
9/9 Rice
Bray, The Rice Economies, pp. 1-61, 113-139 - B
Ohnuki Tierney, Rice as Self, pp. 3-43, 63-98 - B
Ricelands : The World of South-East Asian Food. [electronic resource] “The
Paddy Field” - E (Electronic Book)
***COOKBOOK ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT DUE***
9/14 & 16
Spice
Collingham, Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors, entire (Tu - Front matter,
pp. 1-125; TH - pp.129-255)
9/16 OPTIONAL DINNER EXCURSION 1: Clay Pit, 1601 Guadalupe
9/21 Tofu & Soy
In-class Documentary Film: Discover China: A Tale of Tofu
Mintz, Tan & Dubois, “Introduction: The Significance of Soy” - B
Tan, “Tofu and Related Products in Chinese Foodways” - B
Ozeki, “Fermented Soybean Products and Japanese Standard Taste” - B
Cwiertka & Moriya, “Fermented Soyfoods in South Korea: The Industrialization
of Tradition” - B
9/23 Kimchi +
Walraven, “Bardot Soup and Confucians’ Meat: Food and Korean Identity in
Global Context”
NY Times articles on Kimchi
“Culinary Diplomacy With a Side of Kimchi,” Sept. 22, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/dining/23kore.html?emc=eta1
“Kimchi goes to space, along with first Korean astronaut” Feb 22, 2008
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/world/asia/22ihtkimchi.1.10302283.html?emc=eta1
“Cabbage Is Cabbage? Not to Kimchi Lovers; Koreans Take Issue With a
Rendition Of
Their National Dish Made in Japan” Feb. 5, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/05/business/cabbage-cabbage-not-kimchilovers-koreans-take-issue-with-rendition-their.html?emc=eta1
Koreana Special issue on kimchi, vol. 22 No. 4 Winter 08
http://koreana.kf.or.kr/main.asp?volumn=22&no=4&lang=
9/28 & 9/30 & 10/5 Tea & Tea Ceremony
Hoh & Mair, The True History of Tea, entire
(Tu pp.7-123; , Th 124-257)
Ashnkenazi & Jacob “Aesthetics in the World of Japanese Food”, pp.134-166 - B
Suzuki, “Zen and the Art of Tea” in TC
Varley, “Chanoyu from the Genroku Epoch to Modern Times” - B
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Part III:
Palate Cleansers, Snacks & Food-to-Go
10/7 Food for Body & Soul
Peterson, “Food as Divine Medicine” in TC
Khare, “Food with Saints” in TC
Edible Ideology - Intro - B
Koo, “The Use of Food to Treat and Prevent Disease in Chinese Culture”- B
*Ohsawa, Essential Ohsawa, pp. 47-69 - B
Radhika and Balasubramanian, Ayurvedic Principles of Food and Nutrition pp 437 - B
10/7 REQUIRED: DINNER AND A MOVIE - Tampopo
Readings: Zimmerman, “Food in Films: A Star is Born”
- B
10/12 & 10/14 Food, Gender and Family
Counihan, “Food, Culture and Gender” - B
Sand, “The Housewife’s Laboratory” - B
White - “Ladies who Lunch” - B
Griem, “A Room of One’s Own? The Kitchen as Spatial Trope in The Scent of
Green Papaya, Eat Drink Man Woman, and Tampopo” - B
Allison, “Mothers and Obento: The Lunch-Box as Ideological State Apparatus” B
Jing, “Food, Children and Social Change in Contemporary China” - B
Chee, “Eating Snacks and Biting Pressure: Only Children in Beijing” - B
Yuhua, “Food and Family Relations: The Generation Gap at the Table” - B
10/19
& 10/21 PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS
***ABSTRACT & PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE***
10/21 - OPTIONAL DINNER EXCURSION #2: Asia Café
Ste D, Austin 78756
8644 Spicewood Springs Road
10/26 & 28 Culinary Travel & Tourism
Heldke, “But is it Authentic? Culinary Travel and the Search for the ‘Genuine
Article’” in TC
Lee, Culinary Tourism, Introduction - B
Banerji, Eating India: An Odyssey into the Food and Culture of the Land of
Spices, Prologue, pp.3-28, 45-86 - B
Dunlop, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in
China, entire
11/2 , 11/4 & 11/9 Asian Food Abroad
Mankekar, “India Shopping: Indian Grocery Stores and Transnational
Configurations of Belonging” in Watson and Caldwell, eds. The Cultural
Politics of Food and Eating - B
Kunow, “Eating Indian(s): Food, Representation and the Indian Diaspora in the
United States” - B
Lee, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, pp. 27-48, 84-138 - B
Coe, Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States,
entire (TH pp.1-143, TU 144-251)
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11/4 REQUIRED: DINNER AND A MOVIE - Eat, Drink, Man, Woman
Rawnsley, “Cultural Representation of Taste in Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman”
in Food for Thought
11/11 Famine and Hunger
Paarlberg - “An Overview of Food Politics” & “The Politics of Famine” in Food
Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know - E
Sen, “Food, Economics and Entitlements” in The Political Economy of Hunger,
vol. 1 - B
Becker, Hungry Ghosts, pp.1-5, 9-23, 99-111 - B
India & Famine - Historical Articles from The North American Review - B
Natsios, “The Politics of Famine in North Korea” - B
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11/16 & 11/18 Globalization and Fast Food
James, “Identity and the Global Stew” in TC
Cwiertka, Introduction from Global and Local - B
Bestor, “Supply-Side Sushi, Commodity, Market and Global City” - B
Noguchi, “Savor Slowly: Ekiben The Fast Food of High-Speed Japan” - B
Yan, “Of Hamburger and Social Space: Consuming McDonalds in Beijing” in Food
and Culture
Lozada, “Globalized Childhood?: Kentucky Fried Chicken in Beijing” - B
Cook & Lee, “The Espresso Revolution: Introducing Coffee Bar Franchising to
Modern China” in Food for Thought - B
11/18 OPTIONAL DINNER EXCURSION #3: Titaya’s Thai Cuisine, 5501 N. Lamar,
Austin 78751
Part
IV
Just Desserts
11/23 - 12/2 Final
***12/2
Research Paper Presentations
FINAL PAPERS DUE IN CLASS***
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