“Asian American Foodways is a discussion course where students will learn about Asian American social, cultural, economic, and political history through the lens of food. Critical discussion and reflection will contemplate what makes food ‘Asian American,’ and how Asian American identity is expressed in foodways. This student forum surveys the role of food in the culture and experiences of Asian Americans and their diasporic histories. This course provides a platform and open learning environment to explore cultural studies and sociohistorical frameworks within Asian American food and cuisine. The forum also aims to encourage students to consider contemporary issues concerning Asian Americans through the lens of food studies.”
Megan Bauerle (class of 2024) Michelle Kim (class of 2025) started thinking about this course in the Fall of 2022 because we wanted to see more Asian American studies courses at Wesleyan. They reached out to Professor Watanabe to help us structure the course ideas and began to develop the course syllabus. By spring, the course was approved by Wesleyan and taught in Spring 2023 as CEAS420: Asian American Foodways. It was so fun to teach and learn from this class. Each course session, our discussions helped deepen our understanding of Asian American identity and food history.
This course culminated in a spring conference event, where students shared presentations. Chi-Hoon Kim (Class of 2006) gave a keynote on Korean American food.
View student work from the conference:
Amy Zang – Vietnamese Rice Paper and Rice Rolls
Banri Saito – Sushi and Nostalgia
Brandon Cao – Hot Pot
David Kim – Evolution of Kimchi
Edmund Jurado – Ube, The Diasporic Crop
Hannah Kwa – BCD Tofu House
Henrick Koo – History of Peking Duck
Jack Johnston – Fortune Cookies in the United States
Minji Kang – KBBQ in the US
Kaya Zamil – The Evolution of Dim Sum
Sofia Baluyut – On a Fast Food Empire and Filipino American Diaspora
See the syllabus below: