Browse Exhibits (9 total)

Food studies in media provide complex layers to the films that viewers quite literally consume, a fact complicated depending on how one analyzes food. Different theories, lenses, and contexts can change how food is used in film, much like how using different ingredients in a recipe can alter the final product. But why does food matter in film, and how do directors use food to create meaning? Food is often employed to symbolize greater significance or to prove a point that a director wants to assert in their film. For example, Bong Joon-ho’s film Parasite (2019) utilizes food to symbolize social class: food is a vehicle in this film to show both the stark divide between the upper and lower classes and how such economic disparity can be perilous for society. Bong does this to warn viewers that class inequality is unjust by demonstrating how greed within different social classes warrants grave consequences. Ultimately, Parasite concludes with the patriarch of the ultra-wealthy Park family deceased while the extremely impoverished Kim family is divided, still dangerously poor, and suffering the death of their daughter/sister. While these may be extreme conclusions to draw from the film, Parasite aims to warn its viewers of the greed between social classes that could lead to such dismal ends. Bong accomplishes this through the placement of food: it symbolizes the class divide that each family struggles with in different ways.

Faculty Mentor: Emily Rutter

Department of English

Undergraduate

Explaining the process of designing, formatting and publicising the academic journal, The Digital Literature Review. Also known as the DLR, we as a student run journal edited and produced the journal with the theme of “Food Matters in Literature and Culture”. Through a process of teamwork and dedication the journal was advertised to the public through Instagram and Twitter. However, we will be discussing the whys and whats of the choices we made while creating the online journal. While also discussing the real-world experience that an immersive learning course, such as this one can impact the future of the students. What experiences we developed and how we can bring them into our future careers and how other students can benefit in joining these immersive learning courses available through Ball State University.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Emily Ruth Rutter

English Department

Undergraduate

The paper discusses the alignment of learning objectives with speaking and listening skills, materials, and assessments. They are developed through participation in international students' presentations with their faculty studying at the Intensive English Institute (IEI). These presentations are part of social events organized by the International Office called Rinker Center for International Program (RCIP) at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The goal is to improve speaking and listening skills, the most difficult to develop in classroom activities. The methodology was based on a survey measuring the efficacy of the objectives addressing speaking and listening skills. The survey results conducted among instructors provided clear evidence that future participation in these events will consolidate cultural knowledge, pronunciation, and taking notes skills in front of a speaker despite time constraints of the IEI. These results were valid in alignment with the learning objectives of speaking and listening. Regarding the material to prepare ahead and the assessments, relevant ideas were pointed out both in the close-ended and open-ended questions. This research is framed in the more general importance of a collaboration between the English Institute of a university and the International Office because many international students attending a university in the US at least in Indiana attend the English Institute. This collaboration becomes essential in building students’ intercultural competence and communicative skills to succeed both in real life and at the academic level.

Faculty Mentor: Megumi Hamada

Department of English

Graduate

This presentation analyzes the ways in which food throughout the film Parasite symbolizes the divide between rich and poor, using contemporary research to further build on how food is a signifier of class and wealth. From the less wealthy eating prepackaged foods, to the ignorance of wealth and privilege on the part of the upper classes, there is a clear indication throughout the film of food as a signifier of status and class. I take this divide and analyze its significance to the modern culture and society of South Korea, then further apply this to its relevancy in a modern United States. Parasite flourished in American society—both are countries wherein a capitalist ‘meritocracy’ rules for the most part, and an analysis of the culture around the film will show the ways in which the cultures that consumed this media are similar in their class divides.

Faculty Mentor: Emily Ruth Rutter

English

Undergraduate

Honors College