Class Participation |
15% |
Multi-media presentation |
10% |
In-class Writing Exercises |
15% |
Research Proposal |
5% |
Food with Footnotes |
25% |
Final Project |
30% |
Class Participation
This covers your contribution to class discussions both in the classroom and online, and how you follow discussion and raise related themes. Do you volunteer new ideas, suggestions, or ask penetrating questions of your peers or the instructor? Do you push the conversation in useful new directions?
In addition to in-class discussion, you will also be expected to participate online on the Facebook page (see below):
- Response to weekly readings
By 11 pm the night before class starts, post 1 question or comment about the readings (primary or secondary sources) on the Facebook entry for that week (see below). Posts after 11pm will not be counted.
Questions or comments must engage directly with the material, or with sub-threads about it. They cannot repeat other questions (even if the wording is changed). Good questions or comments which critique or push the theoretical boundaries of the material will get better marks. Questions of fact which can be answered by simply googling your question will be discounted. Extra credit will be given if you refer to another scholarly source outside the syllabus, if it is relevant. Such links must describe how the source speaks to the topic at hand.
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- Respond to Youtube videos and blogs posted by your peers. Commenting is not required for every piece, but the more you engage with others’ work, and the higher the quality of responses, the better your grade.
Multi-media presentation
Prepare a short video clip (2 minutes) that analyses an image from the readings or lectures in the Thematic portion of the syllabus. Due by the beginning of class after reading week, i.e. on October 8 10:30 am. Upload a link to the NTULearn website.
In-class Writing Exercises
You will be given open-book writing exercises in class, which will allow you to practice argument construction, basic research, writing style and bibliographic citation. One of these will be a blog about your Food with Footnotes presentation.
Research Proposal
Submit a summary proposal of your final project (max 2 double-spaced pages, 300-500 words) including the research question, background, and tentative argument. Cite your sources to show how they will support your argument. In addition to the summary, append a bibliography with 10 or more items from outside the syllabus, divided into primary and secondary sources. You may include items from the syllabus but they are outside the count of 10 items.
Food with Footnotes
Once during the semester, each student will bring one food item to class, with enough to share for all. Three to four students will present each week. Students should coordinate a menu with each other for that day. The food must be relevant to the day’s reading, and during the presentation you must make an argument for why that is so.
While sharing the food, you will give a brief presentation of its history and why you found it an interesting historical case. As part of your description you should describe the differences between what the class is eating and what your historical evidence describes of the food’s history. Is it the same species of grain? How have preparations changed? How has access to the food or to the ingredients changed? What regional characteristics does it show?
In your presentation, you should refer to your bibliography, indicating why the sources you’ve chosen speak to the topic. The audience should come away with a sense of the history of the food itself, and also of the variety of sources you’ve drawn on to discuss it.
5-10 minutes presentation per person max, the entire presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. No repetition of dishes should happen over the semester, so please sign up to the google sheet by the end of class in week 2 (First come first served!). Nonya or Peranakan food must demonstrate a clear historical linkage to earlier Chinese versions from the mainland, and focus must be on the Chinese development.
Before class begins on the day of your presentation, you must post the following online:
- Linked Bibliography
- A set of primary and secondary sources about your topic, with a minimum of 6 items. A linked bibliography contains a hyperlink to the text as well as the standard bibliographic description. Use the course stylesheet for the bibliography.
You are welcome to include a short abstract, no more than 2-3 sentences describing your topic, but this will not count towards your grade.
- At the top of the bibliography, you should include a photo of your food item. Make sure it is either open access or properly cited.
- NTULearn Repository
- Upload your primary sources to NTULearn.
Your individual score may vary based on feedback about your contributions to the group project.
Final Project
The research project combines course readings/lectures and your own research to explore a specific topic on the history of food in China. The major project should be a polished piece that demonstrates your skills in research and critical analysis. It should include interpretation of several primary sources, whether in translation or original. An excellent project will also position the argument in relation to different approaches to the study of Chinese food history. Please use the referencing style posted in Blackboard. 3-10% will be deducted for incorrect referencing style.
It may take either of the following forms:
- A written paper of 10 double-spaced pages (3000 words)
- A video of 6 minutes maximum.
The video should roll the bibliography as credits at end of film, and it should also be listed in the description of the video. If you submit a video, you must also submit a transcript with citations.