English and Cultural Studies 2PC3: Popular Culture 

 

Institution: McMaster University

Faculty: Humanities

Department: English and Cultural Studies

Topic: Food in Media and Popular Culture 

Fall 2021 

Instructor: Melissa Montanari (she/her), montanm@mcmaster.ca 

Class Delivery: Offered online by means of asynchronous lectures posted to A2L and synchronous video conference meetings once weekly via Zoom.

 
 

In the following video I introduce students to the course topics and syllabus. I outline classroom policies, assignments etc. Lecture samples available upon request!

Course Syllabus 

English and Cultural Studies 2PC3: Popular Culture 

Topic: Food in Media and Popular Culture 

Fall 2021 

Instructor: Melissa Montanari (she/her), montanm@mcmaster.ca 

Class Delivery: Offered online by means of asynchronous lectures posted to A2L and synchronous video conference meetings once weekly via Zoom— see “Class Format” section below for more details  

Class Time: Two pre recorded lectures posted on Mondays by 9:30AM EST; live meetings held Thursdays 9:30AM (EST) 

Student Hours: Mondays and Thursdays by appointment via https://calendly.com/montanm  

 

Course Description  

Welcome to English 2PC3, where we're digging into the key concepts, conversations, and controversies on exciting topics related to food in media and popular culture! With an emphasis on food’s social, political, and ecological entanglements, this multidisciplinary course in English offers students the space to critically analyze various forms of cultural production— think social media, advertisements, film, television, product labels, cookbooks, novels, and more. Food is perhaps the most democratic form of cultural production—we all have a relationship with it in one way or another. This means that each of us have important insights to bring to this course and will have a hand in shaping the conversations we partake in this semester.  

By engaging with a wide range of texts and thinkers who describe themselves using different and sometimes overlapping titles (ie. academics, food critics, artists, activists, ect.) students in ENGL 2PC3 will develop the skills to identify and write about the complicated ways food media and the food industry in North America perpetuates heteropatriarchy, diet culture, capitalism, colonialism, and climate disaster, often at once. At the same time, we will consider the joyful, nourishing, and collaborative possibilities that thinking with food brings to our scholarship, writing, and lives.  

 

Learning Goals 

  1. Develop a foundational understanding of how various cultural histories, events and circumstances have shaped current conversations in food media. 

  2. Develop socially-minded writing and communication skills to articulate how food media, in its various forms, represents, co-produces, and challenges, arrangements of power and categories of identity (such as race, gender, sexuality, and class). 

  3. Critically and thoughtfully consume and produce food media in everyday life, drawing both from course readings and personal encounters. 

  4. Cultivate close reading, critical thinking, and communication skills that carry beyond the English classroom. 

 

Class Format 

Pre-recorded lectures uploaded Mondays and live lectures held on Thursdays 

With the delivery of this course, my goal is to strike a balance between structure and flexibility. I want you to have a clear sense of what is expected of you each week, but at the same time, I want to offer you the space to organize your time in a way that works for you. With that said, here is the plan: 

  • Before our designated class time each Monday I will upload a two-part recorded lecture to A2L. In these pre-recorded lectures, I will pose questions for you to respond to in your A2L discussion groups.  

  • You will have Monday-Wednesday at noon to watch the lectures, which will be saved to A2L, and post your response in the discussion.   

  • On Thursday, we will meet for a live class on Zoom during which I will engage with the ideas YOU raised in the A2L discussions, connect them to larger themes, and take some time to respond to questions before priming you all for next week's topic. These live classes will also be recorded for future reference.  

 

Reading Materials 

All readings, except for Ruth Ozeki’s novel My Year of Meats (new paperback for $23), are available for free either via library portal or web access. The links are available on this syllabus and will be posted on A2L.  

 

Support for Students 

Student Wellness Center- https://wellness.mcmaster.ca/  

Student Accessibility Services- https://sas.mcmaster.ca/appointments/register/ 

Sexual Assault Center (Hamilton and Area) SACHA- https://sacha.ca/ 

Hamilton Food Share- https://www.hamiltonfoodshare.org/ 

Community Fridges HamOnt- https://www.facebook.com/cfhamont/  

 

Melissa’s Email Policy 

  • Unless there are extenuating circumstances, on weekdays, I check emails twice daily— once in the AM and once in the PM.  

