Food and Communication
Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2015
Edited by
Mark McWilliams [+–]
Mark McWilliams, Professor of English at the United States Naval Academy, has served as Editor of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery since 2011.
The Oxford Symposium on Food on Cookery continues to be the premier English conference on this topic, gathering academics, professional writers and amateurs from Britain, the USA, Australia and many other countries to discuss contributions on a single agreed topic. Symposiasts considered food as an area of control and resistance in totalitarian societies; struggles between activists, corporations and bureaucracies over food labels; the use of food and cookery to explore the past and the exotic; the sounds of eating and selling food; and, as Brillat-Savarin predicted, the role of food in constructing and communicating aspects of individual and collective identity. This year marked the first Symposium under the leadership of Bee Wilson, the new Chair, and Ursula Heinzelmann, the new Director. We also celebrated many years of leadership from Elisabeth Luard and the inimitable Paul Levy. Also deserving a mention is the editing of these papers by Mark McWilliams.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Mark McWilliams, Professor of English at the United States Naval Academy, has served as Editor of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery since 2011.
Plenary Papers
Symposium Papers
Ken Albala,Christine Larson
University of the Pacific
Ken Albala is Tully Knoles Endowed Professor at the University of the Pacific in Stockton,
California. He has published 27 books and won the 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award at the
university.
California. He has published 27 books and won the 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award at the
university.
Paula Arvela
Harvard University
Janet Beizer is Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University,
and specializes in literature, cultural studies, and food studies. Her forthcoming book is
The Harlequin Eaters: From Food Scraps to Modernism in Nineteenth Century France.
and specializes in literature, cultural studies, and food studies. Her forthcoming book is
The Harlequin Eaters: From Food Scraps to Modernism in Nineteenth Century France.
Shelley Boyd
Wheaton College
Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus is Professor of Religion and Henrietta James Faculty Chair for
Outstanding Teaching at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. His most recent book is
Gastronomic Judaism as Culinary Midrash.
Outstanding Teaching at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. His most recent book is
Gastronomic Judaism as Culinary Midrash.
Anthony F. Buccini (PhD Cornell University) is an historical linguist and dialectologist who
formerly taught at the University of Chicago in the Departments of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Linguistics. As a food historian, his research focusses on the Mediterranean and Atlantic World. He is a two-time winner of the Sophie Coe Prize in Food History.
formerly taught at the University of Chicago in the Departments of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Linguistics. As a food historian, his research focusses on the Mediterranean and Atlantic World. He is a two-time winner of the Sophie Coe Prize in Food History.
Voltaire Cang is an academic researcher based in Tokyo. He researches and writes about
Japan’s ‘intangible’ heritage, including food and other cultural practices and tradition.
Japan’s ‘intangible’ heritage, including food and other cultural practices and tradition.
McGill University
Nathalie Cooke is an English professor at McGill University in Montreal. Her publications
focus on the shaping of culinary and literary taste evident in a variety of texts, including menus (see the forthcoming Menu Matters).
focus on the shaping of culinary and literary taste evident in a variety of texts, including menus (see the forthcoming Menu Matters).
Anastasia Edwards
Elizabeth Fakazis
Rebecca Federman
Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson
Richard Fitch
Peter Hertzmann
Jessica Loyer
Katherine Magruder
Aurora Mandelkern
Robert McKeown
Karima Moyer-Nocchi
Carolyn A. Nadeau
Harriet Publicover
University of Chicago
Richard Warren Shepro is both an international lawyer and a food scholar. He teaches at the
University of Chicago and is the author of six Oxford Symposium papers. He is a former editor of the Harvard Law Review.
University of Chicago and is the author of six Oxford Symposium papers. He is a former editor of the Harvard Law Review.
The Comté Aroma Wheel: History of an Invention, Ethnography of a Practice. A Look at the Early Years
Christy Shields-Argelès
Matthew Smith
Nancy Stalker
Susan Weingarten is a food historian and archaeologist living in Jerusalem. She is the author of Haroset: A Taste of Jewish History.
