Narrative Section of a Successful Application The attached document contains the grant narrative and selected portions of a previously funded grant application. It is not intended to serve as a model, but to give you a sense of how a successful application may be crafted. Every successful application is different, and each applicant is urged to prepare a proposal that reflects its unique project and aspirations. Prospective applicants should consult the Humanities Initiatives at Hispanic-Serving Institutions application guidelines at http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-initiatives-hispanic-serving-institutions for instructions. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to consult with the NEH Division of Education Programs staff well before a grant deadline. Note: The attachment only contains the grant narrative and selected portions, not the entire funded application. In addition, certain portions may have been redacted to protect the privacy interests of an individual and/or to protect confidential commercial and financial information and/or to protect copyrighted materials. Project Title: The History of Food Production and Consumption in the U.S. Gulf Coast Region Institution: University of Houston Project Director: Todd Romero Grant Program: Humanities Initiatives at Hispanic-Serving Institutions 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Rm. 302, Washington, D.C. 20506 P 202.606.8500 F 202.606.8394 E [email protected] www.neh.gov Table of Contents Application Cover Sheet 1 Table of Contents 2 Summary 3 Project Narrative 4-13 1. Intellectual Rationale 4-6 2. Content and Design 6-9 3. Personnel 9-11 4. Institutional Context 11-12 5. Follow-up and Dissemination 12-13 6. Evaluation 13 7. Statement of Eligibility 13 Budget 14-23 Appendices 24-74 1. Work Plan and Schedule of Activities 25-28 2. Project Bibliography 29 3. Project Directors’ CVs 30-35 4. Visiting Scholars’ Letters of Commitment and CVs 36-53 5. UH Faculty Letters of Commitment and CVs 54-68 6. Institutional Letters of Commitment 69-72 7. Institutional History 73 8. Letter verifying the University of Houston’s status as a 74 Hispanic Serving Institution Gulf Coast Food Project: 2 GRANT11437322 -- Attachments-ATT1-1234-contents.pdf Summary “The Gulf Coast Food Project: Humanities Research and Curriculum” is a six semester program to enhance humanities teaching, scholarship, and community engagement through food studies at the University of Houston (UH). It consists of a faculty reading and curriculum development group designed to enrich food studies teaching and develop new courses; a series of public lectures and faculty workshops to catalyze humanities-based foodways scholarship and teaching; and a public conference, “America Eats Revisited,” on race and ethnicity in foodways. The programming is designed to support participating faculty in creating a new interdisciplinary curriculum in Food Studies, including an undergraduate Minor in Food Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Food Studies at UH. The interdisciplinary study of food – as we propose in this project – brings humanists from a range of disciplines to a common table to explore the ways that food reminds us of who we are and have been, while also pointing us toward what we might become. Food studies examines the foods that people consume, and the impact that food has on our cultural, social, political, and economic lives. Houston and the Gulf Coast region offer us an ideal laboratory for teaching and researching foodways. A rich history as a diverse international crossroads has shaped the region and its relation to multiple points of food production, distribution, and consumption. This project aims to provide faculty with the intellectual and pedagogical tools to develop up to nine new food studies courses illuminating the complex web of relationships that make our region distinctive, and that actively engage students in interdisciplinary research-based learning projects on local topics with global implications that teach them about the world in which they live. Gulf Coast Food Project: 3 GRANT11437322 -- Attachments-ATT2-1235-summary.pdf Project Narrative 1. Intellectual Rationale: Dr. Todd Romero and Dr. Monica Perales from the Center of Public History at the University of Houston (UH) propose a six semester humanities project, “The Gulf Coast Food Project: Humanities Research and Curriculum.” Three components comprise the project: 1. A faculty reading and curriculum development group of six to eight UH faculty to provide intellectual support to enrich food studies teaching and develop new courses; 2. A series of closely related public lectures and faculty workshops to catalyze humanities-based foodways scholarship and enrich faculty teaching; and 3. A public conference, “America Eats Revisited,” on race and ethnicity in