Food Studies  News


Dean Murphy welcomes Falk students to campus

15/01/20

Dean Diane MurphyWednesday, January 15, 2020

Dear Falk College Students,

Welcome back to campus, returning Falk students. And welcome to new and transfer students joining us this spring. We are so glad to have you join our Falk family. I hope that your winter break was filled with family, friends, and loved ones, and plenty of time for both restful and exciting activities.

As the Spring 2020 semester begins, I would like to offer you a few reminders and updates:

Falk faculty, staff, and I as your Dean, are here to support each of you on your journey here as students, as people, and as citizens. Our doors are always open to you.

In addition, you were invited to an open house with me and Falk College faculty and staff on January 14. It was great to see many of you there for the first in a series of regularly scheduled events that we will continue this semester and into future semesters. I welcome your feedback for future College activities.

As we face challenges on our campus, and as our students advocate for a better Syracuse University, you have my assurance as Dean that Falk College is fully committed to playing a critical role in these efforts, doing what we can to strengthen and build the campus community we know we can be.

Some of you are actively involved in the Falk College Dean’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, established in 2018. We are so grateful for the action and positive change resulting from the efforts of our members, which include faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students from all academic programs in Falk College. There is much work yet to do, and we strongly encourage you to be part of it. Committee meetings are held monthly throughout the academic year. Students interested in being involved in the Committee should contact Professor Chandice Haste-Jackson at cmhaste@syr.edu or the Falk College Dean’s Office at tbattist@syr.edu.

I’d like to remind all students that Falk College Student Services is your dedicated support system. Student Services counselors are here to provide you with private academic advising and help you meet your requirements and goals. In addition, they are your resource for private consultation related to student social and emotional concerns. If you have any concerns throughout your academic career, please contact Student Services or visit 330 Barclay Hall in the Falk Complex.

Particularly for new students, I encourage you review my Fall 2019 welcome message, which contains helpful information about other important resources like Falk Career Services, the Falk Student Lounge, Falk Café, and our computer labs. You’ll also find information about campus resources, such as health and counseling services in the Barnes Center at the Arch, spiritual life through Hendricks Chapel.

To those of you who will be graduating in May, I give you a special word of encouragement to make the most of this semester to maximize your academic and personal growth, and of course, enjoy it! To all our students in Falk College, I wish each of you an excellent Spring 2020 semester.

Go Orange!

Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Dean
Falk College


Falk College offers graduate program scholarships for 2020

01/12/19

Falk College White and MacNaughton Hall ExteriorAlumni admitted to one of Falk College eligible master’s program for 2020: All Syracuse University alumni can apply for a scholarship equivalent to 25% of tuition for one of Falk College’s eligible residential master’s degree (listed below). In addition, GRE tests and application fees waived.

Scholarship is for residential programs, only.

All students who are full or part-time Syracuse University alumni and do not qualify for the 50% Forever Orange discount are eligible for this scholarship; this includes students already admitted to a Falk master’s program for 2021.

Falk graduate programs include:

  • Exercise Science M.S.
  • Food Studies M.S.
  • Food Studies C.A.S.
  • Applied Human Development & Family Science M.A.
  • Human Development & Family Science M.S.
  • Marriage and Family Therapy M.A.
  • Child Therapy C.A.S.
  • Trauma Informed Practice C.A.S.
  • Nutrition Science M.A., M.S.
  • Dietetic Internship C.A.S.
  • Integrative and Functional Nutrition C.A.S.
  • Public Health MPH
  • Addiction Studies C.A.S.
  • Global Health C.A.S.
  • Sport Venue & Event Management M.S.

Interested students should contact Falk Admissions, submit their application, and must formally matriculate. For more information, please contact the Falk College Office of Admissions at 315.443.5555 or email falk@syr.edu. Award is subject to change.

Learn More

Contact Admissions


Joan Christy Lecture Series Presents Culinary Demonstration with the Iroquois White Corn Project

15/11/19

White Corn Project logoFalk College and its Department of Nutrition and Food Studies hosted the Iroquois White Corn Project for a culinary demonstration and tasting on Thursday, November 14 in Falk (MacNaughton Hall) 104.

The Iroquois White Corn Project aims to bring Iroquois White Corn back as a staple of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) diet through the production of hand grown, picked, and processed products from heirloom seeds dating back at least 1,400 years in Haudenosaunee communities. Iroquois White Corn products are nutritious, non-GMO, gluten-free, and have a low glycemic index.

Lauren Jimerson, Seneca, Heron clan, resides with her son Angel Jimerson in ancestral Seneca territory near Victor, NY. With her passion for cooking and nutrition, Lauren developed several plant-based recipes during her time as the Interim Project Manager for the Iroquois White Corn Project. Lauren currently provides outreach and Angel works as the Iroquois White Corn Project Coordinator.

