Anthropology 315 (51) Culture and Nutrition

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will enable students to examine nutrition from a biological perspective.  Using evolutionary theory as a foundation to understand human nutritional proclivities and requirements, students will explore the cross-cultural context of food procurement, production, processing, and consumption.  Students satisfactorily completing the course will gain the basic understanding of the evolution of human nutritional tastes and requirements, as well as an appreciation of the causes and distribution of the cultural context of food.

Prerequisites (listed in the 2007-2009 University Catalog):

ANTH 101 (Introduction to Biological Anthropology) OR ANTH 102 (Introduction to Cultural Anthropology) OR equivalent. 

If you do not have these prerequisites, you may find the course too difficult or confusing to follow.

This is an online only course and may require some special attention on your part if you have never taken an on line class before.  You have to know how to work independently and to keep up with the weekly assignments on your own.  You need to be aware of and respect deadlines for assignments and quizzes.  If you have any problems, please contact me immediately so that we can identify any problems you are having and get them taken care of.  Please read this syllabus carefully!

Online course features:

• You will need to access the Blackboard system:
• Login to the Blackboard system. This system is easy to use but you must carefully follow directions to access it succesfully. PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!

Go to your student portal page at https://my.fullerton.edu.

On your portal you can find your blackboard username and password.

Click on Blackboard and login to the course.

• Quizzes and Web Lab exercises are to be completed by Saturday midnight. Failure to complete them by this time will result in no credit for that week. A Turnitin link will be made available.
• Since all assignments will be completed through the class Blackboard site, you will need to login using the userid and password you obtain (see above).
• All emails must be signed with your real name and course number as I cannot not respond otherwise as I will not know who you are.
• You need to be familiar with Windows and the use of a keyboard and mouse.
• You will need access to a Windows based computer connected to the internet. There are many such computers available on campus.
• If you do not know how to use computers or software, now is a good time to learn. Contact the Helpdesk at http://www.fullerton.edu/helpdesk, or (714) 278-7777.
• You should also contact the Helpdesk with technical problems. 

Course Requirements:

8 Quizzes                                                                   10 points each, 80 points total

4 Labs and Write-ups                                                 30 points each, 120 points total

TOTAL Points for course:     200 pts.

Grading Procedures:

Eight scheduled quizzes will be given over the course of the semester.  Quizzes will be based on lectures and readings.  Each quiz will consist of 5 multiple choice questions.  The timed quizzes will be made available on Blackboard the week they are due.  You will be given 15 minutes for each quiz.  Books and lecture notes should not be used during the quiz as if you rely on your notes, then you are more likely to run out of time.  Quizzes must be taken during the week that they are assigned.  There will be no make-ups and no exceptions. 

There will be four lab exercises focusing on nutritional anthropology.  The labs and corresponding write-ups will contribute 120 points toward your grade.  Please consider carefully:  you will lose valuable lab points for poor spelling, poor grammar, poor sentence and paragraph structure and unnecessary repetition. Read the lab questions CAREFULLY and answer all parts of each question.  There is a word count for all Lab Assignments of 500 words per question (2 questions per lab) - it is always better to write more than less.  You will lose points if you fall below the 500 word mark. Please take the time to read your work BEFORE handing it in so that you can catch any errors. I do not recommend turning in Lab Assignments late as you will lose points for each day late (up to 5 pts per day).

Remember: your answers to the lab questions (along with the quizzes) are all I have to grade you on.  Take the time to write properly and intelligently.  If you need help writing, please visit the on campus writing lab in the basement of McCarthy Hall or any of the following on-line writing sites:

www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml

owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

I will also be sending out via email some helpful questions for you to ask yourself when writing the Labs.

Your final grade will be based on the following scale:

Lowest A: 180 points. Lowest B: 160 points. Lowest C: 140 points. Lowest D: 120 points. F: <120 points. This course does not issue + or - grades

Class Participation:

In order to get the most out of this class: read and think about the lectures, integrate the lectures with the reading, and thoughtfully complete the quizzes, and lab assignments.  If you have questions email me or see me during office hours. 