  • Unless there are extenuating circumstances I will not respond to emails for 24 hours before an assignment is due. If you require an extension or some help, please ensure that you have planned around this rule. 

  • I will not respond to emails for 24 hours after an assignment is handed back. If you have any questions about your returned assignment I encourage you to contact the person who marked your work after 24 hours. 

  • Remember to only use your Mac email address when communicating with instructors and markers. 

Due to the online nature of this course, I will happily respond to all questions and concerns via email. However, if you wish to discuss course content and/or your own work in detail, it might be best to make an appointment during my predesignated office hours.  

Course Evaluations 

Students will have the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback to the course instructor half way through the semester, and directly to the Department of English and Cultural Studies at the end of the semester.  

 

Assignments 

NOTE: a detailed rundown of the assignment will be available on A2L AT LEAST two weeks prior to the due date.   

Descriptions 

All assignments can be modified to address both formal and informal accommodations. While it is best to sort this out at the beginning of the semester, you are welcome to email me about accommodations and/or extension requests in advance of the due dates listed below. 

 

Discussion Group Engagement- 20% 

Due to A2L discussion boards weekly 

Each week, during one of the pre-recorded lectures, I will present a short activity for students to take up in their A2L discussion group. These activities will be completed independently and will encourage students to think critically about the course readings as well as their own experiences of food and food media. Students will have from Monday to Wednesday afternoon to respond to the weekly question in 150-200 words. These responses will form the basis of Thursday’s live discussions. Students will be graded for completing these activities regularly. Though it is not required, students are encouraged to engage thoughtfully with their classmate’s responses in the A2L discussion group. 

 

Creative Critical Perspectives- 15% (Strongest paper worth 10%, weaker paper worth 5%) 

#1 due to A2L on Friday, Oct. 1st @ 11:59PM EST  

#2 due to A2L on Friday, Nov. 26th @ 11:59PM EST  

These assignments offer students the space to explore ideas, develop a critical voice, and experiment with different mediums, such as ingredient profiles, personal essays, recipes, short photo essays with a description, etc. Students will be graded on their ability to identify, reflect on, and engage a topic that connected to our course materials in a focused and creative way. Each piece will be submitted with an accompanying rationale (approx 150-200 words) that states what topic/idea/theme your CCP engages, how your work contributes to the topic/idea/theme, and why your CCP takes the form it does. There is no strict word count for these assignments as they can take on any number of forms but, for reference, an entirely written perspective should be no more than 500 words (including the rationale). More detailed instructions and examples will be made available on A2L.  

 

Close Reading Assignment- 10% 

Close reading due to A2L Friday Oct. 29th @ 11:59 PM EST 

Students are asked to select a short passage, image, or video from one of our readings, and write an analysis of it in 500 words. This analysis should attend to details in the text that are crucial to its impact. These details could be specific images or metaphors, structural elements (ie. colour if you’re looking at a picture, or textual organization if you’re looking at writing, etc. ), uniquely phrased or presented ideas and/or concepts, references to cultural histories or knowledges, or any other element in the text that makes it particularly powerful.  You will be graded on your ability to engage deeply with one or two specific elements of the text and communicate the critical significance of your observations in the context of our courses’ main topics. More detailed instructions will be made available on A2L. 

 

Final Paper Proposal/ Final Project Pitch- 20% 

Due to A2L on Friday, Nov. 12 @ 11:59PM EST  

Students will submit a detailed outline of their final paper/project idea (see below) to receive feedback from the instructor and markers prior to submitting the final product. If you are writing a paper,  your proposal will include the following: your selected topic, an outline of your main argument, a breakdown of each paragraph, a bibliography, a short reflection on the challenges you’re encountering (or anticipate encountering). For those doing a project (ie. podcast episode with transcripts, longform photo essay and description, personal essay, a mini cookbook) your outline will include the following: a detailed explanation of what your project is, why it is important, how you plan to execute the project, and how it is relevant to the course. You will also outline the challenges you are encountering (or anticipate encountering) and include a bibliography.  More detailed instructions and rubric will be made available on A2L. 

