Critical Studies in Food and Culture

The Critical Studies in Food and Culture presents:

“Food-Centered Discourses: Intellectual Communities Across Fields of Knowledge”

Meredith Abarca
University of Texas, El Paso

Friday, April 28th at 12:00
Voorhies 228
(Refreshments will be served)

The talk will raise a number of intellectual as well as ethical questions regarding the negotiation of food politics and philosophy embedded within different areas of food studies as well as food/cooking practices. Two communities voices prevalent within my work are the discourse of working-class Mexican and Mexican-American women and those of feminist’s university researchers. What subjectivities are negotiated when "charlas" about food take place between these two groups? How do these food talks change our understanding of the “knowledge” either group professes to have, and their relationship (responsibilities and obligations) to society at large? This talk will explore three aspects: first, how does the language of food speak differently according to its localized place? Second, what are the conceptual ways in which food-centered discourses overlap in particular places? This overlap creates what she calls a borderless boundary zone. The final exploration, therefore, asks: what are the strengths, as well as the limitations, in bridging the food voices of/from different places and spaces?

About the speaker: Meredith E. Abarca received a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Davis. She is an assistant professor of English at the University of Texas, El Paso, where she teaches courses on Chicana/o Literature, Mexican-American Folklore, Film and Literature of the Americas, Critical Theory, and Women Philosophers in the Kitchen. Her book Voices in the Kitchen: Views of Food and the World from Working-Class Mexican and Mexican American Women was recently released by Texas A&M University Press.

Founding Food Studies
An Interdisciplinary Symposium of UC Davis Faculty and Graduate Students

May 3, 2006
3201 Hart Hall
University of California, Davis

Download Conference Poster

Conference Program

Welcome
8:00-8:30

Kimberly Nettles, Women and Gender Studies
Clare Hasler Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science
coffee, pastries, fruit


Food Lessons
8:30-10:00

Jessica Morton (Nutrition)
“The Effect of Calcium Cooking Class Program on Calcium-Specific Knowledge and Behavior of Children and their Parents”

Melissa Salazar (Education),
“Counting Croutons: Children’s Food Culture in the Cafeteria”

Virginia Chaidez (Nutrition),
“Child-Feeding Practices among Low-Income Latinos: An Early Starting Point in Obesity Prevention”

Chair/Comment: Charlotte Biltekoff, American Studies/Food, Science, and Technology


Containing Food
10:00-11:30

Laura Hudson (Cultural Studies)
“’Dieve—but I’m Glad I’m not a Hog!’: The Modern Jungle of the Meat Industry”

Veronica Hernandez-Izquierdo (Food, Science and Technology)
“A New Whey to Make Food Packaging”

Leslie Madsen-Brooks (Cultural Studies),
“Scrambled Eggs: Consumption and Anxiety at the Market”

Chair/Comment: Carolyn Thomas de la Peña (American Studies)


Lunch and Keynote Address
11:45-1:15

Amy Bentley, Food Studies/Nutrition, NYU
Founding Food Studies: Pleasures and Pitfalls


Food Politics
1:15-3:00

Robert Weis, (History)
“City of Wheat: The Social History of Bread in the Land of Tortillas: 1875-1945”

Kerin Gould (Native American Studies)
“Food and Autonomy”

Jennifer Gregson (Sociology)
"Using the Built Food Environment to Assess Neighborhood Effects for Bodyweight"

Erin Derden-Little (Intl. Ag. Development)
“An Action-Oriented Approach to Sustainable Food Systems”

Chair/Comment: Cynthia Brantley (History)


Coffee Break (coffee and cookies)
3:00-3:15


Food Pleasures
3:15-4:45

David Michalski (Cultural Studies)
“On the Persistence of Dark Bottles: Modern Aesthetics and the Hesitant Receptivity of Wine”

Marco Garcia (Food, Science, and Technology),
“The Terroir of Beer”

Stacy Jameson (Cultural Studies),
“Toward a Visualization of Consumption: Advertising and the Female Food Orgasm”

Chair/Comment: Michael Ziser (English)


Closing Remarks
4:45-5:00
Carolyn de la Peña and Kimberly Nettles

Visit From Farfel to Falafel: Food, Wine and Jewish Culture to see the program and menu, and to register for this upcoming event.