The Joan Christy lecture series is made possible by The Christy Food and Culture Fund, established in 2005 through the generosity of Syracuse University nutrition alumna Joan Christy ’78, G’81 to provide support for a lecture series in the nutrition program at the University.


Falk student research explores right to food violations for transgender youth

29/10/19
Anni Bellows and Bea Fry
Professor Bellows (left) with Bea Fry
From St. Paul, Minnesota, Syracuse University senior Bea Fry ’20 is a food studies and international relations double major in Falk College and the Maxwell School with a minor in Spanish. Their interests lie at the intersection of food and social justice.

“I am passionate about exploring the lived experiences of queer people of color, and especially the complicity of larger institutions and governments in the marginalization of these groups,” they say.

Fry is conducting a research project titled “Body Politics,” which explores human rights violations, and right to food violations in particular, for transgender youth of color in Syracuse, New York. “I am partnering with the Q Center of Central New York to directly engage with these transgender populations in Syracuse,” Fry says.

The food studies program at Syracuse University’s Falk College focuses on issues surrounding food justice, urban food systems, international trade, labor in the food systems, human rights, science, technology, culinary expertise and food enterprise management.

Fry is working with professor Anni Bellows. Under her mentorship, Fry contributed to a joint submission to the May 2020 United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the United States of America, titled “The Human Right to Food in the Context of Political Participation, Equality and Nondiscrimination.” In addition to the Falk College food studies program, other joint contributors on the submission included WhyHunger, FIAN International, the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, among others.

As a Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) grant recipient, Fry presented their work at the Music and Message program in Hendricks Chapel on October 2. The SOURCE provides expanded funding opportunities and support for diverse undergraduate engagement in faculty-guided scholarly research and creative inquiry across all disciplines and programs at Syracuse University. SOURCE grant recipients will present at the SOURCE Orange Talks and Poster Session on November 15 in Bird Library.

“When I’m not pouring over my research materials, you can find me knitting in the LBGT Resource Center, practicing my yoga inversions, or eating free food around campus!” Fry will study abroad in Chile this spring.


Exploring the role of labor, migration in the food system

19/09/19

Cover of the book, The New American FarmerStudents studying food systems in Falk College’s Department of Nutrition and Food Studies learn about ecological sustainability and social justice as faculty members such as Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern highlight practices like agroecology and food-related social movements. Interactive class discussions shed important light on the role of labor and migration in the food system, exploring interactions between food and racial justice to create a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive place for immigrant farmers.

In her course FST 310: Labor Across the Food System this fall, students are partnering with the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC United) to conduct surveys with restaurant workers to better understand wage-related issues in the workplace. In FST 303: Food Movements, students each choose a food-related social movement to conduct their own semester-long study of it. She has also worked with undergraduate and graduate students on her own research, analyzing census data, co-authoring research papers, and transcribing and coding interviews.

Minkoff-Zern, an assistant professor of food studies, authored the new book, The New American Farmer: Immigration, Race, and the Struggle for Sustainability (MIT Press). The book looks at the opportunities and challenges for Latino/a immigrant farmers transitioning from farmworkers to farm owners, offering new perspective on racial inequity and sustainable farming. It also makes an intervention on discussions of agricultural sustainability.

She interviewed more than 100 participants including farmers and people who work with them, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff, farmers market managers, nonprofit and extension workers, among others. Her observations and interviews of farmers at markets and their farms, and attendance at relevant conferences aimed at outreach to immigrant and other farmers of color, took place over six years and five states, including California, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and Virginia.

“In my research I found that immigrant farmers were largely using what could be described as alternative or sustainable farming practices, yet are not being recognized for their contribution to sustainable food systems, as they are typically not as well networked or savvy at marketing as U.S.-born farmers.”

Minkoff-Zern teaches the course Labor Across the Food System where students learn about labor conditions for farm laborers and those working in food processing, service, and retail, and how that relates to a vision for a more just and ecologically sustainable food system.
Her interviews with farm workers who succeeded in starting their own farms, against the odds, unveiled what barriers they faced due to their specific ethnic and racial identities as immigrants of color.

“When we look at agriculture today, immigrants are not just workers, but they’re people who have a lot of knowledge in agriculture, are very skilled in agriculture, and they have more barriers to owning land and starting a business.” With the release of her book, her research continues, which includes outreach to organizations that are helping immigrant farmworkers transition to owning their farms. Funders for her research include the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Goucher College Dept of Environmental Studies, and at Syracuse University, Falk College Seed Grant and the Labor Studies Working Group .


Dean Murphy welcomes Falk students to campus

28/08/19
Dean Diane Murphy
Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.

