ANTH315:  Culture & Nutrition                       Teryl Schessler            tyrkat@yahoo.com           

Sec 80-18064  Tu 4:00-6:45pm   Office:  IRVC1 260        Voice-mail: 949-936-1792           tschessler@fullerton.edu

Irvine Campus Rm IRVC1 120     Office Hrs:  TuWed 1:00-3:45; Th 3:15-6:45

 

Required Text | Course Requirements | Schedule | Course Description | Objectives | Academic Integrity | Exams | Disability Statement | GE | Download Syllabus

 

SYLLABUS:  FALL 2007                              NOTE:  Use on-line calendar, not that in 05-07 catalog

Required Text:                                                  Course Requirements:

The Cultural Feast  Bryant et. al  2003              Midterm & Final Exam   100pts ea          Paper Proposal     5pts

Thomson Wadsworth 0534525822                      Journals on Videos:          5pts ea           Paper               100pts

The Origins of Human Diet & Medicine:              Due Dates TBA                                    Paper Discussion 10pts

     Chemical Ecology Timothy Johns                  Nutritional Self-Assessment                   Assessment

    Univ. of AZ 9780816516872                            Exercise                          50pts                          Discussion         10pts

Additional articles could be assigned                  Extra Credit: 2pts per Weird Food sampled                   

  at any time                                                                          5pts bring dish or drink Ethnic Food day with info                                                     

DATE                     TOPIC                                                                    ASSIGNMENT                                                      NOTE:                   

Aug21Tu           Intro/Anthropological Approach              Bryant: Ch1

                        Basic Human Nutrition                                                                                                              

Aug28Tu           Evolutionary Perspective on                  Bryant: Ch2

                          Human Dietary Practices                      Johns: pp TBA                                                             

Sept 4Tu           Dietary Revolutions:                              Bryant: Ch3 to pg 56

                        Neolithic Revolution& Domestication      Johns: pp TBA                                                             

Sept. 4-Tuesday:  Last Day to Drop Without a Grade of  “W“        

Sept11Tu          Dietary Revolutions:                              Bryant:Ch3p56-81

                          The Industrial Revolution & Modernization                                                                                

Sep18Tu           Cultural Variability in Food & Eating       Bryant: Ch4

                        Subsistence Strategies                          Johns: pp TBA                                                             

Sep25Tu           Comparing Food Technologies in           Bryant: Ch5,6              WEIRD FOOD DAY: Bring a Dish

                          Industrial & Nonindustrial Societies                                        Extra Credit for Tasting             

Oct2Tu              Food and Social Organization                Bryant: Ch7

                                                                                                                                                                       

Oct9Tu  Midterm / Film                                                                                                                         

Oct16Tu            Food & Ideology:                                  Ch8                                          Paper & Assessment

                          Role in Religion, Worldview, Identity                                                       Guidelines                

Oct23Tu            Reproduction & Lactation:                    

                          Crosscultural Perspectives                                                                                                      

Oct30Tu            Food as Medicine                                 Johns: pp TBA                          Proposal Deadline

Nov6Tu             Chronic Malnutrition and                        Bryant: Ch9,10

                          “Over-Nutrition“                                                                                                                       

Nov 9-Friday:  Final deadline to withdraw with a grade of “W“ for serious and compelling reason

Nov13Tu           Discuss Self-Assessments                               Self-Assessment Due: Attendance Required    

NO CLASSES:  NOV 19-23:  FALL RECESS-Thanksgiving                                                                               

Nov7Tu             Global Food Issues                               Bryant: Ch11.12 BRING FOOD OR DRINK

                        Dietary Behavioral Change                     ETHNIC FOOD DAY      TO SHARE: 5pts extra credit    

Dec4Tu             Discuss Papers                                                                        Attendance Required:  10pts    

Dec11Tu           NOTE TIME:  FINAL EXAM 5:00-6:50pm                                    Take-Home Questions Due

                                                                                                                                                                       

CEL PHONES:  Ringing phones and other devices are rude and disruptive.  TURN OFF ALL noise-making devices before class.  IF ANY DEVICE RINGS DURING AN EXAM, I WILL DEDUCT 5 POINTS!!                       

Course Description This course will examine interrelationships between human nutrition, basic food resources,

individual development and socio-cultural organization and includes assessment of student’s nutritional status,

beliefs, and practices relative to other cultures.

