SYLLABUS FOOD SAFETY: Fads, Facts & Politics (11:400:422)
Class Schedule
Credit: 3
Prerequisite: Class open to juniors, seniors only
Time & Place:
Office Hours: After class by appointments
For appointments: use Microsoft booking
Instructor:
Chitra Ponnusamy, Ph. D.
chitra.ponnusamy@rutgers.edu
65 Dudley RD, Room 203
(848) 932-5452
(732) 932-6776
DO NOT SEND MESSAGES TO ME VIA CANVAS.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY & INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS:
All of the materials that you will need for this course will be posted in the Canvas website. Textbook: There is NO mandatory textbook required for this course.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Dynamic interactions of science, law, agribusiness interests, and consumer concerns. Case studies and participatory exercises to explore a variety of issues.
COURSE LEARNING GOALS:
This course fulfills Food Science Program Learning Goal #5: Graduates will effectively communicate Food Science issues.
Course Objectives: The major goal of this course is to, while addressing current issues related to food safety, help you develop critical thinking skills, numerical literacy, and other skills that will be important after graduation.
Students will:
- learn to analyze, synthesize new information and generate new insights in the area of food safety.
- communicate scientific information effectively (orally, in writing, and through electronic media)
- function effectively on multidisciplinary teams
- learn professional ethical responsibilities
ASSIGNMENTS/RESPONSIBILITIES, GRADING & ASSESSMENT:
his course provides an integrative educational experience where students work cooperatively on trends, challenges and future of industries. Safety aspects of food will be discussed in this course. The ever-changing dynamism in food industries- Plant-based meats, 3-D printed foods, AI in food manufacturing, GMOs, sustainability impacts- how does the average person cope with these? The laws, regulations, and practices that address these issues are not based on scientific facts alone. They also consider economic, political, cultural, demographic, religious, and philosophical factors.
In this course, students will:
- Take responsibility for their own learning.
- Develop the skills needed to evaluate claims made in print, television, and the web.
- Work with others of diverse skills and backgrounds as part of an interdisciplinary team.
- Create an "outcome" of your learning that conveys what you have learned.
The "Arc of the Course" is reading, writing, participations in class discussions and individual as well as group presentations.
This is a required attendance course!
- Participation and group work comprise a major portion of your grade.
- You cannot participate if you do not attend.
- Although several class periods have been reserved for you to work on your group projects, you will also need to work on the group projects and paper outside of class and on your own time.
- Because the course format is largely experiential rather than lecture/regurgitation, what happens in the class is very much a function of all our experiences and class interactions.
- There is NO required textbook for this course. All necessary materials will be posted in he canvas site for this course.
GRADING FOR THE COURSE
Grades are earned based on activities in 5 units and a writing assignment. All late submissions will be graded for half points. There is NO late submission for final paper.
* Assignment #1- Citations, References etc.
* Assignment #2: Oral presentations in pairs
* Assignment #3: Poster presentation
* Assignment #4: PPT presentation
* Assignment #5: Oral presentations and discussions in class
* Assignment #6: Final paper submission
GRADING
You want an "A" to be outstanding. If everyone is "outstanding," that would be great, but don't expect an A just because you are a senior and show up.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Guest speaker- Dr. Judit Ward, Library Faculty, Rutgers
Hands- on activities in class
in class- Oral Presentations/ Discussions
in class- Oral Presentations/ Discussions
in class- Oral Presentations/ Discussions
in class- Oral Presentations/ Discussions
in class- Oral Presentations/ Discussions
in class- Oral Presentations/ Discussions
ACCOMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Please follow the procedures outlined at Rutgers Office Of Disability services Registration form. Full policies and procedures are found in the Rutgers Office Of Disability services website.
The Rutgers Office Of Disability services is located at Lucy Stone Hall, Suite A145, Livingston Campus, 54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854. The contact phone number is (848) 445-6800.
Rutgers University welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University's educational programs. In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation at Rutgers Office Of Disability services documentation Guidelines website. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with a Letter of Accommodations. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. To begin this process, please complete the Registration form on the ODS web site at: Rutgers Office Of Disability services Registration form.
Absence Policy
The University does recognize that temporary conditions and injuries can be problematic and may adversely affect a student’s ability to fully participate in class.
