I am a cultural anthropologist whose interrelated research interests include the anthropology of refugees and migrant communities, food and migration, and community-based teaching in food studies. My research in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and Amman, Jordan, has explored how the food perspectives and eating experiences of immigrants and refugees illuminate broader dimensions of migration and belonging. This work has resulted in posters and presentations at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association. Given the opportunity through future sabbaticals and dedicated research time, I would be eager to further develop this scholarship on food and migration.

More recently, I co-authored two book chapters in Gleanings from the Field: Food Security, Resilience, and Experiential Learning. Chapter 13, “Building a Cluster of Community-Based Learning Courses,” describes efforts to pilot an Introduction to Community-Based Learning course in conjunction with food studies courses that employ community-based learning strategies. Chapter 14, “Ethical Engagement in the Anthropology and Philosophy of Food: Community-Based Learning Across the Disciplines,” reflects on the opportunities and challenges of developing an interdisciplinary cluster of courses centered on community-engaged projects. Together, these chapters highlight efforts to support student engagement with ethical frameworks and growth mindsets, encouraging students to work thoughtfully, responsively, and ethically with community partners. I am grateful to have collaborated with a team of Lawrence faculty who successfully secured support to attend the Cultivating Food Access and Community Resiliency Workshop at Macalester College in June 2022.

My recent faculty service has included appointments to the Taskforce on General Education Requirement Reform (2023–2025) and the Lawrence University Presidential Search Committee, which helped select President Laurie Carter in 2021. I also served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology from 2020 to 2024. In addition, I spent nearly a decade as Director of the Ethnic Studies Program (2009–2010; 2011–2020). During that time, my colleagues and I secured the program’s first tenure-line position, hired our first tenure-track professor, and developed the Ethnic Studies major in addition to the existing minor.

Currently, I am proud to serve as the Posse Mentor for Posse 19, Lawrence University’s nineteenth cohort of ten scholars from New York City. As of the 2026–27 academic year, these scholars are sophomores, and I am committed to supporting them through their graduation in 2029. It has been especially rewarding to witness their growth as leaders in campus communities, scholars in the classroom, and emerging professionals exploring their future careers.

My teaching contributes to cultural and linguistic anthropology as well as the interdisciplinary fields of ethnic studies and gender studies. I have taught introductory courses in both Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies, along with theory and research methods courses in Ethnic Studies. I have also taught the First-Year Studies course on several occasions.

Courses I have taught in Anthropology include Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Language and Culture, Anthropology of Gender, Fictions of Africa: Interdisciplinary Practice, Multimodalities, and the Anthropology of Liberation, Ethnography of the Middle East and North Africa, Migrants and Refugees, Anthropology of Space and Place, Anthropology of Food, Food Justice Movements, Cultural Research Methods, and Business Ethnography.