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Please remember that the final is on Tuesday, March 20 at 10:15 am in our classroom!

In preparation of the final please review your notes and the websites addressed in class including the website concerning the story The Gourmet (which you have to be familiar with).

I posted a few comments on the story in addition to the timeline. Review both when recapitulating the content of the story.

Good luck!

For information about all “Nixon in China” related events , including the installation of photographs of the Nixon visit in China which is currently shown in the Pape Lecture Hall in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, please visit the website of the Confucius Institute:

http://confucius.uoregon.edu/events/

And here they are – the field trip troopers!

The field trip contribution could be kept at $ 12 per participant!

Please bring $ 12 [no credit cards accepted ] to class. Thanks!

Paper / Presentation topics:

There is a slow-food newsletter at UO now!

If you want to subscribe send a message to  <slowfooduo@gmail.com>

Upcoming Jeremiah Lectures:

Satomi Yamamoto: Food for Good or Evil? Buddhist Precepts and Food as Depicted in Medieval Japanese Handscroll Paintings.
Monday. March 5, 2012.  4:00 pm.   Knight Library Browsing Room

“The Chinese… have probably fed more people, more successfully, than any other culture in world history. How they developed the cultural capital to do this is well worth our study.”

(David Keightley in “What made the Chinese ‘Chinese’? Some Geographical Perspectives.” Education About Asia, vol. 9, number 2, fall 2004, p. 22).

There are few fields that bridge the disciplinary gaps between the social sciences, humanities, sciences, and arts as palpably as Food Studies. Interest in diverse cultural histories, environmental concerns, questions of nutrition and health have led to observations in research that take into consideration determining parameters from categories such as cultural traditions, religious belief systems, social stratification, and gender issues. As China has once more become an active player on the world stage in this experimental course we will take a closer look at the specific qualities associated with food and at the diverse roles which food plays in history, material culture, and social life in China. The course begins with a chronological survey on the function of sacrifices in Early China and continues by looking at how food and the lack of food influenced the formation, development, and dissemination of Chinese culture determined politics well into the 20th century. This topical survey will include dietary rules as well as social rules of etiquette and banqueting and regional differences in cuisine. Finally, we will attempt an outlook on the availability of food, and the possibility to feed the people in the future. We will reflect about the historical and cultural context of the symbolism, social significance, health care value, and spiritual implications of food in China.

All relevant information for the course HIST 410 Food in Chinese Culture will be available on this website, including guiding keynotes, that summarize the topics discussed in class or guiding questions that will assist you when working with the assigned class readings.

How to navigate the website:

For access to the latest keynotes, please click the respective date marked on the calendar on this page. Please also check the categories ‘Readings’, ‘Image gallery’, and ‘Test questions’ every week because they contain information to prepare your quizzes.

Course Requirements

1. Regular attendance and participation in class discussions. 20%

2. One paper of 6-8 pages. Topic options will be discussed during the first and second class meetings. The paper topic will be introduced to the class in a short presentation. A summary of the most important points concerning the research will be sent in as a Word attachment to the instructor at least one day before the presentation. The summary will be made available to all class participants on this class web site. Final versions of papers are due in our second meeting in week 9.

Paper, presentation: 40%.

3. Response to questions concerning reading assignments in 2 quizzes. 20%

4. Final: 20%

Term paper:

1. Please use the Pinyin system for Chinese terms.

2. Write Chinese terms (qi, li, yin, yang etc.) in italics. Write book titles in italics.

3. Avoid colloquialisms! (No”you” in a paper.)

4. Consider singular and plural nouns. If you start a sentence with ‘A person …” do not use the reflexive pronouns “they / their/ in the end of the sentence.

5. Distinguish between legend and historical facts and figures. Many Chinese inventions are attributed to legendary figures because the exact date of their first appearance is unknown. Read your sources carefully!

6. Insert page numbers.

7. No contractions in a paper! I don’t want to..=. I do not want to

8. Read the paper one more time before you hand it in; let a friend read it and point out what remains unclear.

9. If you quote a website, it is insufficient to simply quote the site. You have to give the precise website from which you quote as well as the day when you accessed the page. Other quotations can be penalized as plagiarism.

10. Read more than websites! A paper that consists of quotations from websites cannot be graded like a paper that shows intensive research and library work.

Required Readings for Undergraduate and Graduate Students

Read Eugene Anderson, The Food of China. New Haven, London: Yale University Press 1988 available at Black Sun Books on Hilyard Street and 24th (next to ‘Taste of India’ and Alan Brothers coffee shop).

Selected additional readings will be posted on the website.