foodways. The programming supports faculty by creating a new interdisciplinary curriculum in food studies, with the ultimate goal of developing an undergraduate minor and graduate certificate in Food Studies at UH. The proposed grant builds on our past success in developing foodways-centered Public History classes and research projects, and forms a key part of a longer-term goal of developing a Food Studies Institute. Food studies is one of the most exciting recent developments in the humanities and one that generates tremendous public interest. Broadly defined, food studies examines the foods that people consume, and the impact that food has on our cultural, social, political, and economic lives. Reflecting a common humanity, food is fundamental to our basic needs and animates our identities. In studying food, we learn more about the social worlds we inhabit, and how we participate in shaping the economy, culture, and environment in local, national, and global contexts. As a growing area of study, food studies resonates with special meaning for humanities scholars who explore the cultural dimensions of food production and consumption, and the wide range of social relationships forged through food. Many humanities scholars are drawn to the topic because food is fundamental to identity, labor, economy, culture, and history. Gulf Coast Food Project: 4 GRANT11437322 -- Attachments-ATT3-1236-narrative.pdf The Gulf Coast Region is an ideal location for a food studies initiative. Our unique geographic location and relation to multiple points of food production, distribution, and consumption afford us a laboratory for teaching and researching foodways. In 2011 Texas was second in the nation for total agricultural output, and remains the leader in cattle production.1 Known for its tourism and oil production, the Texas Gulf Coast also produces 68 percent of the nation’s shrimp (more than Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida combined) estimated at nearly $170 million annually.2 The region has long been a meeting ground of Native, Hispanic, French, African, and Anglo-Americans. Houston is the fourth most populous city in the nation and is now the most diverse large metropolitan area in the United States, surpassing New York City.3 Today, it continues to draw immigrants from all over the world who bring their food to the area. Finally, Houston is home to a vibrant food scene that reflects the region’s position as a global crossroads. As John T. Edge, Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance recently wrote, Houston has “emerge[d] as the South’s twenty-first century Creole capitol, where Vietnamese pho is as beloved as Cajun gumbo and tandoor-cooked naan smeared with chutney rivals skillet-cooked corn bread smeared with butter.”4 He celebrates a dynamism that flows from the region’s history of race, migration, economy, and culture, identifying a rich field of study for the humanities. Studying Gulf Coast foodways allows us to engage our students in interdisciplinary research-based learning projects on local topics with global implications that teach them about 1 USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “2011 State Agriculture Overview: Texas” (May, 2012). http://www nass.usda.gov/Statistics by State/Ag Overview/AgOverview TX.pdf [Accessed on June 13, 2013]. 2 Texas A & M at Galveston Center for Texas Beaches and Shores, “The Dynamic Texas Coast.” http://www.tamug.edu/CTBS/about us/history-mission/doc/Texas%20Coast%20Powerpoint.pdf [Accessed on June 13, 2013]. 3 Michael O. Emerson, et al, “Houston Region Grows More Racially/Ethnically Diverse,” A Report of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research & the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas (2012). http://kinder rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Urban Research Center/Media/Houston%20Region%20Grows%20More%20Et hnically%20Diverse%202-13.pdf. [Accessed June 13, 2013]. 4 John T. Edge, “Savoring Mutt City: Why Houston is becoming a top-tier destination to eat and drink,” Oxford American, August 27, 2012, http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2012/aug/27/new-south-journalism-local-fare/ [accessed on June 7, 2013]. Gulf Coast Food Project: 5 GRANT11437322 -- Attachments-ATT3-1236-narrative.pdf the world in which they live. A focus on labor and laborers – on farms, shrimp boats, and in restaurants and production plants – who help to feed the world, can teach them about longstanding communities, customs, and cultures embedded in food labor. Similarly, studying regional food industries highlights the impact of natural and man-made disasters on the environment, which connect to global demand, markets, and concerns over sustainability. Reflecting our past scholarly work and the region’s diversity, we are particularly interested in foodways, race, migration, and identity.