From Farfel to Falafel: Food, Wine and Jewish Culture
Sunday evening, May 14 - Tuesday, May 16, 2006

"From Farfel to Falafel: Food, Wine and Jewish Culture," will take place at the University of California, Davis from Sunday evening, May 14 - Tuesday, May 16, 2006. The conference is sponsored by the UC Davis Program in Jewish Studies and the RMI, with additional sponsorship by the Judah Magnes Museum in Berkeley. UC Davis is one of the premier institutions in the world for the scientific study of food and wine. With this conference, we hope to investigate the way food and wine function in a particular culture, that of the Jews, from biblical antiquity to the present day. We are particularly interested in the way food and wine function as bridges between high "literary" and popular cultures within the Jewish tradition and, in addition, as bridges between Jewish and other cultures.

In addition to the scholarly sessions, we there will be a number of "hands-on" activities including food sampling and wine tasting, as well as screen a number of relevant films. Lecture by Yehuda Bauer

"On Comparing Genocides: Beyond the Arguments About the Uniqueness of the Holocaust"

Hebrew University Professor Yehuda Bauer is recognized throughout the world as one of the leading authorities on the history of the Holocaust as well as a dynamic lecturer on issues of genocide and antisemitism.

Wednesday, January 12
4:00 pm
Hunt Hall 100

Sponsored by a generous grant from Joseph and Eda Pell

Call for Proposals

The Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, CA invites UC faculty to submit proposals for a new lecture series, Taste Matters, a cross-disciplinary exploration of the role of food and drink in Jewish culture and society, bringing together art, film, literature, history, anthropology, sociology, religion, and other critical fields to create a gastronomic portrait of Jews around the world.

Taste Matters is supported by the UC Humanities Research Institute and a primary goal of the series is to highlight the work of UC faculty working on projects that link Jewish studies and food studies. However, if you know of anyone outside the UC system doing important work in this area, please forward this posting to them as well.

Founded in 1962, the Judah L. Magnes Museum explores the depth, vitality, and complexity of Jewish life and culture. The Magnes accomplishes this mission by presenting important exhibitions that draw on its rich collections of fine arts and ceremonial objects, the archives of the Western Jewish History Center, and the Blumenthal Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Through innovative educational programs, special exhibitions and publications, the Magnes engages with significant issues in contemporary life, promotes public dialogue and scholarship, and encourages the understanding of the Jewish past for present and future generations, serving as a vital cultural resource for the entire community.

The series premiers in October 2006, and proposals will be accepted through July 1, 2006. Please submit to:

Carin Jacobs
Curator of Education
Judah L. Magnes Museum
2911 Russell Street
Berkeley, CA 94705
510-769-8461
www.magnes.org

"From Farfel to Falafel: Food, Wine and Jewish Culture,"
will take place in the University Club at UC Davis Sunday evening, May 14 - Tuesday, May 16, 2006.

The conference is sponsored by the UC Davis Program in Jewish Studies and the RMI, with additional sponsorship by the Judah Magnes Museum in Berkeley. UC Davis is one of the premier institutions in the world for the scientific study of food and wine. With this conference, we hope to investigate the way food and wine function in a particular culture, that of the Jews, from biblical antiquity to the present day. We are particularly interested in the way food and wine function as bridges between high "literary" and popular cultures within the Jewish tradition and, in addition, as bridges between Jewish and other cultures. In addition to the scholarly sessions, we there will be a number of "hands-on" activities, including food sampling and wine tasting, as well as screening a number of relevant films.

Keynote speakers include Mollie Katzen, co-founder of Ithaca, New York's, Moosewood Restaurant and author of The Moosewood Cookbook, and Joyce Goldstein, food writer/restaurant and food industry consultant and past chef/owner of the groundbreaking Mediterranean Restaurant, Square One, in San Francisco.

