Dr. Laresh Jayasanker Syllabus, Food History of Mexico and Oaxaca
History 390W – Food History of Mexico and Oaxaca
Dr. Laresh Jayasanker, Summer 2014
History Department, Metropolitan State University of Denver
E-mail: ljayasan@msudenver.edu
June 1-August 2, 2014
Oaxaca, Mexico
Course Description:
This study abroad course examines the history of food, agriculture, and food culture in Oaxaca and Mexico. The course is taught in the city of Oaxaca and its environs, with morning lecture sessions held at Universidad de Oaxaca Benito Júarez and afternoon field trips and excursions relating to food history in the region. Students will have the opportunity to compare Mexican and Oaxacan food culture to that of the United States, noting similarities and differences. Excursions will include visits to cooking schools, an ethnobotanical garden, amaranth and corn farms, a nutrition education center, food markets, and restaurants demonstrating Oaxacan and Mexican cuisines and cooking techniques.
Required Reading Materials
Change
The instructor reserves the right to modify, amend, or change the syllabus, course requirements, readings, or grading policy as the curriculum requires.
Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty is a serious offense because it diminishes the quality of scholarship and the learning experience for everyone on campus. An act of academic dishonesty may lead to sanctions including a reduction in grade, probation, suspension, or expulsion. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, submitting the same paper or work for more than one class, and facilitating academic dishonesty. For definitions and more information, see the Metropolitan State University of Denver Student Handbook which is available online through ConnectU.
General Classroom Guidelines:
Please arrive on time. Please turn off electronic devices while in class. This means that your cell phones should be OFF during class. You may use a laptop to take notes, but web surfing, checking your e-mail or fantasy football team online, visiting Facebook, texting, or any other such activity is prohibited. Yes, that said texting – don’t do it during class.
Course Evaluation:
- How was the food prepared?
- Who is dining? What binds the diners together?
- Is there an order to how the food is consumed?
- What choices have been made about what to consume and when?
- Is there a history to the food being consumed? How do you know? What might this eating process have looked like three or five or ten decades ago?
- What supplements the food? Décor, conversation, etc. Is the food secondary to the supplements? Or does the food come first?
In 3 double-spaced, typed pages, record your observations and then draw conclusions about the role of food consumption rituals in everyday life. You will be graded on the vibrancy of your description and analysis. You should also prepare a 3-minute presentation based on your observations. This presentation should summarize the basics of your ethnography and then conclude with the most interesting analytical elements from your description.
D. Examinations (3) – June 15 (5%) July 25 (10%) and July 30 (10%)– These will cover the week’s readings, lectures, and discussions.
E. Presentation – July 31 and August 1 (20%): Investigate some aspect of Oaxacan or Mexican food culture and present your findings to the class at the end of the semester. These presentations will last six-eight minutes and can uncover any aspect of food culture in Mexico. You will consult with Dr. Jayasanker about your presentation earlier in the term. You will also turn in a two-page summary of your presentation with any audiovisual materials sent by e-mail or on a flash drive.
Class meets daily 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at Universidad de Oaxaca Benito Júarez (UABJO)
PRIOR TO ARRIVAL IN OAXACA:
June 15: Examination on Planet Taco, “Maize and the Making of Mexico” and Chapters 1&2 of Food Culture in Mexico. The examination will be conducted via Blackboard. Bring these two books with you to Oaxaca.
July 20: Program Orientation in afternoon. Tour city and visit university.
July 21: Overview of Mexican and Oaxacan History, Ancient Times to Present
Read: Planet Taco, Preface and Introduction; “Maize” from Cambridge World History of Food
Excursion: Guelaguetza Dance Festival – Meet at UABJO – 1:30-5:00 PM
July 22: Corn
Read: Rachel Laudan, “Fueling Mexico City: A Grain Revolution”; Sophie Coe, “Maize” from America’s First Cuisines; Mary Eubanks, “The Mysterious Origins of Maize,” Economic Botany; “Amaranth” from Cambridge World History of Food; Catherine Dold, “The Corn War,” Nature, December 1997
Excursion: Puente a la Salud Comunitaria (Amaranth Farm) – Meet at UABJO 1:30-6:30 PM
July 23: Chocolate and Chiles (Class 8:30-10:00 today)
Read: Food Culture in Mexico, Chapter 3; “Cacao” and “Chile” from Cambridge World History of Food
Excursion: Ethnobotanical Garden at Santo Domingo Church – 10:30 AM-12:30 PM
July 24: Pre-Hispanic Food Culture in Oaxaca and Mexico: Amaranth, Pulque, Chapulines
FOOD ETHNOGRAPHY DUE TODAY
Read: “Insects” from Cambridge World History of Food; Chapter 4 in Food Culture in Mexico; Cohen, Sanchez, and Montiel-Ishino, “Chapulines and Food Choices in Rural Oaxaca,” Gastronomica, Winter 2009.
Excursion: Nutrition Center (Liconsa) – Meet at UABJO 3:30-6:00 PM
July 25: Mayans, Aztecs and Spanish Conquest - Examination #2
Read: Food Culture in Mexico, Chapter 5; John Staller, “Ethnohistoric Sources on Foodways, Feasts, and Festivals in MesoAmerica,” from pp. 23-49 in J.E. Staller and M.D. Carrasco eds., Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica
Excursion: Traditional Oaxacan and Mexican Cooking Class (meet at Santo Domingo) 4:45-8:00 PM
July 26: Excursion to Monte Alban archaeological site and St. James Monastery (city of Cuilapán) with traditional Oaxacan lunch at Hacienda Cuilapán (9:00 AM-5:00 PM – meet at Chedraui)
July 27: Free day
July 28: The Columbian Exchange
Read: “Chocolate, Corn, Chiles and Introduction” from Oaxaca al Gusto; Rebecca Earle, “The Columbian Exchange,” from The Oxford Handbook of Food History; Chapters 6 & 7 from Food Culture in Mexico
Excursion: Traditional Oaxacan and Mexican Cooking Class (meet at Santo Domingo) 4:45-8:00 PM
July 29: Nutrition in Mexico; Tortillas from Ancient to Modern
Read: Chapter 8 from Food Culture in Mexico; Organic in Mexico: A Conversation with Diana Kennedy” Gastronomica, Winter 2006; Laresh Jayasanker, “Tortilla Politics” from Sunbelt Rising
Excursion: Visit Community Nutrition Program 1:30-6:30 PM (meet UABJO)
July 30: Land Reform in Mexico and Oaxaca and Examination #3
Read: Bill Weinberg, “Oaxaca: Backward to Revolution,” WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society, December 2007. Kathleen McAfee, “Corn Culture and Dangerous DNA: Real and Imagined Consequences of Maize Transgene Flow in Oaxaca,” Journal of Latin American Geography, 2003.
Excursion: Visit Organic Market 1:30-3:00 PM (includes lunch – meet UABJO)
July 31:– NAFTA, Food Politics, Food Businesses and Presentations
Read: Anjali Browning, “Corn, Tomatoes and a Dead Dog: Mexican Agricultural Restructuring after NAFTA and Rural Responses to Declining Maize Production in Oaxaca, Mexico,” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, Winter 2013.
Excursion: Alebrije Making Workshop, 3:30-7:00 PM (meet at Chedraui)
August 1: - Presentations
Excursion: Visit Zandunga Restaurant with traditional food from el Istmo, Oaxaca, 7:30-9:30 PM (meet UABJO)