Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Foodways and History in Southern Appalachia
Session Abstract or Summary
This panel explores how foodways can serve as a lens into uncovering an extremely rich, diverse, and complicated social history within the southern Appalachian region. The three panelists, two students and a professor, are currently engaged in an Appalachian Oral History class that focuses on foodways, which has served as the impetus for the panel. Each panelist examines a different theme – Affrilachia, migration, and food insecurity and fellowship– that sheds light on diverse histories and cultural practices that have shaped this region. We are interested in disrupting common narratives and stereotypes about Appalachia that paint the region and its people in simplistic, nostalgic or generalized ways. By asking questions about foodways – the consumption, production, social context, and cultural meanings of food – we can help reveal a more dynamic picture of southern Appalachia. Because we each have used oral history as a method for studying the past, our individual papers will grapple with this methodology and our findings as well.
Presentation #1 Title
Food, Fellowship and Oral History In and out of the Classroom
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Maia Surdam considers how foodways served as the basis for an Appalachian Oral History class she taught at Mars Hill University. The upper-level seminar required students to organize a community-based oral history project around foodways. Students conducted, analyzed and shared their oral history interviews, which centered around Mars Hill Baptist Church and its work on food insecurity and community fellowship. This paper considers the challenges and rewards of using foodways and oral history to take the classroom out into the community.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Maia Surdam, Ph.D., is a full-time baker and part-time professor. She helps run OWL Bakery in Asheville, NC and teaches classes in US and Appalachian history at Mars Hill University.
Presentation #2 Title
Food, Gender, and the Search for Affrilachian History
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
This paper explores Adrienne Enoch’s journey through Affrilachian history. Enoch, a junior at Mars Hill University, is preparing for her senior thesis and considers how questions about food and gender can help her uncover the history of African Americans in the southern Appalachian region. As a student who has participated in two public and community-based oral history projects, Enoch also explores oral history as an essential component for uncovering the stories of Affrilachia that have been overlooked in mainstream culture.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Adrienne Enoch is a Junior at Mars Hill University. She is a history major with a public history concentration, and is earning a teaching certificate as well.
Presentation #3 Title
Food and Migration in the Southern Appalachian Mountains
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
This paper considers how migration has influenced the people, culture, and history of the southern Appalachian mountains. Jennifer Cardona-Alfaro argues that food is a valuable lens into understanding the experiences of migration among immigrant communities and their descendants in the region. For this paper, she draws upon the interviews she conducted and listened to in her Appalachian Oral History class.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Jennifer Cardona-Alfaro is a Junior at Mars Hill College majoring in History.
Food, Fellowship and Oral History In and out of the Classroom
Maia Surdam considers how foodways served as the basis for an Appalachian Oral History class she taught at Mars Hill University. The upper-level seminar required students to organize a community-based oral history project around foodways. Students conducted, analyzed and shared their oral history interviews, which centered around Mars Hill Baptist Church and its work on food insecurity and community fellowship. This paper considers the challenges and rewards of using foodways and oral history to take the classroom out into the community.