Sunday evening, May 14 - Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Tentative Conference Program
Sunday May 14

* 3:00-5:00: Session I (100-150)
1. Andrea Lieber: “Bread and Wine, Body and Blood: Consumption and Community in Early Jewish and Christian Texts.”
2. David Kraemer: “Wine as Boundary-Marker: Negotiating Jewish Identity over a Cup of Wine”
* 5:00: Opening reception:
* 6:00: Dinner with music (Francesco Spagnolo): Caterer: Jennifer 415.290.2475
* 7:30: Keynote: Mollie Katzen: Tsimmes Reveries, A Personal History

Monday May 15

* 9:00-12:00: Session II
1. Joelle Bahloul: "Sephardic Cuisine and the French Republic: How a Traditional Rosh-Ha-Shana Stew Became "blanquette de veau".”
2. Donny Inbar: “Just a Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Gefilte Fish Go Wild: Secret Ingredients that Stir the Politics of Jewish Identity”
3. Yael Raviv: “Fruit to Falafel: Culinary Icons of the Jewish State”
* 12:00-1:00: Lunch
* 1:00-3:00: Session III
1. Jenna Weissman-Joselit: “What a Divine Wine!: American Jews and Drink during Prohibition “
2. Fred Astren, “God’s Cookbook, Israel’s Kitchen and the non-Jewish Marketplace: Contexts for Jewish Food and Wine”
* 3:30-5:00: Film: “Divine Food” plus Ted Merwin lecture (“The Rise and Fall of the New York Jewish Deli”) and discussion with film makers
* 6:00: Dinner with narrative (Donny Inbar)
* 8:00: Keynote: Joyce Goldstein: “How a Nice Jewish Girl from Brooklyn learned to cook Sephardic Food”

Tuesday May 16

* 9:00-12:00: Session IV
1. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, “Edible Inscriptions: The Jewish Cookbook as Material Practice”
2. Alice Nakhimovsky: Eating Under (and After) the Tsars: 100 years of Russian-Jewish foodways
3. Eve Jochnowitz: "Me darf nor a peteyle": Language and food hybridization in the culinary landscapes of Russian-Jewish New York
* 12:00-1:00 Lunch
* 1:00-2:00: Session V
1. Naomi Janowitz: “Nothing/Everything by Mouth: Psychoanalytic Insights into Envy of Female Nurturing in Judaism.”
* 2:00-3:00: Session VI
Roundtable
Tentative Program Schedule

Call for Papers
Cultural Studies
Theme issue: Food Politics

In the last decade, food has (re) emerged as a serious object of investigation in the humanities and social sciences. Anthropology, sociology, literature, history, rhetoric and cultural studies (among other fields) have recognized food as a topic for criticism, analysis and theoretical reflection. Yet, when the question of the materiality or 'nature' of food is broached, this is usually done within the purview of the natural or agricultural sciences. What results is a problematic and often unquestioned separation of science, culture and politics.

Food tends to evoke appeals to nature, authenticity, and local identity; however contemporary food networks are global, highly technologized and complicated, created and sustained as much by the laboratory and factory as the kitchen and farm. To understand contemporary production, distribution and consumption of food, it is important to bring the dynamics of technoscience and global trade into discussions of cultural politics. Debates over food contamination, imbalanced food markets, public health, genetic modification and emergent food borne diseases raise dilemmas and new points of concern related to risk, safety, control and food sovereignty. In these conversations, food is not simply a medium or an object of analysis; it is also an active agent in configuring new political and cultural alliances.

We request papers that offer theoretically informed perspectives on the articulations among food, politics and science. Our intent, in part, is to create a space for alternative theoretical perspectives and to extend beyond those often evoked in sociological and anthropological discourses about food (theorists like Bourdieu, Elias, Douglas, de Certeau tend to be drawn from quite frequently). We aim to probe the following kinds of questions: In what ways are discourses of and around food challenging or reinforcing traditional boundaries between nature and culture, human and nonhuman, natural and unnatural, culture and science? What new forms of politics are emerging over food? How are scientific discourses mobilized and / or destabilized in relation to food politics? How what insights can discourses about food give us into our contemporary political moment?

Topics may include (but are not limited to):

Biopolitics (Foucault, Agamben, Haraway) Constructivist accounts of food politics (Latour, Law, Stengers) Politicizing philosophy and food (Deleuze, Derrida) Cultural and political implications of food borne diseases Food governance (sovereignty, global trade, emergent social activism) Cultural issues surrounding healthy consumption and food safety Politics of organic / natural foods Agriculture and bioterrorism Meat consumption and animal welfare.

Deadline for submission is September 1, 2006. Please submit papers via
email to both:

Jessica Mudry
jmudry@cse.concordia.ca

Gwendolyn Blue
gblue@email.unc.edu