An Interview with John T Edge about The Potlikker Papers, Eating Democratically, and Foodways in Cultural Studies

My fellow Southern Studies MA alum John T and I over many years have talked about how food, shelter, and clothing hold the keys to learning about the lives of southern people, many of whom embody the collision of necessity and creativity that is at the root of cultural studies. In this interview about his new book, The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, we discuss the tension between the essential and the complex, something he brilliantly struggles with as a founder of the academic discipline of foodways, and something I’ve thought about in my own past work in the building arts and research on clothing and fashion in the South.

New MISSISSIPPI STORY on the Jewish Community of Natchez

There has been a Jewish community in Natchez, Mississippi for 175 years—and Robin Amer’s family has been part of it for 160 of them. But now the number of Jews in Natchez has dwindled to only a handful. In this audio story, Robin returns to learn what culinary culture might disappear when they’re gone.

Alum Katie King to Screen Film at Atlanta History Center Feb. 4

Alum Katie King to Screen Film at Atlanta History Center Katie King (M.A. 2015) made a documentary film, The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, as part of her studies while in the graduate program at the Center. Katie will screen the film at the Atlanta History Center this Thursday, February 4 at 7pm. A panel discussion with

Snapshots from the Semester – Grad Student Guest Post

Here, an end of the semester photo wrap-up with second year Southern Studies grad student Sophie Hay, who documents Center events and life as part of her assistantship. Follow the Center on Instagram for more photos by Sophie and others. Snapshots from the Semester Fall semester has been a busy one in Barnard Observatory; the

New STUDY THE SOUTH Article by Jaime Cantrell

Center journal Study the South has a new article by Jaime Cantrell, “Put a Taste of the South in Your Mouth: Carnal Appetites and Intersextionality.”

Jaime Cantrell’s essay reveals the tactile resonances, social dimensions, and affective possibilities of thinking sex through southern food in fiction and poetry from Dorothy Allison, doris davenport, and Minnie Bruce Pratt.

Two Faculty Members Take Study of US South Abroad

Two Southern Studies assistant professors are getting to use their passports this summer as recipients of the Provost’s Faculty Development Award for Campus Internationalization. Catarina Passidomo heads to Peru May 31–June 10 for “Peruvian Food Systems: Balancing Growth and Preservation,” and Jodi Skipper goes to Senegal June 7–17 for “Islam, Politics, and Culture in Senegal and West Africa.”

SFA’s GRAVY Wins James Beard Award for Year’s Best Publication

We are so proud of the Southern Foodways Alliance, which Friday evening won a James Beard Award for publication of the year for Gravy. Gravy is a quarterly magazine with an affiliated bi-weekly podcast. Sara Camp Arnold Milam is Gravy‘s managing editor, and John T. Edge is the editor-in-chief.  Tina Antolini produces and hosts Gravy