Class Participation—Because this course is a speaking intensive seminar, students are required to contribute to class discussions daily to receive a passing grade. Grades will be based on whether a student participated and the substance of comments.
Class Preparedness—Students must be prepared to participate in in-class activities, workshops, and peer review sessions throughout the semester. Grades will be based on consistent preparedness and thoughtful engagement.
Classroom Discussion Facilitation—Each student along with a partner(s) will lead class discussion of one reading assignment over two class periods. Students can do role-playing, analyze primary documents, stage a debate, etc. At least one day must be reserved for a close reading and discussion of the text(s). Finally, students must meet with me at the end of class on Friday prior to their facilitation to discuss their plans. Grades will be based on the following criteria:
- Meets with me to discuss their facilitation plans in class prior to their facilitation.
- Has a working facilitation plan to present at prep meeting.
- Responds to feedback and makes appropriate changes prior to their facilitation.
- On the first day of their facilitation, lays out their classroom activities for the two-day assignment.
- Generates discussion questions that address larger themes within the reading(s) to promote debate and conversation.
- Writes questions that address details within the reading(s) that facilitators believe to be significant.
- Develops a classroom activity that creatively enhances information/knowledge from the text(s).
- Appropriately handles student participation/lack of participation.
- Speaks loudly and coherently.
- Uses suitable posture and gestures.
- Answers questions competently.
Introductory Presentation—During the second and third week of classes, students will give a five-minute presentation about themselves and how they relate to food. As part of this assignment, students will need to incorporate multimedia into their presentation (e.g. Prezi, Google Slides, PowerPoint, etc.). This assignment counts towards your participation grade.
- Discusses their relationship to food.
- Includes at least 5 images in their multimedia presentation.
- Gives an introduction and conclusion to presentation.
- Meets the 5-minute criteria.
- Speaks loudly and coherently.
- Uses suitable posture and gestures.
- Answers questions competently.
Final Exam—During our final exam period, students will write two essays. The first essay addresses the state of American foodways, using our readings and class discussions over the course of the semester as evidence to support their arguments. At least five weeks of reading assignments must be incorporated into the essay. Handwritten notes and/or hard copies of books/articles are allowed to help students write their essays. The second essay is a self-reflection on the research project. For this essay, students will compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of each research method and explain why they prefer one over the others. Again, handwritten notes are permitted to assist in the writing of this essay. For both essays, notes will be handed in with the exam.
Digital Recipe Project—Over the course of the semester, students will conduct research on a specific recipe, using three distinct research modalities: 1) physical cookbooks; 2) online databases; and 3) vibe coding. The goal of this assignment is for students not only to learn about past and present cooking practices and beliefs, but also to explore the strengths and weaknesses of each research method.
- Cookbook Archive: Students will find a recipe using traditional cookbooks that they plan to research for the semester and review at least 20 additional cookbooks looking for similar recipes. Additionally, students will need to create a folder where they will house images of these recipes, making sure that they keep the bibliographic information intact. Finally, they will also create an Excel spreadsheet listing which cookbooks they have reviewed, formatting each book entry in Chicago Manual of Style. This folder will be shared with the professor.
- Online Database Research: Students will learn about the different online databases that have digital cookbook collections and historic newspapers and review all of them for possible recipes. Again, they will add their materials to the folder created above in a separate folder, keeping the bibliographic information intact. Finally, they will create an Excel spreadsheet listing the databases that they used what the results were of their searches.
- Vibe Coding: Students will use vibe coding to create an app to curate and evaluate recipes available on the open web. The results of this research will be added to our archive folder, either as a list of links or screenshots.
- Digital Timeline: is due on the Friday of the last week of classes. At least ten slides along with a separate bibliography containing all of the cookbooks used are to be included in the assignment. The bibliography is to be inserted below the timeline in a separate text box on the class timeline page. Students are required to follow guidelines on citations format from the Chicago Manual of Here’s is the grading criteria for the final timeline:
- Includes at least ten slides.
- Has a title slide.
- Has a concluding slide.
- Visual images (still photography or video) on every slide with appropriate attribution.
- Mechanics: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar are correct.
- Correct sentence structure and paragraphing.
- Inserts bibliography formatted using Chicago Manual of Style in a text block under the timeline on the class website.
- Bibliography consists of cookbooks and newspaper articles.
- Bibliography is inserted below the timeline.
- Final Presentation: At the end of the semester, students will also give a formal, 5-to-7-minute presentation on their recipe. They will be graded on the following criteria:
- Includes an introduction.
- Give an overview of their recipe.
- Discusses why they chose this recipe.
- Highlight specific recipes and relates them to history, regional/ethnic background, and current production/usage.
- List the main components of the recipes and the process(es) in which it is made. Note any differences among the recipes.
- Has a conclusion.
- Uses PowerPoint or other slide deck application.
- Meets the 5-to-7-minute criteria.
- Speak loudly and coherently.
- Use suitable posture and gestures.
- Answer questions competently.