PMA 1161 - FWS: Food and the Media

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

First-Year Writing Seminar.

J. E. Gainor.

Ours is a food-obsessed culture. Whether we focus on diet and health, or binge-watch competitive cooking shows, or explore cuisine in relation to regional, racial, or ethnic identity, many of us either “eat to live” or “live to eat.” Television producers, investigative journalists, bloggers, and cultural critics feed our obsession, generating a burgeoning body of food-related prose and programming both informative and entertaining. Through readings from Gourmet and Eating Well magazines, screenings of Beat Bobby Flay and The Great British Baking Show, and airings of Samin Nosrat’s Home Cooking, among others, we will examine together how food suffuses our media and constitutes our Food Nation. Assignments will include food memoirs, food histories, food podcasts, food criticism, and food reporting.