 

Final Paper/ Final Project- 25% 

Due to A2L on Friday, Dec. 10th @ 11:59PM EST  

Students will be required to prepare a longer, more substantial piece of work for submission at the end of the semester. For this assignment, you may choose to write an essay of approximately 2000 words (7-8 pages), on a topic of the instructor’s devising; or you may choose to work in another medium (ie. podcast episode with transcripts, longform photo essay with description, personal essay, cookbook, etc). Whether you complete a paper or project you will be required to engage with at least two texts from the course. More information about this assignment will be provided during the semester.  

 

Self Evaluations-10% (2x5%) 

#1 due to A2L on Friday, Sept. 17th @ 11:59PM EST 

#2 due to A2L on Friday Dec. 10th @ 11:59PM EST  

These assignments offer students the opportunity to set and reflect on their personal learning goals. I encourage you to think beyond grades here and consider what learning means to you. In the first evaluation students will outline what skills they hope to build this semester and how they plan to cultivate those skills within the framework of the course. In the second evaluation, students will reflect on their learning journey. More detailed instructions will be made available on A2L.  

 

Assessment Breakdown 

Discussion Group Engagement 20% 

Creative Critical Perspectives 15% 

Close Reading Assignment 10% 

Final Paper Proposal/ Final Project Pitch 20% 

Final Paper/ Final Project 25% 

Self Evaluations10% 

Course Schedule  

*I recommend doing the readings in the order they appear on the syllabus 

Unit 1: Introducing Food in Media and Popular Culture 

Week 1: September 7th and 9th 

Welcome: Course Expectations and Applications 

  • Course outline and objectives 

  • Introduction Videos on A2L going over what to expect (including navigation of A2L for this course specifically, general chat about pop culture and an overview of the kinds of texts we will be exploring) 

  • Imre Szeman and Susie O’Brien, “Introducing Popular Culture” from Popular Culture: A User’s Guide (Online Library Resource) Pages 17-34 

 

Week 2: September 13th and 16th 

Self evaluation #1 due to A2L Friday, Sept. 17 @ 11:59PM EST  

Topic: Food in Popular Culture 

 

Week 3: September 20th and 23rd   

Topic: Food Media and the Nation 

  • Ruth Ozeki, My Year of Meats, pages 1-47, Prologue-Chapter 3 (including Ch3)

 

Unit 2: Food, Media, and Identity 

Week 4: September 27th and 30th 

CCP #1 due to A2L Friday, Oct. 1 @ 11:59PM EST 

Topic: Representation in Food Media and Culture  

  • Ruth Ozeki, My Year of Meats continued, pages 48-119, Chapter 4-Chapter 5 (including Ch5)

 

Week 5: October 4th and 7th 

Topic: Explosive Celebrity Chefs and Women Laughing Alone With Salads 

 

READING WEEK OCTOBER 11-15 — NO CLASS 

 

Week 6: October 18th and 21st 

Topic: Meat, Masculinity, and Environmental Literature 

 

Week 7: October 25th and 28th  

Close reading due to A2L Friday Oct. 29th @ 11:59 PM EST 

Topic: Edibility and Consumption 

 

Week 8: November 1st and 4th  

Topic: Diet Culture, Virtue, and the Macronutrient Imaginary  

 

Unit 3: Dig In! Writing, Eating, and Food(s) for Thought 

Week 9: November 8th and 11th 

Proposal Due to A2L Friday Nov. 12 @11:59PM EST  

Topic: Writing and the Proposal 

Towards a more equitable future for food media and culture: Independent publishing (ie. newsletters, podcasts, social media), journals, magazines, and YOU! Exploration week and INTENSIVE WORKSHOP for thinking and writing in and about food.  

 

Week 10: November 15th and 18th 

Topic: Tech Meats and Vegan Eats- Problems and Possibilities 

 

Week 11: November 22nd and 25th  

CCP #2 due to A2L Friday, Nov. 26th @ 11:59PM EST 

Topic: Fermentation, Bacteria, and COVID-19- Problems and Possibilities 

 

Week 12: November 29th and December 2nd 

Topic: Where do we go from here?  

 

Week 13: December 6th 

Topic: Collaborative Writing Session 

In preparation for this class please revisit the resources in the “Writing Resources” section on A2L 

 

LAST DAY OF CLASSES FOR FALL 2021: Wednesday, Dec. 8th, 2021  

Self Evaluation#2 due to A2L Friday, Dec. 10th @ 11:59PM EST 

Final project/paper due to A2L Friday, Dec. 10th @11:59PM EST