Dr. Meredith E. Abarca holds a BA in English/American Literature from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Davis. She teaches courses in Chicana/o Literature, Mexican-American Folklore, Introduction to 20th- Century U.S. Literature and special topics courses in the areas of literature and film of the Americas and Women Philosophers in the Kitchen.
Research Interest: Food Studies, women’s culinary oral histories, Critical Theory, Latina/o Literature, and Cultural Studies.
Publications in food related issues:
• "Los Chilaquiles de mi 'amá: The Language of Everyday Cooking." In Pilaf, Pozole, and Pad Thai: American Women and Ethnic Food. Sherri Inesse Ed., U. of Massachusetts Press, 2001. (119-144)
• “Authentic or Not, It’s Original.” A Routledge Journal: Food and Foodways. Forthcoming.
• “California Cuisine.” For Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, Society. Editor-in-Chief, Ilan Stavans. Grolier Press. Forthcoming.
• “Never is a Tortilla, Just a Tortilla: Culinary Metaphors in Latina/o Literature.” For Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Deena J. González and Suzanne Oboler, Editors-in-Chief. Oxford Press. Forthcoming.
• Voices in the Kitchen: Latina Culinary Chats. A book length study of culinary philosophies gathered form working-class Mexican women and Chicana/ Mexican fiction writers. Forthcoming from Texas A&M University Press.