I’m excited to be teaching a new course this semester in the Department of American Studies at Rutgers University New Brunswick: “American Food.”

This course was originally developed by my colleague Dr. Carla Cevasco, but I have revamped it to reflect my areas of expertise and interest. So naturally, orchard and cider content is present. With the help of some of my friends and colleagues, I also added a lot of amazing content and some wonderful guest speakers for this spring semester. This really is a reflection of the breadth of depth of my network in the food and agriculture sectors… and it barely scratches the surface.

I’m also excited to use this opportunity to read some works I haven’t read, and to learn about some things I’m less knowledgeable about. Sometimes teaching a class is the perfect way to set goals for yourself to learn! For example… the Farm Bill. I’ve never read it, and can’t claim to understand it. But with my students, I’m going to dive in.

Since solicitations of ideas from my food and ag network were so key to developing my version of this course, I’d like to share the final syllabus with you here. This google document has comments enabled. If you’d like to add any thoughts, suggest any other readings or speakers, please feel free to do so. While my plans for this semester are set, the future always beckons. Wish me and my students luck this semester!