Have you ever wondered how you can preserve your family’s Southern cookbooks? What are the characteristics of Southern food across different regions? This panel examines the different factors that have shaped Southern cuisine over the years, the buried knowledge, and the role that museums can play in keeping Southern food alive.
October 20th, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Meet the Moderator
Dr. Delia Steverson is an Assistant Professor of African American Literature at the University of Florida. Her current book project examines how concepts of race and ability intersect in shaping representations of identity in 19th- and 20th-century American literature, with a particular focus on works by African American authors. She has published in The Journal of American Culture and The South Carolina Review. Currently, she is developing a biography and a reader on the late Delores Phillips, poet and author of The Darkest Child.
Meet the Panelists
Dr. Kathryn Dolan teaches U.S. literature at Missouri University of Science & Technology, focusing on food studies, global studies, and environmental criticisms. She has currently finished a project that researches the role of cattle in 19th-century US expansion as described in the literatures of the period. Cattle Country: Livestock in the Cultural Imagination will be published by University of Nebraska Press in June 2021. She is currently working on a book studying the global histories of breakfast cereal through Reaktion Press.
Vivian Filer is a Retired Professor of Nursing from Santa Fe College (formerly Santa Fe Community College) in Gainesville, FL. Her professional life entailed working in the Gainesville area first as a Nursing Assistant at Shands Teaching Hospital, followed by positions as an RN, Professor of Nursing and Interim Director of Health Sciences at Santa Fe College. She obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Florida, a Master’s degree in Education from Nova University and a Master of Nursing Degree from the University of South Florida. After her 26 years at Santa Fe College she retired and is now the CEO of a nonprofit museum and cultural center.
Filer has spent most of her life as a wife and mother of two sons and a grandmother of four grandchildren. Her hobbies include telling African American Stories and singing with the Washington Sisters, an A ‘Capella trio, along with her two sisters.
Dr. Porchia Moore is Department Head and Assistant Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Florida in the School of Art + Art History. Her research examines the historical and contemporary roles of museums in shaping cultural narratives and public understanding, with particular attention to how institutions engage with questions of identity, representation, and access. She is the co-creator of The Visitors of Color Project, a platform that gathers visitor perspectives to inform museum practice.An active voice in the museum field, she regularly presents at major conferences including the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), Museums and the Web, the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC), and the Museum Computer Network (MCN). Her most recent publications include a chapter in Richard Sandell’s Museum Activism (2019), with additional work forthcoming in several edited volumes and academic journals.
She has served on multiple museum and professional boards and committees, including those at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Previously, she held the role of Inclusion Catalyst at the Columbia Museum of Art, where she also worked as consulting curator of African American art. She has contributed to national initiatives such as MASS Action and was a founding member of the Museums and Race collective. As a contributing writer and project advisor with Incluseum, she engages with museum professionals globally to support training and educational efforts around inclusive practice in cultural institutions. You can follow her on Twitter @PorchiaMuseM.
Dixie Neilson received her BA in history from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL, and a master’s degree in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University. Her 30 years of museum experience began at the University of Florida campus at the Harn Museum of Art in 1990. She was the museum’s Head Registrar, responsible for the museum’s collections. In 2000 Dixie became the first instructor in UF’s Museum Studies program, where she taught and advised students until 2016. She has been active in the Southeastern Registrar’s Association (Chair, 1995-2000) and on the board of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) as museum liaison. Since 2019 she has been the Executive Director of the Matheson History Museum.
Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.