 

Objectives:  This class examines nutrition from a biocultural perspective.  Evolutionary theory is used as a foundation to understand human nutritional preferences and requirements.  Food procurement, production, processing, and consumption will be explored from a cross-cultural perspective.  Students who satisfactorily complete the course requirements will attain a basic understanding of the evolution of human nutritional tastes and requirements as well as an appreciation of the the diversity of cultural differences in food consumption and possible causal factors for the variations.

 

Paper & Discussion: Each student must write a properly referenced research paper on a topic relevant to Culture & Nutrition and participate in a class discussion of students’ findings.  Guidelines on how to construct the paper will be issued.  Students may work in teams of two;  the same grade will be given to each partner.  Students MUST discuss their topic with the instructor either in-person or via email by the Proposal deadline listed in the syllabus.

Self-Assessment Exercise:  Each student is required to prepare a self-evaluation of their dietary habits and attitudes

and the sources for them and relate their nutritional intake to their individual nutritional requirements.  Guidelines will be issued.  Students must participate in a class discussion of the self-assessments. 

Video Journals Students must write a minimum half-page response to each video seen in class unless directed otherwise.  Video Journals are worth 5 points each.  Guidelines will be given on how to compose responses. Due dates will be announced.

 

NOTE: ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE TURNED IN AS HARD COPY, NOT VIA EMAIL                       

 

ATTENDANCE:  Attending lectures is critical to understanding the content of this course; not all of the content is contained in the textbooks and assigned readings.  This is not a distance learning course; do not expect me to email you missed handouts.  It is YOUR responsibility to obtain copies of notes and handouts you have missed.

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Students who violate university standards of academic integrity are subject to disciplinary sanctions, including failure in the course and suspension from the universtiy. Familiarize yourself with the academic dishonesty policy in the current student handbook or at http://fullerton.edu/senate/PDF/300/UPS300-021.pdf 

  Violations of the University’s Academic Misconduct policies will not be tolerated.  Studying and working together is encouraged, but all written assignments MUST BE YOUR OWN WORK.  Fabrication of research data and/or plagiarism will result in a grade of “0” for the assignment.

 

EXAMS Study guides and essay questions will be issued in advance.  A portion of each exam will be take-home. Make-up exams will only be given if I believe your documented, valid reason for missing an exam or a due date.

GRADING:  Grades will be based on the percentage earned of the total possible points.  10% will be deducted each week for late assignments.  Late assignments CANNOT receive a grade of “A.” Plus/minus grades will be issued:

                        A   92-100%      B+ 88-89%        C+ 78-79%        D+ 68-69%        F < 59%

                        A-  90-91%        B   82-87%        C    72-77%       D   62-67%                   

                                                B-  80-81%        C-  70-71%        D-  60-61%

 

DISABILITY STATEMENT:  If you have a disability or special need for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, please inform the instructor and contact the Disabled Student Services office, located in University Hall 101, as early as possible in the term. 

For more information contact Disabled Student Services Office: 714-278-3117  www.fullerton.edu/disabledservices/   Irvine Campus:  Student Affairs 949-936-1650

 

 

 

ANTH 315 satisfies the requirements for General Education Category requirements as follows:

GE Category IV. Lifelong Learning:

• 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.

• 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.

Food and nutrition are examined as an integral part of the human life affected by cultural context, demography, subsistence ecology, and technological advancements.

• 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 interrelationsip between our evolved nutritional needs and wants and the cultural context of food and nutrition.

• 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.

The class will examin the crosscultural 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.A. and elsewhere.

• To understand the basis and the means by which individuals and society make decisions.

The relationship between environmental demands and individual decision-making that form the foundation of cultural adaptations will be examined with attention to how, cross-culturally, individuals make very different decisions regarding their nutrition.

GE Category V. Cultural Diversity:

•To understand that culture is socially constructed and fundamental to social interaction

The bases for culture and the relationship of individuals to the environment and social domain in which they are living are discussed.

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

The class addresses 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.

• To understand that, because we live in an interconnected world, we need to understand the diversity and relationships within and among cultures.

ANTH315 addresses variations in food production and consumption within the United States and across nation states that relate life experiences to features of the social and physical environments.

• 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.

 

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

 

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