Education:
Ph.D., Tulane University (History), 2013.
M.A., The New School for Social Research (Historical Studies), 2008.
B.A., Tulane University (Linguistics and Anthropology), 2003.
Teaching Experience:
• Tulane University, History Department Visiting Professor, Fall 2021 - Ongoing:
The History of Mardi Gras (lecture)
Why Taylor Swift Matters (first-year seminar) — I was interviewed about this class here for Tulane’s On Good Authority podcast
The History of New Orleans (lecture)
The January 6th, 2021 Capitol Insurrection: A History (upperclass and graduate seminar)
• Tulane University / LA Correctional Institute for Women, Visiting Prof., 2019 - 2020:
What Does It Mean to Be Human? (first-year intro to the Humanities)
History as Storytelling/Storytelling as History: An Intro to Historical Methods & Practice
• Loyola University, New Orleans, Food Studies Department Visiting Prof., 2018:
Eating and Drinking in New Orleans (lecture)
• University of Mississippi, Oxford, Meek School of Journalism Visiting Prof., 2018:
Writing on Food (upperclass and graduate seminar)
* Bard Early College N.O., Visiting Prof. of Urban Studies, 2012 - 2019, courses included:
On Beauty
American Foodways
From Archival Research to Museum Exhibit
• Tulane University, New Orleans Center for the Gulf South Visiting Prof., 2009 - 2015:
Musical Cultures of the Gulf South, United States History: 1865 to the Present
Non-traditional Classroom Experience:
Yoga teacher at Travis Hill (Orleans Justice Center and Youth Study Center), Rivarde Juvenile Detention Center, and the Welcoming Project.
Articles & Essays:
General audience: Written articles and essays for Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Oxford American, Men’s Journal, Eating Well, The Bitter Southerner, The A.V. Club, Pacific Standard, Garden & Gun, Southern Living, The Local Palate, Saveur, The Los Angeles Review of Books, 64 Parishes/Louisiana Cultural Vistas, The Rumpus, Edible, Spirit Magazine, The Times-Picayune, and many other print and online publications.
Academic: Published articles and book reviews for Journal of American History; Southern Historian; The History Teacher; Food, Culture & Society; Gastronomica; Tennessee Historical Quarterly; Louisiana History; The Journal of Military History.
Essay Chapters in Books:
In collections published by Wildsam Field Guides, Duke University Press, Cambridge University Press, University of Georgia Press, Vanderbilt University Press, and Presses de l'Université Laval (Quebec).
Conferences, Panels, and Talks:
Lectured and told stories in front of audiences at: the Southern Foodways Alliance, American Historical Association, Foodways Texas Symposium, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Tales of the Cocktail, Southeastern Museums Conference, Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail (France), Loyola University, Louisiana Historical Association, and St. Catherine’s College (Oxford, England), and many others.
Awards:
Best Critical Review Award from the Press Club of New Orleans, 2019, 2020, & 2021
The American Historical Association’s William and Edwyna Gilbert Award for the Best Article on Teaching History, 2020
James Beard Award for Personal Essay (finalist nomination), 2016
Dianne Woest Fellowships in the Arts and Humanities at The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2014
Tulane William R. Hogan Fellowship Award for Teaching, 2009
Other Work:
Oral historian for the Southern Foodways Alliance, University of Mississippi (2008 - ongoing); oral historian for Foodways Texas, University of Texas (2012); book judge for the James Beard Foundation Awards (2009 - ongoing); book judge for The Ridenhour Prizes, co-sponsored by The Nation Institute (2007 - ongoing).