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Honors Self- DesignedProposal

Complete this proposal prior to your experience’s start date and upload it in the UHP Database ( Create an experience (“Add a new record”) in the “Tracking Project” tab and upload your proposal document as an attachment. The deadline for submitting proposals is the 5th of each month (excluding July).

Proposals are intended to be well developed plans for your experience. However, experiences are exploratory in nature, and we are flexible with changes throughout the experience. If your experience changes after receiving approval on your proposal, contact your honors advisor to verify the changes still satisfy the requirements of an honors experience.

Basic Information

Full Name: Chirau J. Patel

Title of Project:Tausendundeine Essen-Geschichten (1001 Food Tales)

Thematic Area(s): Global Studies

Expected Start Date: 28. December 2015

Expected End Date: 22. August 2016

Guidelines

  1. Proposal submission timeline: Proposals should be submitted at least one month prior to the expected start date of the experience. International experiences require at least two months’ notice. Contact your honors advisor immediately for any exceptions.
  2. Proposal length: While the quality of the proposal is most important, strong proposals are typically 3-4 pages single-spaced.
  3. Proposal format: Please maintain the proposal format (e.g. headers, layout)
  4. Time commitment: Experiences should consist of at least 75-90 hours of preparation, execution, and reflection. This is approximately equivalent to the commitment of honors seminars and pre-approved experiences.

Requirements for International Travel

All self-designed international travel experiences require two months’ notice and must be at least one week in length. You will need to provide a detailed itinerary (dates, locations and activities). If participating in independent travel (not with UC faculty, staff or student group), you must also fill out a Worldwide: Honors Experience applicationvia UC International.

Additionally, the Student Travel Policy restricts UC-sponsored travel to countries under a U.S. Department of State Travel Warning. Those who wish to visit a country with a travel warning must seek an exemption through UC International. Students traveling without a faculty or staff leader must individually request an exemption.We cannot allow you to count this travel as an honors experience nor can we give you a grant without an approved exemption.

  1. Abstract

Briefly describe the experience. What makes this experience personally meaningful? What goals do you have for this experience? What is your timeline for this experience?

*If you are proposing an international experience, provide an itinerary.

**If you are developing this experience from an existing opportunity (class with a study tour, campus organization, co-op, etc.) that is not already an honors seminar or pre-approved experience, how will you differentiate your experience from what is already required of other students?

I always enjoyed learning about where things came from; the history and the culture behind them always fascinated me. Asking questions about where things came from probably led me on my path to become an engineer. One thing in recent years that began to catch my curiosity was food. For example, where did something like rye, commonly used for rye bread come from? What value might it hold today compared to the past? But more importantly, how has a small grainimpacted the culture around it? Or basically how does food define culture?

This last question makes me realize this is something we don’t commonly think about and it’s a question I would like to find the answers for firsthand. And as I will be abroad for two semesters in Europe for International Co-Op, I couldn’t think of a better opportunity. I want to learn firsthand how food of a particular area brings together and/or separates people by asking the local community itself and performing my own research. I would like to see how the food, and the beliefs and customs that surround them, from a town, city, region, or even the whole country will impact my identity.

And lastly, as a person, I look forward to gain a deeper appreciation for the cultures I’ve grown up in and the cultures I will be exposed to.

I believe my concentration on these focused areas will allow me to stand out from previous international co-op experiences. Because many before myself have focused on the work aspects alongside the travel, I want the culinary experience to be one of the larger cultural and historical cornerstones in this project. In addition, I believe this deeper appreciation and focus will allow me to expand my horizons as an engineer to new cultural ideas and experiences, and really see how food can be the gateway to cross-cultural understanding.

I will be leaving around 28. December 2015 and returning around 15 August. 2016. My ideal plan is to start off exploring Germany for the first four months and thereafter explore the following countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, and Denmark. As my trip abroad will be nearly 8 months, I will plan on adding more locations throughout the experience.

Within Phase 1 of living in Germany (Late Dec-April 2016) I plan to visit:

Cologne: (Dec—Jan 2016)

Bremen: (Jan 2016)

Heidelberg: (Feb 2016)

Berlin: (Mar 2016)

Munich: (April 2016)

Within Phase 2 of my European Travels (April-August 2016), I plan on visiting:

Austria (April 2016)

  • Vienna

Czech Republic (May 2016)

  • Prague

Italy (June 2016)

  • Verona
  • Tuscany

Denmark (July 2016)

  • Copenhagen

Within Phase 3, my last month of staying abroad (Aug 2016), I will visit any places that I may have missed or have not gotten to chance to visit given enough resources. Regardless of the other countries I visit in Phase 2 and Phase 3, I plan on continuing to build my German food rapport for all 8 months as this will be my main place of residence.

