Schedule - Unit 3
All readings in this schedule should ideally be completed by the day under which they are listed, although this requirement is only assessed during TRAs and team application exercises. All numbers in the schedule are page numbers unless otherwise noted.
CAUTION: I reserve the right to make revisions to these on-line materials prior to their discussion in class at the relevant point in the semester. Therefore WAIT until that time to print out materials you wish to have on hand, such as terms, excerpts and assignment guidelines.
Unit 3: The Rise of Industrial Food Production & "Back to the Land" Movements
| Dates | Tasks | Readings |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 22 & Wed, Oct 24 |
orientation to readings BRING PRINTED COPY of WORKSHEET FOR SUBMIT FINAL PRODUCT |
LOCATE details re: assigned TERMS & EXCERPTS in primary sources:
LOCATE additional details re: assigned TERMS in these overviews:
VIEW/BROWSE images/videos related to terms & sources:
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| Mon, Oct 29 | TRA #3 BRING PRINTED COPY of |
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| Wed, Oct 31 | Application Exercise #3a (*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word) **final day to sign up for
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REVIEW IN DEPTH:
PREPARE NOTES addressing the following focus: Your independent minded roommate Gurpreet, an electrical engineering student, hears you mention the idea of an expansion in the notion of the sacred in the modern period. "Though people used to think of the sacred in primarily religious terms," you explain, "people in the modern period also more and more associate the sacred with nature. Specifically, in this course we're focusing on the idea of farming as sacred work, apart from any religious ideas." Gurpreet is skeptical. "Professors make up all kinds of interesting ideas that have no connection to things people really do. What's the evidence that anybody other than your professor has really been thinking this way?" Use the assigned readings for this unit to address Gurpreet's question. Considering EACH OF THE FOUR SETS OF SOURCES listed above (notice Pollan is combined with Hurst, & AVM with later parts of TOD), gather evidence of thoughts & feelings about nature & farming as sacred--including thoughts of nature's *desecration.* To emphasize to Gurpreet that such thoughts & feelings are more than just fanciful thinking, also note the way(s) that they are inspired by the hands-on practice(s) of the person who is thinking & feeling. Make sure to identify
*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBERS FOR EACH EXAMPLE* |
| Mon, Nov 5 | Application Exercise #3b (*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word) |
REVIEW IN DEPTH:
PREPARE NOTES addressing the following focus: Your other roommate Natalya, a good-hearted accounting major, often falls into cynicism out of habit. Having overheard your discussion with Gurpreet, she tells both of you: "It doesn't make any difference how much anybody thinks of nature as sacred, or farming as sacred work. It's the big corporations that control everything these days, including food. They could care less whether you think of nature as sacred or not sacred or whatever you want. They are just out to maximize their profits and nobody can stop them at this point." While you agree that things are dire, you would like to convince her that things are more hopeful than she thinks. Use the assigned readings for this exercise (see above) to show Natalya that dynamic, creative thinking about nature and farming as sacred strongly reinforces sustainable food-related practices that reinvigorate health food cultures (e.g., farming, cooking with local ingredients, local meals), and that such thinking has the potential to spread those practices widely. Considering EACH OF THE FOUR SETS OF SOURCES listed above (notice TOD & AVM are divided and grouped together), gather evidence of thoughts & feelings about nature & farming as sacred meaningfully reinforcing such food-related practices. Make sure to identify
*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBERS FOR EACH EXAMPLE* |
| Wed, Nov 7 | Application Exercise #3c (*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word) SUBMIT WORKSHEET |
REVIEW IN DEPTH:
PREPARE NOTES addressing the following focus: Sylvia, a friend of your parents, owns a horse farm near Stockton and is surrounded by neighbors who farm using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. She sits down with you at Thanksgiving dinner, having heard that you are taking this class, and tells you: "It's all very well to think of farming as sacred, and nature as a great spiritual force. But if you want to feed the world, you have to get some basic nutrients into the soil, and you have to kill the bugs. The farmers who are my neighbors are just as much in touch with nature and the sacred as anyone else, but they know you have to be practical to grow enough food for everyone out there." Though it's difficult for you to argue with the first-hand experience of conventional farmers, you think Sylvia, those farmers and oher conventional food producers might be missing something about the dynamic reality of the natural world. Use the assigned readings for this unit to get Sylvia to consider the extent to which upractices obscure conventional farmers' and other food producers' perceptions of the natural world. Considering EACH OF THE THREE SOURCES listed above, gather evidence of the way industrial food practices undermine thoughts and feelings about nature as sacred. Make sure to identify
*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBERS FOR EACH EXAMPLE* |