Student or Group Info

Name(s): Amelia Pressman
Term: Fall quarter
Credits: 8
Title of ILC or Group Project: Eat Or Be Eaten: History of Jewish Food Culture

Program of Project Description

Narrative: This three week project, entitled Eat Or Be Eaten: History of Jewish Food Culture , is designed to explore the history of Jewish eating and how it affects the lives of Jews today, both in and out of the kitchen. Specific learning objectives are to gain a foundational understanding of eating and farming in the Pale Settlement during the nineteenth century, and to explore the way that one interacts with food with this history on their shoulders. Written work includes paragraph blog posts based in research as well as personal writings cataloguing food experiences. The student will also include related drawings, family recipes, prayers, and bits of ephemera in these blog posts. Texts to be studied include: There Once Was a World, Yaffa Eliach and The Sacred Table, Mary L. Zilmore. 

Learning objective
ActivityDeliverable
To learn more about Jewish foodways and agriculture in the Pale Settlement in Eastern Europe during the nineteenth century. I will research Jewish farming and food practices and then analyze and write about my findings in paragraphs, essays, and drawings. I will post my writing on a WordPress blog.  
To learn more about the politics surrounding Jewish land ownership and access to food in nineteenth century Eastern Europe. I will look at government documents charting out the rules related to Jewish farming and land ownership and read about how this affected the ways that Jews ate. I will then write about this on my blog. I will make posts on a WordPress blog.  
 To connect my research to my own eating experiences through a Jewish lens. I will write about my memories of eating Jewish food, attending Jewish religious ceremonies, my own struggles with eating, and my family history with eating. I will also share drawings, recipes, prayers, and old family photos.  I will post this all on my WordPress blog.  
   

Evaluation of Work

  • WordPress ePortfolio
  • Final week ten presentation
  • Narrative evaluations from field supervisor and/or subcontractor
  • Narrative mid-quarter and final self-evaluations