Whitney Barlow Robles
Whitney Barlow Robles is a Lecturer in the Department of History at Dartmouth College and a former Postdoctoral Fellow in Dartmouth’s Society of Fellows. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2019 and researches the history of science, environmental thought, and material culture in the early modern period. The idea for this exhibition grew out of research related to her first book, Curious Species: How Animals Made Natural History (forthcoming in 2023 with Yale University Press), which studies the role of animals in the advancement and loss of scientific knowledge. After repeatedly encountering centuries-old natural history specimens that had narrowly escaped the frying pan, been partially eaten, or bore other traces of historical consumption, she realized that scientific collections could serve as shadow archives of historical foodways. Back in the 21st century, her favorite food is pasta in any shape, form, or manner. Check out her stories about the breadfruit, ladyfish, salt, and squid beak in this exhibition.
Lauren Dorsey
Lauren Dorsey is a student at Dartmouth college (class of 2022) majoring in Art History and Classics. She is fascinated by the intersection of the humanities and technology, diving into that passion here by coding this website! She hopes to one day work in a museum with a focus on projects that preserve art and history and increase their accessibility. Raised in Mississippi, she adores traditional southern cuisine and intense Louisiana spice, which she misses dearly when she is in the Northeast, but her favorite food is probably a simple, homemade cornbread. Check out her stories about the persimmon seeds and horseradish in this exhibition.
Fatema Begum
Fatema Begum is a student at Dartmouth College (class of 2022) studying Biology and German. She enjoys studying the biological correlates of illness and hopes to combine her excitement for science with an appreciation of the global human cost of disease, environmental and food injustice, and transnational migration. She grew up in Astoria, New York surrounded by the sounds and smells of Middle Eastern food carts, Irish pubs, and Greek bakeries on the corner of most streets. She appreciates that food lends itself well to engaging with new people while empowering immigrant communities to connect to their homelands and reclaim a greater sense of agency in their lives through their culinary livelihoods. Her favorite food is a spicy shrimp curry. Check out her stories about the cacao pod and Hemingway’s tuna in this exhibition.
C.C. Lucas
C.C. Lucas is a student at Dartmouth College (class of 2021) with interests in creative writing, conversation design, and visual studies. She is obsessed with human transitions from one state to another, as well as with identifying the social undercurrents that make normal conversation become visceral, metaphorical, functional, and other characteristics all its own. She writes to represent real happenings for the imagination and to experiment on her own beliefs. She also enjoys turning writing into film and performance projects. As for food, she especially enjoys funnel cakes and other state fair delights. Check out her stories about the dodo, oil-filled cane, and portable soup in this exhibition.
Katie Dean
Katie Dean is a visual communication designer and researcher based in Sydney. Her practice explores how experimental visualization techniques can enable viewers to interpret cultural image collections with new perspectives. She designed the interactive image on the exhibition’s homepage. Her favorite foods are Vegemite and banana bread (but not together).