Message from Clay Dube

[clay dube]

Two hamburger ideas, both raised by members of our 2009 summer seminar.

You can look at globalization in many ways, but one of the most interesting is looking at local adaptation of global products/trends. One thing students consider themselves experts on is American fast food.

A great academic reference (parts of which might be adapted for high school students) is Golden Arches East. It looks at McDonalds in Asia. For example, the intro by Woody Watson (he organized the project, his students, now professors elsewhere, wrote on their special areas) includes a great note about a project to acculturate mainland Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong. The culuminating activity is a visit to McDonalds!

Here's an excerpt by our friend and UCLA colleague Yan Yunxiang:
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/watson-arches.html

Note, please, that a second edition came out in 2006. You can see part of it in Google Books and easily buy it online or borrow it from the library.

Here's the Big Mac Index that The Economist publishes. It hints at how well or poorly markets price currencies (but also neglects local market conditions that might affect commodities that are rendered into the hamburger.
http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/

Please also note that it's not just McDonalds that has gone global. Yum Brands owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and other chains. It derives the bulk of its growth and profits overseas, especially in China. Your students could study the growth of these chains in China and elsewhere. See if they can see what kind of promotions they run, what sort of advertisements they use, and the extent to which they modify the menu to accommodate local norms and preferences.

US-China Today features an article on this:
http://www.uschina.usc.edu/ShowFeature.aspx?articleID=3945

Finally, it's important to note that there are many more Asian restaurants in the US than Western restaurants in Asia. Perhaps your students could inventory the range of restaurants and food stores within 3 miles of the school. They could also look for Asian foods on the shelves of local markets.

As always, please do share your experiences working with students on topics such as these. Please also share student work.