Weekly timeline:

3-4 hours a week actively trying to talk to locals in the city I will be present in, to get their suggestions and ideas of what to try and eat alongside inquiring background of the dish and what it means to them culturally and historically. For example bartenders, hotel concierges, possibly University students in the area will have good knowledge of the dishes in the area. I have some sample questions I can ask as well, For instance if I am in Dresden, I can ask “What makes the food here a Dresden dish? What dishes were originally developed in this city and what came along over time? What is your favorite ethnic dish? Are there dishes here that may be frowned upon and why, could it be because of the recent immigration struggle?”

2-3 hours a week (minimum) traveling to different areas in an area and sampling the dishes. This includes traveling to festivals or celebrating holidays and trying the different foods associated with them. This may vary based on whether I am in my home city or traveling to other countries in Europe; in other countries traveling will take up much more time, maybe 10-12 hours.

2 hours a week performing my own research on the dish such as the history and significance I can find myself without asking my advisor or any of the local public. This means scouring the internet, articles and trips to the library.

1 hour a week disseminating my research and cultural sharing through my blog on Tumblr.

1.5 hours a week working on my self-reflection also through my blog on Tumblr.

Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Brief description of the experience
Personal connection to the experience
Identified goals for the experience
Timeline from start to finish
*Itinerary (international experiences only)
**Explanation of differentiated experience from what is required of other students / Required Revisions: / Effective:
  1. Experience Advisor

Identify an experience advisor and provide their contact information. Explain why you chose this person and how you plan to utilize your advisor for this experience.

Note: Advisor(s) should have knowledge or expertise in an area related to the experience. Honors advisors, undergraduate students, and family members cannot be experience advisors.

Advisor Name: Alex Hogue

Contact Information: Phone Number: (330) 328-5724. E-mail:

I choose Herr Hogue because he was the Graduate Teaching Assistant during my ICP 6-Week intensive course for German over the summer of 2015. He is currently a PhD Candidate in the German Studies department at UC and has studied abroad several times. In addition, he is a very kind and extremely helpful friend who has vast quantities of information of not only German, but also European culture, history, food, and general advice about living abroad.

I plan on conversing with Alex three to four times a month to give him updates on what I’ve found and see what his perspective is on my findings. In addition, I would like to hear his recommendations for dishes in a particular area, his general thoughts and ideas, and to hear his advice on situations I may face.

Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Experience advisor name and contact information
Description of why advisor was selected
Specific plans to engage with advisor / Required Revisions: / Effective:
  1. Connection to Learning Outcomes

List 3 learning outcomes from any thematic area(s). Provide specific activities you plan to engage in to help you make progress towards the chosen learning outcomes. Describe how you expect each activity to help your progress. Include an estimated time commitment for those activities.

  • Summarize the interconnectedness of geography, history, cultural traits and world issues.

Understanding and researching the history and culture behind a type of food will cause me to not only interact with the local population in the area to get their perspective but also see what the written historical perspective is and compare the two. I plan on working on this opportunityby seeing where the particular food was developed, how it impacted history and continues to do so, and cultural meaning behind it. In addition, many areas may share a similar dish, and as so, I’ll get the chance to examine the similarities and differences among the regions. Some activities that can help me with these are food tours offered across Europe and visiting cultural museums. For example, in Germany, there are various food tours in 18 different cities. Likewise there are various food museums across Europe such as gelato, Parmesan, and olive oil museums in Italy and bread, chocolate, and spice museums in Germany. However I will need to travel, most likely by train, to these areas and plan on staying in the youth hostels because of the cheaper cost and high interactivity with international travelers.

As I’ve mentioned earlier in the abstract, I believe this will take 5-6 hours a week by both interacting with locals and performing my own research.

  • Demonstrate an understanding of cultural diversity by acknowledging the impact of their own identity and the experience of social norms, customs, or beliefs that are different from their own.

I plan on working on this outcome by delving myself into experiencing Europeans holidays and festivals, but also the foods associated with them. At the same time, I’d like to examine how American/Indian holidays and festivals compare and contrast to Europe. For instance, during my stay in Germany, there will be Carnival in February, Spring Festival in March/April, while in April there is a Wine festival in Verona and a Gelato Festival in Florence in May. Granted I may not be able to attend every festival, but I will try to attend many as I can and understand what effect these new traditions and new foods leave on me.

While some American holidays may not be popularly celebrated in Europe, I know “May Day” is the German version of Labor Day, and I’d like to see how my American version of a cookout compares to a German one, or even if they have one. In a similar fashion, I go see the Fourth of July fireworks in the United States with my friends and often we’ll eat at home, in a restaurant, or order pizza and light up fireworks in the backyard. I would like to how Europeans enjoy firework shows by eating at home, going out, having a picnic, or any other activity.

However, another large aspect I think will impact my identity is seeing how Indian culture may be celebrated in Europe, especially with the food aspect. For instance I’ve celebrated Shivaratri with my family in February where we fast and eat only potato and fruit based foods. Likewise I’ve celebrated Holi in the United States with typically North Indian food. I will be there for both holidays and potentially others, but it will fascinating for me to see how Europeans celebrate these holidays, what type of food they cater on these events, and really their viewpoint on Indian culture.

I believe this way not only will I partake in new European foods and traditions but also understand the European view on Americans and Indians.

I believe this will take up between 5 to 12 hours a month because it varies on the number of festivals and holidays in the month and which country they are in. I imagine because of the length of the festival/holiday itself and amount of time required for travel, this time for this specific activity will be higher.

  • Demonstrate a sense of empathy, respect, and appreciation for others to build meaningful cross-cultural collaborations toward mutual growth and prosperity.

I’ve been raised all my life in America, and while half of my culture is composed of Indian heritage, I haven’t necessarily lived in an area where I don’t know all the customs, traditions, or even have a deeper understanding of the countries themselves. I believe by trying new food, foreign to myself, whether with co-workers during this international co-op, new friends I will make abroad, or acquaintances I will have the chance to appreciate someone else’s heritage and culture. At the same time I see myself introducing American or Indian food to these special groups of people and sharing my background on these dishes.

Another activity I’d really like to focus on this outcome, and suggested by my advisor Alex, is visiting the smaller minority restaurants and getting their background and side of the story. I learned over the course of German class how of Turkish immigrants came to Germany and began to establish their roots in the country. I can go in before or after their busy times and ask them about their struggles, how they came to the country, and how they’ve overcome or are overcoming the obstacles, and potentially how food helped them through it. This is just one example, but with the recent immigration crisis and knowing that a culture isn’t just made up of one race, I’d like to get their perspective. Personally, as an Indian-American I know the struggles my parents faced as immigrants to the United States and what I’ve faced as a first generation American. Given the opportunity to share our histories and what we believe makes us ourselves with each other, I believe not only will my appreciation and empathy grow, but also theirs as well. Even if it’s over a Donerkebab or some Spaghetti Ice.

I believe this will take 5-8 hours a week minimum because I will be actively trying new food with new company alongside sharing American and Indian dishes and also approaching minority restaurants to get their story.

Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
3 learning outcomes explicitly identified from any thematic area(s)
Examples of activities and explanation of how each willassist the progress towards the chosen learning outcome
Estimated time commitment for each activity / Required Revisions: / Effective:
  1. Academic Resources Connected to theLearning Outcomes

List 1-2 academic resources you plan to use to enhance your understanding of the learning outcomes. Explain how eachresource connects to your learning outcome(s) and helps you execute your experience. Please include the title and author/creator for each resource.

Note: Academic resources are professional works that can be used to assist your understanding of the topic. Some examples are books, documentaries, videos, or research journals.

I plan on using during my travels in Germany and later when I begin to venture out to the other countries on my list. I believe BBC is a good source for reputable media that has featured documentaries and well done stories. One thing in particular I like about their travel section is that they feature various aspects of culture in cities, including food and history with written articles and videos. I believe this website gives me some ideas of food to try, history behind the city and potentially behind the city’s food, and where would there be good places to start my travel plan. As I will be reading and researching multiple articles on this website, I will reference each author and location in my dissemination.

Deutsche Welle or German Wave is Germany’s international broadcasting service that was I was recommended to from Alex Hogue. Their target audience is people not from Germany and its media is available through television, radio, and news articles. But one thing I agree with Alex upon is that I get the cultural perspective from the German side. This includes over several thousand written articles about food and cultural background in Europe which can help me find dishes, cultural context behind certain food, and food questions to potentially ask people. I will reference these sources the same way I will reference BBC.