Absences or making up work go to Temporary Conditions website for detail.
The Dean of Students Office at Rutgers University-New Brunswick provides solutions, services, and support to help students navigate Rutgers University. By focusing on students’ educational, social, and personal development, staff in the Office promote academic success and student retention. The Office serves as a student support network by providing advocacy, problem resolution, and critical incident intervention for those times when additional assistance is needed.
- Self-Reporting Absences: For absences in class or labs less than a week that are not confidential in nature, students need to inform faculty directly by using the Absence Reporting System (ARS).
- Longer Periods of Absence: If you anticipate missing more than one week of classes for serious illness, confidential, or sensitive personal reasons, you should also consult with a New Brunswick Dean of Students who will help to verify your extended absences from classes.
- Absences due to illnesses: If your absence is due to illness, visit New Brunswick Health Services for information about campus health services, including information about: how to make an appointment, self-care advice for colds/flu, mental health and counseling options.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The university's policy on Academic Integrity requires that a student:
- properly acknowledge and cite all use of the ideas, results, or words of others.
- properly acknowledge all contributors to a given piece of work.
- make sure that all work submitted as his or her own in a course or other academic activity is produced without the aid of impermissible materials or impermissible collaboration.
- obtain all data or results by ethical means and report them accurately without suppressing any results inconsistent with his or her interpretation or conclusions.
- treat all other students in an ethical manner, respecting their integrity and right to pursue their educational goals without interference. This requires that a student neither facilitate academic dishonesty by others nor obstruct their academic progress.
- uphold the canons of the ethical or professional code of the profession for which he or she is preparing.
Adherence to these principles is necessary in order to ensure that
- everyone is given proper credit for his or her ideas, words, results, and other scholarly accomplishments.
- all student work is fairly evaluated, and no student has an inappropriate advantage over others.
- the academic and ethical development of all students is fostered.
- the reputation of the University for integrity in its teaching, research, and scholarship is maintained and enhanced.
Failure to uphold these principles of academic integrity threatens both the reputation of the University and the value of the degrees awarded to its students. Every member of the University community therefore bears a responsibility for ensuring that the highest standards of academic integrity are upheld.
Cheating and Plagiarism
(From Spring 2010 Andy Egan 01:730:252 Eating Right): "Cheating on tests or plagiarizing materials in your papers deprives you of the educational benefits of preparing these materials appropriately. It is personally dishonest to cheat on a test or to hand in a paper based on unacknowledged words or ideas that someone else originated. It is also unfair, since it gives you an undeserved advantage over your fellow students who are graded on the basis of their own work. In this class we will take cheating very seriously".
Turnitin will be used to assess students‚ submissions and all suspected cases of cheating and plagiarism will be automatically referred to the Rutgers Academic Integrity office.
Counseling, ADAP & Psychiatric Services (CAPS)
Counseling, ADAP & Psychiatric Services (CAPS) located at 17 Senior Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 is a University mental health support service that includes counseling, alcohol and other drug assistance, and psychiatric services staffed by a team of professional within Rutgers Health services to support students’ efforts to succeed at Rutgers University. CAPS offers a variety of services that include: individual therapy, group therapy and workshops, crisis intervention, referral to specialists in the community and consultation and collaboration with campus partners. its phone number is (848) 932-7884.
Violence Prevention & Victim Assistance (VPVA)
The Violence Prevention & Victim Assistance (VPVA) phone number is (848) 932-1181, and it is located at 3 Bartlett Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
The Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance provides confidential crisis intervention, counseling and advocacy for victims of sexual and relationship violence and stalking to students, staff and faculty. To reach staff during office hours when the university is open or to reach an advocate after hours, call 848-932- 1181.
Disability Services
The Office of Disability Services phone number is (848) 445-6800, and it is located at Lucy Stone Hall, Suite A145 Livingston Campus 54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue Piscataway, NJ 08854
Rutgers University welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University's educational programs. In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation at Office of Disability Services Documentation Quidelines website. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability services office will provide you with a Letter of Accommodations. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. To begin this process, please complete the Registration Form.
Scarlet Listeners
Scarlet Listeners provides free and confidential peer counseling and referral hotline, providing a comforting and supportive safe space. Call at (732) 247-5555 for more information.