Dr. Marcie Cohen Ferris
"The Biscuit Chronicles: Following the Food to Southern Identity"
Date: Monday, Feb 25, 2008
Time: 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Place: Love House, 410 E. Franklin St
The Curriculum in Folklore is proud to host a presentation by Dr.
Marcie Cohen Ferris-- an Assistant Professor of American Studies at
UNC, and a core faculty member of the Curriculum in Folklore-- on
Monday, Feb. 25, at 3:00 p.m. at the Love House, the Franklin Street
home for the Center for the Study of the American South. Dr. Ferris
will be speaking about "The Biscuit Chronicles: Following the Food to
Southern Identity." Please join us as we consider the food on
southern tables, and what this tells us about place, history, and
southerners' social identity.
Food offers a telling interpretive key to both the great dramas and
the everyday experiences of southerners. In this presentation, Dr.
Ferris--a long-time scholar of American foodways, and the current
president of the Southern Foodways Alliance--will examine the
much-storied intersection of region and food, exploring how we come to
understand a specific place through the lens of the foods eaten there.
She will tell of her journey into the worlds of food and folklore in
the American South, worlds that encompass story, skill, and memory as
much as they do the foods that appear on southern tables. In the
course of this journey, Dr. Ferris will discuss why asking "what's for
dinner?" leads us to a nuanced understanding of social history and
identity.
In addition to serving as an assistant professor in UNC's Curriculum
in American Studies and core faculty member of the Curriculum in
Folklore, Marcie Cohen Ferris is the Associate Director of the
Carolina Center for Jewish Studies. Ferris received her Ph.D. from
George Washington University, and has worked in the field of museums
and public history for over twenty years. Her research and teaching
interests include the history of the Jewish South, Southern food,
American Jewish women's history, and the material culture of the
American South. She is the author of the much-acclaimed study “Matzoh
Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South” (2005), and co-editor
of “Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History” (2006).
