Resume
Education
BA, American Civilization, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 1976-1981
MA, History, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1983-1985
Ph.D., American Studies, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 1998-2003
Professional Experience
July 2023-present PROFESSOR EMERITUS : American Studies; Senior Leadership Advisor - The Center for the Study of the American South
July 2022-June 2023 INTERIM DIRECTOR : The Center for the Study of the American South - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2018-present WRITER/EDITOR/SCHOLAR
July 2018 PROFESSOR EMERITUS : American Studies - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2003-2018 PROFESSOR : American Studies -University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2015-present FACULTY EDITOR, Southern Cultures - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2005-2008 ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR : Carolina Center for Jewish Studies - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1995-1997 CO-OWNER/PROPRIETOR : Material Culture: Antiques, Persian Carpets, Southern Art, Crafts & Folk Art - Oxford, Mississippi
1991-1994 PROJECT DIRECTOR, Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience - Jackson, Mississippi
1989-1991 ASSISTANT DIRECTOR : International Programs, Elderhostel - Boston, Massachusetts
1985-1989 ASSISTANT DIRECTOR : Public Programs, Plimoth Plantation - Plymouth, Massachusetts
Administration & Leadership
2015-2018 Co-Chair, “Food for All” , Academic Theme - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2005-2018 Jewish Studies Faculty Advisory Group - Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, UNC-CH
2017 Conference Program Co-Chair, “Jewish Food in the Global South : A Symposium” - University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
2015 Conference Program Chair, “The State of the Plate: Food and the Local/Global Nexus” - Center for Global Initiatives, UNC-CH
2012 Program Committee Co-Chair, “Shared Tables: A Triangle Symposium on Local and Global Food Studies” - co-sponsored by Duke and UNC-CH
2008-2010 Director of Undergraduate Studies - Department of American Studies, UNC-CH
Board Leadership
2019 Board of Directors, Cary Academy - Cary, NC
2016-2018 Faculty Advisory Board, Burch Fellowship Honors Program - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2017 Board of Directors, Feast Downeast - Wilmington, NC
2017 Council Member, Orange County Food Council - Chapel Hill, NC
2012-2017 Board of Governors, University of North Carolina Press - UNC-CH
2011-2013 Board Member, Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina
2006-2008 President, Southern Foodways Alliance - Oxford, Mississippi
2001-2007 Board Member, Alliance for American Quilts - Asheville, NC
2005-2007 Board Member, NC Hillel - Chapel Hill, NC
2006-2007 Secretary, Southern Jewish Historical Society - Marietta, GA
2004-2006 Board Member, Chapel Hill Historical Society
Presentations
2021 Lecturer, “The Edible (Jewish) South: The Power of Food and the Making of Jewish Southerners,” Rice Humanities Program in Jewish Studies, Rice University, Houston, TX - November 1, 2021
2021 Presenter, “The Edible South and the New Deal,” Johnny Cash Festival and Symposium, Dyess, Arkansas - October 15, 2021
2020 Presenter, SJHS at HOME--Southern Jewish Historical Society in the Kitchen: A Southern Jewish Cooking Demo with Dr. Marcie Cohen Ferris, October 26, 2020
2019 Institute Faculty, “Privilege and Prejudice: Jewish History in the American South” - College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
2019 Moderator, James P. Elder Lecture : An Evening with Vivian Howard and Cynthia Hill - Elon College, Elon, NC
2019 Henry Samuel Levinson Lecture: “The Long Civil Rights Movement in the Jewish South” - UNCG, Greensboro, NC
2018 Speaker, “My Food is My Flag: A Conversation about Jewish, African American, and Southern Foodways,” Jewish Studies Program - College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
2017 Keynote Speaker, “North Carolina Foodways: Plate and Place,” North Carolina: The New American Heartland - Durham, NC
2015 “The Last Jews of Natchez,” Robin Amer, Gravy Podcast for Southern Foodways Alliance - May 21, 2o15
2015 Panel Commentator, “Deromanticizing Southern Foodways,” Southern Historical Association - Little Rock, AR
2015 Speaker, “Beard on Books” Reading, James Beard Foundation - New York, NY
2014 Speaker, “The Hungry South,” 17th Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium, 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
2013 Keynote Lecturer, “Southern Women at Work,” Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium - University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS