THE PEOPLING OF NEW YORK

MHC 351 / HONORS COLLEGE SEMINAR 2

MIGRATION, IMMIGRATION, AND FOOD COMMUNITIES IN NYC

Lehman College	Spring 2010
Professor Cindy Lobel	Office:  Carman 295
718-960-1897 cindy.lobel@lehman.cuny.edu	Office Hrs: Tuesday 12:00-1:30 pm and by appointment

Technology Fellow:  Sam Han

Office hours:  Monday 12:30-3:30PM and Tuesday 11:30-2:30PM

Email:  shan@gc.cuny.edu

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.

— Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Taking this sentiment as our starting point, this course will focus on the peoples and peopling of New York City through the lens of food.  At the heart of our exploration will be the idea of community – from the nuclear family to the entire city – and the role food plays in building, sustaining, symbolizing, and governing communities in New York.  So rather than focusing on one particular neighborhood, we will look at “food communities,” including families, multiethnic neighborhoods, food-related workplaces, shops and farmers’ markets, and New York City at large.  Our sources will include a variety of readings and films, our own food memories and those of our families, and visits to the food sites of several diverse New York neighborhoods.  Assignments include in-class and online discussions and formal writing assignments throughout the term, and our culminating project — a website focusing on “New York’s Food Communities,” which students will present at the MHC common event in May.

Course Requirements:

In Class Participation                                                20%

Attendance is required, both in this course and Seminar 2-related common events.  More than two absences will adversely affect your grade.  Class participation is required as well, for which you must keep up with the weekly reading.  Consistent, active and informed participation will earn students high class participation grades while failure to participate or negative participation will earn students a zero for class participation.  Minimal participation will yield a participation grade somewhere in between these two poles. 

On-line Participation                                                20%

Students will post weekly responses to our readings on our course blog.  Two students will be assigned to spark the discussion each week.  We will use these online discussions as a springboard for our course discussions so all students should weigh in to the blog by 7 pm on Monday evening.

Short Written Assignments / Field Work            30%

Students will write a few short reaction papers over the course of the semester that explore the themes of the class. In addition, students will visit (on their own or in pairs / groups) two food-related sites in New York City and write a review of their visits on the course blog.  We will discuss these assignments in more detail in class.

Wiki Building / Participation                                    30%

The culminating project of this course is a “neighborhood wiki.”  Rather than focusing on a particular neighborhood, our wiki will examine the idea of food communities in New York City.  In addition to including all of your written work throughout the term, the Wiki will include themed, interactive “pages” that you will build in groups.  Each group will explore one of the themes from our syllabus (family, identity, work, adjustment) through an interactive digital essay, to be posted on our wiki.   Students will present their essays to the class before they present them at the MHC culminating event in May.  We will discuss this assignment in a LOT more detail in class.

Readings:

There is one required book for this course:  Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonthan Deutsch, eds., Gastropolis:  Food and New York City.  This book is on order at the bookstore and also available at most bookstores in NYC as well as Amazon.  All of the other readings will be posted to our Blackboard site.

Schedule:

Please note that changes to this schedule / additional readings may be made via email or announcements in class or our course blog.  In order to participate fully in class discussions, it is imperative that you keep up with the weekly reading.  Please complete the readings for the day they appear on the syllabus. 

February 2:              Course Introduction

February 9 :              Food Voices / Immigrant Voices

Readings:              Gastropolis, “Fusion City,” plus chapters 6, 11, 13

February 16:  The Peopling of NY – The Colonial Period and First Wave

Readings: Tyler Anbinder, Five Points, Chapters 2, 3

Immigrant testimonials I

February 23:             The Peopling of NY (II) – The Second and Third Waves

Readings: Nancy Foner, From Ellis Island to JFK, Introduction, Chapter 1                        Immigrant testimonials II

Date TBD:            First Walking Tour – Lower East Side

II:            PATTERNS AND THEMES IN THE PEOPLING OF NEW YORK

March 2:            Family and Neighborhood (I)

Readings:            Nancy Foner, From Ellis Island to JFK, Chapter 2

Tyler Anbinder, Five Points, Chapter 13

Philip Kasinitz, Caribbean New York, excerpt

March 9:            Family and Neighborhood (II)

Readings:            Gastropolis, Chapter 5

Excerpts from:  Kate Simon, Bronx Primitive

Anzia Yezierska, The Bread Givers

Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Film:  Scenes from Hester Street, The Godfather

March 16:            Commerce / Industry

Readings:            Gastropolis, Chapter 10

“Crossing the Boundaries of Taste,” from Donna Gabaccia, We Are What

We Eat

NY Times articles on: Stella D’Oro case

Ethnic food businesses in NYC

March 23:            Work

Readings:            Nancy Foner, From Ellis Island to JFK, chapter 3

“Artists and Immigrants in New York City Restaurants,” in Sharon Zukin,

The Cultures of Cities

Film:  Man, Push Cart

March 30:            No class.  Enjoy your Spring Break.

Date TBD:            Second Walking Tour – Arthur Avenue

April 6:                        Adjustment / Americanization

Claude McKay, Tropics in NY

Hasia Diner, Hungering for America, excerpts

Film:  scenes from Hester Street

Food Voices — Americanization

April 13:            Ethnic Identity / Fusions

Readings:            Gastropolis, Chapters 12, 15

Lisa Mayer Knauer, “Eating in Cuban,” from Agustin Lao-Montes & Arlene Davila, Mambo Montage

Food Voices – Fusions

April 20:            Food City

Readings:            Gastropolis, Chapters 16, 17

Laurie Colwin, “Alone in the Kitchen With an Eggplant”

April 27:            No class meeting.  Individual food tours.  Details TBA

May 4:                        Student presentations / Wiki preparation

May 11:            Wiki preparation / Wrap-up