HNRS 126W, Spring 2014
Wednesdays 1:40 – 4:30, Honors Hall 12

 

Dr. Kimberly Libman
Office Hours: After class and by appointment
Email: klibman@qc.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-752-6139

Instructional Technology Fellow: Maggie Dickenson
Email: maggie.dickinson@gmail.com
Office: Honors Hall, Room 20
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 11-4 and by appointment

Course Description:

This course explores the social, historical, cultural and economic dimensions of immigration and population change in New York City through the lens of food.   Readings and course activities focus on how immigrants, and other groups brought to live in New York City, changed its physical, economic, and social landscape  – as well as – how the experience of coming to live in New York changed their lives.   Through topics such as ethnic authenticity, gentrification, and health, we will examine theoretical and political debates about assimilation and the interplay of race, class, and gender.  The course also includes a collaborative neighborhood investigation.  Students will use a range of research methods to examine the social history of a neighborhood.  The projects will culminate with students presenting their research as a written paper, website, and menu.

Required Books:

 Foner, Nancy. One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. Columbia University Press, 2013.

Hauck-Lawson, Annie, and Jonathan Deutsch. Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Columbia University Press, 2008.

Assignments and Grading:

Attendance and Participation: 25%

You are expected to attend class prepare to discuss the readings.  Class participation also includes posting questions about the readings in advance of at least seven class sessions.  There may occasionally be in-class writing and/or other short assignments.

Discussion Leadership: 10%

You will each be assigned a class session where you will give an approximately 15 minute presentation on the readings.  You are encouraged to be creative in the delivery of this presentation.  Your treatment of the reading should address the central argument made by each author, the type/s of evidence used to support the argument, thematic connections to other readings and assignments, and three discussion questions.

Food Voice narrative: 15%

Using food voice narratives from Gastropolis as examples, you will develop a food voice narrative that reflects on your identity and family history.

Review Essay: 15%

You will review a piece of creative work that related to the class themes of immigration, identity, and food.  Examples of creative work include films, museum exhibits, restaurants, and novels.  The reviews should be approximately 800 words and posted to the course website.

Neighborhood Project: 35%

You will work in groups to develop a multi-component study of one New York City neighborhood.   Each group will be responsible for producing a project that includes all of the following:

– A workplan describing who will complete each component of the project and when
-An annotated bibliography
-A statistical overview of the neighborhoods current and past populations
-A qualitative observation of the neighborhood
-A menu representing the social and culinary history of the neighborhood
-A final essay
-Project website 

Extra Credit: Up to 10 points added to final grade

Periodically I will indicate opportunities for students to attend events outside of class and post short reviews of the event as it relates to course themes.

Week 1: January 29 :: Introduction and Overview

 Short, John R. Urban Theory: A Critical Assessment. Palgrave Macmillan New York, 2006. [Chapter 5, The Immigrant City, pgs 79-91]

Week 2: February 5 :: Pre-Contact

Scholarly skill: Workplans

Hauck-Lawson, Annie, and Jonathan Deutsch. Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Columbia University Press, 2008.  [Chapter 1, The Lenapes in Search of Pre-European Foodways in Greater New York Region, pgs. 15-33]

Burrows, Edwin G, and Mike Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York, NY Oxford University Press, 1999. [Chapter 1, First Impressions pgs. 3-13, Chapter 2, The Men Who Bought Manhattan pgs. 14-26]

Week 3: February 19 :: 1626 – 1875
**Food Voice Narrative Due**
**Group Project Workplan Due**

Scholarly skill:  Finding literature

 Hauck-Lawson, Annie, and Jonathan Deutsch. Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Columbia University Press, 2008. [Chapter 2, The Food and Drink of Early New York pgs. 34-49]

Mintz, Sidney. “Food and Diaspora.” Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research 11.4 (2008): 509–23.

Shulman, Robin. Eat the City: A Tale of the Fishers, Trappers, Hunters, Foragers, Slaughterers, Butchers, Farmers, Poultry Minders, Sugar Refiners, Cane Cutters, Beekeepers, Winemakers, and Brewers Who Built New York. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2013. [Chapter 4, Sugar pgs. 137-174]

Week 4: February 26 :: 1876-2000

 Scholarly skill:  Zotero/ Managing references

 Ziegelman, Jane. 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. New York: Harper, 2011. [Chapter 4, The Rogarshevsky Family pgs.125-181, and Chapter 5, The Baldizzi Family pgs. 183-227]

Week 5: March 5 :: 2000-New York Today

Scholarly skill:  Reading fast and slow

Foner, Nancy. One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. Columbia University Press, 2013. [Chapter 1: Introduction, pgs. 1-34, Chapter 2: A Portrait of New Yorks immigrant Mélange pgs. 35-63]

Abdullah, Zain. “African‘ Soul Brothers’ in the’Hood: Immigration, Islam, and the Black Encounter.” Anthropological Quarterly 82.1 (2009): 37–62.