Academic Integrity:

Please consult the Student Handbook for information on the University’s academic integrity policies. Violations will not be tolerated. Presenting other peoples’ work as your own or fabricating nutrition data are two obvious examples of academic misconduct and they are in violation of the University’s academic integrity policy.  It is in your best interest to familiarize yourself with the academic dishonesty policy, which can be found in the current student handbook or on the web at http://www.fullerton.edu/senate/PDF/300/UPS300-021.pdf

Students’ Right to Accommodation:

Culture and Nutrition as a General Education Requirement:

UPS 411.201 requires all GE classes to include a writing assignment. 

Ø  “Writing assignments in General Education courses should involve the organization and expression of complex data or ideas and careful and timely evaluations of writing so that deficiencies are identified and suggestions for improvement and/or for means of remediation are offered.  Assessments of the student’s writing competence shall be used in determining the final course grade” (UPS 411.201, p. 1)

Your lab write-ups fulfill this requirement because you will organize and express complex data and ideas related to your nutrient analysis and human growth projects.  Forty percent of your course grade will be based on assessment of your writing competence through evaluation of the lab write-ups.

Anth 315 Culture and Nutrition satisfies the requirements for GE Category IV (Lifelong learning) and GE Category V (Cultural Diversity). Consult your advisor if you need more information regarding your specific GE requirements. The italicized sentences (quotes are from 2001-2003 catalogs) indicate how Culture and Nutrition incorporates the student learning goals for GE categories IV and V.

IV. Lifelong Learning

Lifelong Learning provides the opportunity for students to integrate the elements of their university experience (core competencies, historical and cultural foundations, and disciplinary learning) in attempting to address the complex context and trajectory of human life. In this course we address the following student learning goals for GE Category IV:

Ø  “To understand the human being as an integrated physiological, sociocultural and psychological organism.”

Food production and consumption will be discussed in terms of the physical process, its evolution as a feature of the human lifecourse, and the social and cultural context.

Ø  “To understand the course of human life, that is, how human life and experience are constructed and altered through biological, psychological, social, scientific, technological and cultural influences.”

This class examines food and nutrition as an integral part of the human life affected by cultural context, demography, subsistence ecology, and technological advancements.

Ø  “To understand conceptions of the course of human life from different cultural perspectives.”

The role of food and nutrition in different cultures is one of the most profound and identifiable differences. Yet, people are bound by a common biological heritage. In this course we will examine the interrelationship between our evolved nutritional needs and wants and the cultural context of food and nutrition.

Ø  “To understand the importance of a lifelong commitment to physical activity and a healthy manner of living for both personal well being and civic responsibility.”

In this class we will examine the cross cultural context of nutrition and how it relates to health in different societies.  We will integrate into our discussion a study of activity patterns and nutrition in the U.S. and elsewhere using computer software

Ø  “To understand the basis and the means by which individuals and society make decisions.”

We will study the relationship between environmental demands and individual decision making that forms the foundation of cultural adaptation.  Cross culturally individuals make very different decisions regarding their nutrition.

V. Cultural Diversity

In this course we address all of the following learning goals for cultural diversity:

Ø  “To understand that culture is socially constructed and fundamental to social interaction.”

In this class we will discuss the bases for culture and the relationship of individuals to the environment and social domain in which they are living. 

Ø  “To appreciate the complex relationships that gender, ethnicity and class bring to a discussion of society and culture.”

We will discuss how the context of food production and consumption is affected by gender, ethnicity, and social stratification in terms of access to nutrition as well as effects on health and well being.

Ø  “To understand that because we live in an inter-connected world, we need to understand the diversity and relationships within and among cultures.”

We will discuss variation within the U.S. and across nation states that relates life experiences to features of the social and physical environment.

Ø  “To recognize and evaluate how one’s cultural history affects one’s sense of self and relationship to others.”

A unifying theme of every discussion will be perception of one’s own nutritional decisions and behavior and how this is related to specific cultural contexts of time, place, and life stage.

Course Format: This might alter slightly during the course of the semester

Download syllabus Microsoft Word (.doc) file. If you do not have Word, please use the Word Viewer.