Dear Falk Students,

Welcome back to campus, returning Falk students! Let’s give a very special welcome to the Class of 2023, as well as new transfer and graduate students. We are thrilled to have you join us. I hope you each enjoyed an adventurous and restful summer.

What a special time to be at Syracuse! There are plenty of exciting events planned on campus this semester, including a very special Orange Central homecoming and reunion on September 12-15, which will commemorate 150 years of Syracuse University history.

As we jump right into the Fall 2019 semester, I would like to remind you of some important information that will help you as you begin—or continue—your studies here at Falk College.

Falk College Student Services is your support system. Student Services counselors are here to provide you with private academic advising and help you meet your requirements and goals. In addition, they are your resource for private consultation related to student social and emotional concerns. If you have any concerns throughout your academic career, please contact Student Services or visit Suite 330 Barclay Hall in the Falk Complex.

I encourage you to connect with the staff at Falk Career Services, who can help you prepare for life after college through career exploration, internship and job searching, professional networking, and more. They are also located in Suite 330 Barclay Hall, or you can search for opportunities through Handshake, the University’s job search and professional events portal.

In addition, you can connect to spiritual life on campus at Hendricks Chapel, as well as health and counseling services now open in the Barnes Center at the Arch. Visit news.syr.edu to keep up with Schine Student Center renovations and other important University updates.

The Student Lounge, located in Falk 216, is available to you anytime the Falk Complex is open. The lounge has a microwave, refrigerator, and vending machines for student use. Across the hall is the Falk Café on 2, open 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. In addition to smoothies, make-your-own salads, and wraps, the Café has a grill for sandwiches, hamburgers, veggie burgers, and many other items. Just down the hall is Falk 229, the quiet student lounge.

There are several computer labs in the Falk Complex. Falk 113 is a PC lab, Falk 253 is a Mac lab. Both are available to students at any time. Falk 400 and 407 are PC labs that are also used as teaching classrooms. When class is not in session, they are open for student use. You may check their schedule of availability using the Orange Events website. You may also use the quick-print stations in Falk 216 and 229 for printing and email. These stations log out automatically after 15 minutes of use.

The Student Involvement Fair will be held Wednesday, September 4 on the Quad from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Rain location: Goldstein Auditorium in Schine Student Center). With more than 300 student organizations on campus, you are sure to find something that interests you. I highly encourage each of you to attend.

You can discover activities and events on campus by visiting the University’s new community calendar. You can also follow Falk College and other campus groups on social media.

Syracuse University email is the primary communication method at the University. Your professors and University offices will contact you with important information using your Syracuse University email address (ending in “@syr.edu”), not your personal email address. So, it is essential to read your University email at least once every day.

While I hope this list is helpful, there are many other resources available to you at Syracuse University. Please visit syracuse.edu/life/students to review a more inclusive listing of valuable student resources to enhance your experience at Syracuse.

With that, I wish you the very best for the upcoming Fall 2019 semester. Once again, welcome to Falk College and the Syracuse University family.

Go Orange!

Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Dean
Falk College


Stepping out of the Classroom to Feed the City

18/08/19

In collaborating with local organizations, 25 Food Studies students are helping transform Syracuse’s food system.

Contributions by Megan Falk

Four people sit around a table in a board room
To ensure their educational curriculum will meet their community partner’s needs, Mariah Bermeo, ’19, and Em Palmero, SUNY-ESF ’19, meet with Kristina Kirby and Twiggy Billue of Jubilee Homes. At the not-for-profit’s office, the students discuss the tentative lesson plan they have developed for Urban Delights and gather feedback from the project managers. Photo credit Megan Falk.
With the orange Pontiac’s dashboard clock ticking closer to 11 a.m., Em Palmero and Mariah Bermeo race off the Syracuse University campus and into the southwest side of Syracuse. The Food Studies students have a tight window of time between their Monday classes to visit Jubilee Homes, the nonprofit with which they’ve partnered on a class project. Once they arrive at the two-story home-turned-headquarters, Palmero and Bermeo head into a warm conference room and take a seat at the wooden table.

Sitting opposite of Kristina Kirby and Twiggy Billue, the project managers, the students give a quick overview of their tentative food justice curriculum. For the last month, they’ve been working with three other classmates to develop lesson plans, which the organization will use for its youth urban farming program this summer. “This is great,” Kirby says. “This is a very good starting point.” Twenty minutes later, Palmero and Bermeo thank the partners, jump in the car, and head back to the university, ready to adjust their lesson plan that will benefit a dozen teenagers in just a few months.

