Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Women of Color Rewriting Our Food Stories: Transnational and Intersectional Feminist Food Studies
Join us for an early celebration of Culiniaria: Women of Color Rewriting Our Food Stories, a dynamic entry in the evolving field of feminist food studies. Editors and professors Farha Ternikar and Janaka B. Lewis will be in conversation with contributor Armani Stewart and moderator Willa Zhen to discuss how gender, race, class, geography, and religion all shape the ways women use food.
We need this volume in the lexicon of food studies research and analysis. It challenges us to think differently—not just about food but about the connectedness of food. Food and wellness; food and social care; food and caste, religion, and apartheid; food, dance, and performance; food and modern language, media, and communication; food journalism; and food and the performances of joy. This is an exciting volume because it includes all these vantage points and an array of methods and methodologies to advance these narratives.
— From the foreword by Psyche Williams-Forson
Museum of Food and Drink
55 Water Street, 2nd floor | Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
7 -9 PM (doors open at 6)
Tickets include access to Street Food City from 6 to 7 PM and refreshments.
Museum of Food and Drink
55 Water Street, 2nd floor | Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
7 -9 PM (doors open at 6)
Tickets include access to Street Food City from 6 to 7 PM and refreshments.
Dr. Farha Ternikar (she/her)
is Professor of Sociology and Director of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at Le Moyne College. She teaches Food and Culture; Race, Gender, and Pop Culture; and Feminist Theory. Her publications include the books: Brunch: A Global History (2014) and Intersectionality and Muslim Women: Beyond Hijab and Halal (2021), which explores how food and fashion are modes of analysis for studying Muslim American women, and articles in Food, Culture, and Society; Race and Yoga; and Ethnic Studies. In spring of 2024 she was a visiting scholar at Chatham University, where she worked on a new manuscript on Muslim immigrant women and foodways. Her forthcoming Culinaria (2026) is a co-edited volume on women of color and feminist food studies with Stephanie Evans and Janaka Lewis.
Dr. Farha Ternikar (she/her)
is Professor of Sociology and Director of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at Le Moyne College. She teaches Food and Culture; Race, Gender, and Pop Culture; and Feminist Theory. Her publications include the books: Brunch: A Global History (2014) and Intersectionality and Muslim Women: Beyond Hijab and Halal (2021), which explores how food and fashion are modes of analysis for studying Muslim American women, and articles in Food, Culture, and Society; Race and Yoga; and Ethnic Studies. In spring of 2024 she was a visiting scholar at Chatham University, where she worked on a new manuscript on Muslim immigrant women and foodways. Her forthcoming Culinaria (2026) is a co-edited volume on women of color and feminist food studies with Stephanie Evans and Janaka Lewis.
Janaka Bowman Lewis, Ph.D.
is Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Success (College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences) and Professor of English at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A Tedx 2021 speaker (UNC Charlotte) and author of Freedom Narratives of African American Women (McFarland 2017), Light and Legacies: Black Girlhood and Stories of Liberation (USC Press 2023), and three children's books, Lewis is also a community-engaged researcher and educator, a member of the 2025-26 class of American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows, and President of College Language Association (2026-2028).
Janaka Bowman Lewis, Ph.D.
is Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Success (College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences) and Professor of English at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A Tedx 2021 speaker (UNC Charlotte) and author of Freedom Narratives of African American Women (McFarland 2017), Light and Legacies: Black Girlhood and Stories of Liberation (USC Press 2023), and three children's books, Lewis is also a community-engaged researcher and educator, a member of the 2025-26 class of American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows, and President of College Language Association (2026-2028).
Armani Stewart
is a New Orleans native, great-granddaughter of a Protestant minister from the 17th ward (Hollygrove) and a Black woman farmer and French Quarter market woman from Bassfield, Mississippi. She is also a sociocultural anthropologist, holistic wellness practitioner, dancer, plant-based baker, and writer. These intersecting identities shape both her personal commitments and scholarly approach. Her interdisciplinary research focuses specifically on documenting Black women’s embodied epistemologies—namely, Afrocentric and holistic plant-based food and care practices— as they pursue wholeness. Armani is currently a PhD sociocultural anthropology student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation research looks at the embodied politics of Black women chefs and food entrepreneurs involved in plant-based food businesses in Atlanta's predominately Black Historic West End —a thriving vegan and holistic wellness hub operated mainly by Black women.
Armani Stewart
is a New Orleans native, great-granddaughter of a Protestant minister from the 17th ward (Hollygrove) and a Black woman farmer and French Quarter market woman from Bassfield, Mississippi. She is also a sociocultural anthropologist, holistic wellness practitioner, dancer, plant-based baker, and writer. These intersecting identities shape both her personal commitments and scholarly approach. Her interdisciplinary research focuses specifically on documenting Black women’s embodied epistemologies—namely, Afrocentric and holistic plant-based food and care practices— as they pursue wholeness. Armani is currently a PhD sociocultural anthropology student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation research looks at the embodied politics of Black women chefs and food entrepreneurs involved in plant-based food businesses in Atlanta's predominately Black Historic West End —a thriving vegan and holistic wellness hub operated mainly by Black women.
Willa Zhen, Ph.D. (she/her)
is Professor of Liberal Arts and Food Studies at The Culinary Institute of America, where she develops experiential, interdisciplinary approaches to food and culture. Trained as a social anthropologist, she is the author of Food Studies: A Hands-On Guide (Bloomsbury, 2019) and is currently researching Asian American–owned food businesses in the Hudson Valley.
Willa Zhen, Ph.D. (she/her)
is Professor of Liberal Arts and Food Studies at The Culinary Institute of America, where she develops experiential, interdisciplinary approaches to food and culture. Trained as a social anthropologist, she is the author of Food Studies: A Hands-On Guide (Bloomsbury, 2019) and is currently researching Asian American–owned food businesses in the Hudson Valley.
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©2025 MOFAD. All rights reserved.