Food Writing & Media
Emory University, Spring 2022
COURSE DESCRIPTION
When we communicate about food—and do we ever—we learn about ourselves not just as eaters but as social beings. Food connects us to others and bridges cultures; it divides and hierarchizes. Food is at the center of colonial conquest, class formation and exploitation, racial and gender politics, and environmental justice. Many cuisines we celebrate today were invented by the colonized, enslaved, and working-class. However we eat, we participate in such legacies of violence and expropriation. At the same time, cooking and eating are also vital acts of creativity, community-building, and cross-cultural communication. In short, eating is always a site of political contention and consensus making. This first-year writing course will grapple with the fraught histories and joys of cooking while helping you enter the exciting and ever-expanding world of food writing.
Our reading and writing will address research questions like: How does consuming food shape the way we consume everything else? What can culinary delicacies like nutmeg or a matsutake tell us about the ravages of capitalism and colonialism? What does foodie culture have to do with white supremacy? What are the consequences of culinary modernity and industrialization? How is climate change affecting food production and culture? Is it possible to eat ethically and sustainably in an unethical and unsustainable system? Can we build the political will to feed everyone on the planet? Finally, by taking advantage of our location in the southern foodie city of Atlanta, we will also try to understand how food has lately shaped the city around Emory.
Readings come from multiple genres and mediums including food journalism, foodoirs, TV and streaming, documentaries, and social media. Course requirements may include rhetorical analyses, foodoirs, autoethnographies, born-digital artifacts like TikToks—and yes, actual cooking. This course is not only for self-proclaimed foodies; it requires no prior experience as a cook—or as a writer for that matter—just a genuine interest in thinking critically about your relationship to what you eat.
Sample Student Projects
Rashmi Raveendran. “Pasta is College.” Spring 2022. Shared with permission.
Maya Malhotra Degnemark. “The Newest Predator in the Sea: Culinary Tourism.” Spring 2022. Shared with permission.
Eric Xu. “Caffeine Culture is a Symptom of a Greater Issue in Education.” Spring 2022. Shared with permission.
Andy Dang. “Female Chefs, Male Home Cooks.” Spring 2022. Shared with permission.
