Everyone Can Be a God of Cookery: Food and Culture in China
CEAS 249
Spring 2027
| Section:
01
|
What counts as ¿Chinese food,¿ and who gets to decide? This introductory course uses food as a gateway into Chinese history, society, and culture. We begin with Chinese food outside China, including Chinese American restaurants, Panda Express, and debates surrounding ¿Chinese restaurant syndrome,¿ to examine questions of migration, racialization, adaptation, and authenticity. We then turn to the diversity of regional cuisines within China and explore how food reflects medicine and health, family and kinship, social hierarchy, ritual, regional identity, and everyday life. Readings will be paired with literature, film, advertisements, and other forms of popular culture, including Stephen Chow¿s The God of Cookery. The course will be conducted in English, and all readings will be available in English translation. No prior knowledge of Chinese language, history, or culture is required. Students will design a complete menu for a Chinese dinner and explain the cultural and historical reasoning behind their choices. The menu should demonstrate how food can express themes such as regional identity, family, social hierarchy, ritual, medicine, migration, or authenticity. |
|
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CEAS |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (College of East Asian Studies Minor)(College of East Asian Studies) |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Yuan Mei, Recipes from the Garden of Contentment, trans. Sean Chen, Haiming Liu, Fron Canton Restaurant to Panda Express: A History of Chinese Food in the United States
|
Examinations and Assignments:
: Final Project: Designing a Chinese Dinner (see course description) |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Major viewings: Ugly Delicious, Season 1, Episode7, "Fried Rice" , The God of Cookery (1996), dirs. Stephen Chow and Lee Lik-chi, The Dumpling Queen (2025) dir. Andrew Lau |
| Instructor(s): Chik,Frankie Times: ..T.R.. 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 16 | | SR major: 2 | JR major: 2 | | |
| | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 4 | FR: 4 |
|
|