ANT 480H1S The Anthropology of Corn Thursdays 12-2 pm, Classes begin January 12 and end April 5, 2012 Instructor: Lauren Classen Contact Details: [email protected] Class Location: Sidney Smith 2101 Office Hours: Thursdays 2-3:30pm Drop Box for late papers: 19 Russell, Located outside the administrative offices (in the corner to the right of the elevator and stairs) Course Description: Corn is one of the most important grains in the world. It is in everything from pop, granola bars, pasta sauces, yogurt, and brandy, to toothpaste, concrete, wallboard and bio-fuels. Domesticated an estimated 6,000 – 10,000 years ago in Central America, corn is the staple food in much of Latin America and Africa today. Tracing a single food from production to consumption is a common method used in anthropology of food to explore cultural, political, economic and environmental factors related to food culture and health. See for example Mintz (1985) on sugar, Smith (1994) on the tomato, Willard (2001) on saffron, and Jenkins (2000) on bananas. Due to its global significance and increasing demands for its use (from food to fuel for example), corn provides a valuable tool for examining anthropological perspectives on the history, political economy, identity politics, globalization, nutrition and cultures of food. This course draws on socio-cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, the anthropology of food, the anthropology of gender, and the anthropology of development and examines contemporary patterns of globalization, food cultures, food trade, and health and nutrition implications of international food policies. Approach: This course is structured in seminar format. It is based on intensive weekly discussions and student presentation of reading materials. Participation by all is critical to the success of the course. Evaluation: The evaluation for this course is made up of the following elements: Participation: Classroom participation and weekly written comments, questions and quizzes….. 25% Analysis of reading materials for selected week: (Week to be determined in first class): ………………………………...……..........20% Assignment 1: Anthropological analysis of a contemporary issue related to maize (Short paper 4-5 pages based on analysis of newspaper article, podcast, 1 photograph, advertisement, etc.)………………………………………...................20% (Due in class at 12pm, Thursday, February 16, 2012) Assignment 2: Final essay on anthropology of corn.…………………………….……………..….35% (Due in class at 12pm, Thursday, April 5, 2012) Details on evaluation: Participation: Due weekly: 25% As a seminar, this course hinges on the active participation of all students. Students are expected to have read all assigned materials prior to class and to come prepared for meaningful dialogue and debate. Students may be asked to comment on specific readings. Classroom participation is a major component of the grade, but given that this is a large seminar, there will be different ways to contribute. First and foremost, you will be graded on your involvement in the weekly seminar on an individual basis. As part of your participation assessment, I will frequently give the class 10 minutes at the start of class or after a film or class discussion to write a critical commentary that incorporates key points from the readings and class discussions. In 3/12 classes I will ask you to answer a very short pop quiz on the readings. While I will not give a specific grade to either of these and the latter you will grade yourself as we go over the answers in class (the precise grade will not be recorded as part of your overall assessment), these will be collected and assessed with respect to your overall participation grade. These, thus, are intended to provide another opportunity, besides oral participation, to demonstrate that you are actively engaging with the material in the course (often appreciated by shy students!). In addition you can participate by contributing orally in class, engaging with any discussion boards we open on the course website, doing mini-assignments indicated for various weeks in the syllabus, etc. Collectively, every effort will be made to create an atmosphere in which everyone feels confident participating in discussions. Analysis of reading materials for selected week: Due (assigned in the first week of class): 20% During the first week of class we will divide into pairs (or groups of 3, depending on numbers) and each pair will be assigned one week (wks 3-12 [wk 10 excluded]) to read the assigned articles and prepare an introduction to the topic and key terms, theories and definitions in the readings in a 20-30 minute critical commentary on the week‟s readings. This critical commentary should conclude with a couple of key questions to start the class discussion. This is not intended to be a summary of the readings, since everyone is required to have completed all of the assigned readings prior to each class. Rather, this is intended for you to demonstrate your critical thinking skills and ability to link anthropological perspectives and theory to the theme of your assigned week and to launch the class discussion. Some summary, of course, will be necessary to make a coherent presentation. The presentation (including the introduction to the topic and key definitions and the critical commentary) should not exceed 30 minutes. Presenters should also read at least one of the optional readings and incorporate it into their presentation. Assignment 1: Critical analysis of contemporary discourse, media or issue related to maize (4-5 double-spaced pages – 20% - 2% off per day late, including weekends. Times New Roman 12 point font, 1 inch margins, double-spaced). Due: Thursday, February 17, 2012 at 12pm in class. 2 This assignment is intended to encourage you to apply an anthropological lens to looking at a key issue in the media on maize. Choose a newspaper article, website, photograph, advertisement, film, documentary, or pod cast somehow related to maize and explore it using an anthropological lens. Please append a copy of the article, summary of the film/doc, or a link to the ad to your paper. Assignment 2: Final Essay on the Anthropology of Corn (10 - 12 pages + bibliography – 35% - 2% off per day late, including weekends. Times New Roman 12 point font, 1 inch margins, double-spaced). Due: Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 12pm in class This is your opportunity either to explore the issue you took up in assignment one in more detail, to explore another topic of interest related to maize from an anthropological perspective, or to draw on the approaches employed in this class to explore the agro-ecological, cultural, political economical, nutritional and/or development-related aspects of another food. You may choose to draw on literature from the anthropology of development, nutritional anthropology, medical anthropology (bio-cultural, political ecology, ethnonutrition, etc.), socio-cultural anthropology, political economy, or other fields to examine your topic of choice. A minimum of 2 articles assigned in this course and a minimum of 8 bibliographic references are required. University Policy on Plagiarism The University of Toronto treats cases of academic misconduct very seriously. Academic integrity is a fundamental value of learning and scholarship at the UofT. Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in this academic community ensures that the UofT degree that you earn will be valued and respected as a true signifier of your individual academic achievement. The University of Toronto's Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters (http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm) outlines the behaviours that constitute academic misconduct, the processes for addressing academic offences, and the penalties that may be imposed. You are expected to be familiar with the contents of this document. Potential offences include, but are not limited to: In papers and assignments: . Using someone else's ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement. Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor. Making up sources or facts. Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment (this includes working in groups on assignments that are supposed to be individual work). On tests and exams: . Using or possessing any unauthorized aid, including a cell phone. Looking at someone else's answers. Letting someone else look at your answers. Misrepresenting your identity. Submitting an altered test for re-grading. Misrepresentation: . Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including (but not limited to) doctor's notes. Falsifying institutional documents or grades. All suspected cases of 3 academic dishonesty will be investigated following the procedures outlined in the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. If you have any questions about what is or is not permitted in this course, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you have questions about appropriate research and citation methods, you are expected to seek out additional information from me or other available campus resources like the College Writing Centers the Academic Success Centre, or the U of T Writing Website. Course Schedule and Required Readings: Week 1: Thursday, January 12, 2012: Introduction to an Anthropology of Corn: history and agro-ecology The first class will serve as an introduction to the course, the anthropology of food, health and development and the usefulness of examining these issues as they relate to corn. Goals and expectations of the class will be reviewed. Week 2: Thursday, January 19, 2012: A World Built on Corn: If we are what we eat, we are corn! Part 1: Michael Pollan‟s book, “The Omnivore‟s Dilemma” and the CBC podcast on staple crops, will frame the importance of maize as an anthropological topic and provide our first look at the relationship between food history, policy and cultural significance. Pollan traces corn from traditional Mayan „milpas’ and Mayan cultural heritage as the “people of maize” to its equally prominent but more obscured role in political, environmental and social life of Americans today.