Week 6: March 12 :: Mixing: Eating Exotic Others

 Scholarly skill:  Spreadsheets and visualizing data

 Hauck-Lawson, Annie, and Jonathan Deutsch. Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Columbia University Press, 2008. [Chapter 8, Chow Fun City: Three Centuries of Chinese Cuisine in New York City pgs. 132-153]

Heldke, Lisa. “But Is It Authentic?: Culinary Travel and the Search for the ‘Genuine Article.’” The Taste and Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink (2007): 385–394.

Foner, Nancy. One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. Columbia University Press, 2013.  [Chapter 5, Chinese: Diverse Origins and Destinations pgs.120-147]

Week 7: March 19 :: Gentrification

**Group Project Qualitative Description Due**

 Scholarly skill:  Census data and Social Tracker

Zukin, Sharon et al. “New Retail Capital and Neighborhood Change: Boutiques and Gentrification in New York City.” City & Community 8.1 (2009): 47–64.

Shulman, Robin. Eat the City: A Tale of the Fishers, Trappers, Hunters, Foragers, Slaughterers, Butchers, Farmers, Poultry Minders, Sugar Refiners, Cane Cutters, Beekeepers, Winemakers, and Brewers Who Built New York. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2013. [Chapter 2, Vegetables pgs. 55-93, and Chapter 3, Meat pgs. 94-138]

Week 8: March 26 :: Food, Identity, Immigration and Health

Scholarly skill:  Crafting an argument

 Yeh, Ming-Chin et al. “Determinants of Latina Obesity in the United States The Role of Selective Acculturation.” Journal of Transcultural Nursing 20.1 (2009): 105–115.

Tavernise, Sabrina. “The Health Toll of Immigration.” The New York Times 18 May 2013.

Ramakrishna, J, and M G Weiss. “Health, Illness, and Immigration. East Indians in the United States.” Western Journal of Medicine 157.3 (1992): 265–270.

Week 9: April 2 :: Markets

**Group Project Statistical Overview Due**

 Scholarly skill:  Editing the scholarly voice

 Hauck-Lawson, Annie, and Jonathan Deutsch. Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Columbia University Press, 2008. [Chapter 9, Hawkers and Gawkers: Peddling and Markets in New York City pgs. 153-173]

Frieburger, William. “War Prosperity and Hunger: The New York Food Riots of 1917.” Labor History 25.2 (1984): 217–239.

 Wasserman, Susan. “The Good Old Days Of Poverty: Merchants and the Battle Over Pushcart Peddling.”  1998.

Morales, Alfonso. “Marketplaces: Prospects for Social, Economic, and Political Development.” Journal of Planning Literature 26.1 (2011): 3–17.

Week 10: April 9 :: Restaurants

**Group Project Annotated Bibliography Due**

 Scholarly skill:  Types of evidence

Hauck-Lawson, Annie, and Jonathan Deutsch. Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Columbia University Press, 2008.  [Chapter 16, Eating Out, Eating American: New York restaurant Dining and Identity pgs. 293-307]

Ray, Krishnendu. “Dreams of Pakistani Grill and Vada Pao in Manhattan: Re-Inscribing the Immigrant Body in Metropolitan Discussions of Taste.” Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research 14.2 (2011): 243–273.

Week 11: April 23 :: Tradition

**Review Essay Due**

 Scholarly skill:  Presentation design

Hauck-Lawson, Annie, and Jonathan Deutsch. Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Columbia University Press, 2008.  [Chapter 12, Livin’ La Vida Sabrosa: Savoring Latino New York pgs. 208-232]

Marte, Lidia. “Foodmaps: Tracing Boundaries of ‘home’ through Food Relations.” Food & Foodways 15.3-4 (2007): 261–289.

Foner, Nancy. One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. Columbia University Press, 2013.  [Chapter 9, Dominican: Community Culture and Collective Identity pgs. 223-245]

Week 12: April 30 :: Economics

**Group Project Menu Due**

 Scholarly skill: Paragraph construction

Kim, Dae Young. “Beyond Co-Ethnic Solidarity: Mexican and Ecuadorean Employment in Korean-Owned Businesses in New York City.” Ethnic and Racial studies 22.3 (1999): 581–605.

Foner, Nancy. One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. Columbia University Press, 2013. [Chapter 3, immigration and Economic Growth in New York City pgs. 64-89, and Chapter 7, Jamaicans: Balancing Race and Ethnicity pgs. 176-199]

Week 13: May 7 :: Contemporary Policy Debate

**Group Project Final Essay Due**

 Scholarly skill:  Presentation delivery

Foner, Nancy. One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. Columbia University Press, 2013.  [Chapter 10, Mexicans: civic Engagement, Education, and Progress Achieved and Inhibited pgs. 247-266]

Week 14: May 14 :: Potluck & Group Presentations

**Group Project Websites Completed**