This partnership between a group of college students and an organization working to improve the city’s food system is one of many transcending the town-gown divide in Syracuse, New York. In January, 25 students from Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry traded in their textbooks for semester-long partnerships with three local organizations and Syracuse University’s Office of Sustainability to help carry out mutually beneficial projects. The community engagement projects, which are part of the Food Studies program’s Urban Food Systems course, have distinct focuses, including conceptualizing a community kitchen, creating a marketing plan for an urban farm, launching a food pantry, and planning an educational curriculum, among others.

Launched in 2013 by Food Studies Professor Evan Weissman, Urban Food Systems is unlike any other course in the program, offering a hands-on learning experience. In 2014, the class began collaborating with local organizations to help students put the theories they explore in the classroom into practice, enabling them to develop tangible, transferrable skills while making an impact on the community. To Weissman, engaging in this community-based work and efforts toward social change is an important role of the university.

“A lot of Syracuse students don’t get a good opportunity to get out in the community in a meaningful way,” Weissman says. “Using the resources of the university — in this case, I’m thinking of the students, the knowledge they have, and their actual labor — putting those into the community is something to make qualitatively better the food system of Central New York.”

These student-community collaborations enable students to gain a better understanding of course content and exposure to new career paths. Simultaneously, the organizations receive additional human resources to expand their services, as well as fresh ideas on operation improvements, according to research published in Teaching Sociology. Student participation can also allow a partner to focus on other work within the organization or test new business opportunities, Weissman says.

For the past 20 years, Jubilee Homes has run Urban Delights, a summer program dedicated to promoting youth development, as well as raising awareness and conquering issues of food insecurity. The 14 to 21-year-olds who participate in the program run a farm stand and oversee the entire process, from planting the seedling to marketing the produce. While Kristina Kirby, Jubilee Homes’ fiscal manager, already uses an established curriculum for the entrepreneurial aspects of the program, she wanted to develop a set of youth-centric lessons delving into food justice and farming itself.

Covering topics like composting, planting, and agroecology, these lessons can have a positive impact on the teens in the community, helping to reinforce the STEM education they receive in school, says Twiggy Billue, the Build to Work Coordinator of Jubilee Homes who is helping Kirby oversee the project. “When young people really see how food grows, they become stewards of the earth,” Billue says. “They take this knowledge back to school and have a stronger science grade and have a stronger math grade, so that to me has been one of the large successes, that it ties into their everyday life, including school.”

By prompting students to head off campus and apply their education to the city of Syracuse, both Lyons and Kirby hope the projects not only provide students a chance to give back, but also help them gain a better understanding of their community. To Fry, these community engagement projects offer just that.


Falk College welcomes new faculty and staff

14/08/19

Syracuse University’s Falk College is pleased to announce the appointment of new staff members who have joined Falk College in the past academic year, including Karen Goebel, office coordinator in the School of Social Work; Meredith Groman, administrative assistant and Jamie Rhoades, assistant teacher in the Bernice M. Wright Child Development Laboratory School; Kevin McNeill, internship placement coordinator in the Department of Sport Management; Megan Myers, assistant director of development in the Office of Advancement; Kathleen Nasto, office coordinator in the Department of Human Development and Family Science; Jessica Pitcher, career advisor and David Sly, associate director of career services in the Office of Student Services; Laura Sauta, administrative assistant and Megan Snow, internship placement coordinator in the Department of Public Health, and; Zachary Schuster, assistant director of undergraduate admissions and recruiting in the Office of Admissions.

It also welcomes five new faculty members, Justin Ehrlich, Chandice Haste-Jackson, Jeremy Losak, Stefanie Pilkay, and Xiafei Wang.

Justin Ehrlich Portrait

Justin Ehrlich

Assistant Professor, Department of Sport Management

Justin Ehrlich joins Syracuse University’s Falk College Department of Sport Management as a tenure-track assistant professor in Fall 2019, where he will teach in the area of sport analytics.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Ehrlich taught as an associate professor at Western Illinois University, School of Computer Sciences, since 2010 in Macomb, IL. There, he specialized in data visualization, visual analytics, sport data computation and analysis, machine learning, computer graphics, virtual reality, server-side development, languages and technology. He taught several courses such as Topics of Computer Science: Data Visualization, Operating Systems, Advanced Computer Graphics, Server-Side Development, and served as chair of the Council for Instructional Technology and chair of the IT Governance Executive Committee. He previously worked as an AViSSS (Animated Visual Supports for Social Skills) lead software developer for the University of Kansas and has held roles such as ASP.net developer for Nomise Systems and lead developer for HSSportsTV.net, both in Wichita, KS.

Ehrlich has published several papers in sport data visualization and analysis in Public Choice, Mathematical Social Sciences, Games, and the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sport. He has conducted many talks and live demonstrations on sport data computation, visualization, and analysis that incorporate use of Tableau (with VizQL), R, Python, and D3.

Ehrlich’s research has received support from the U.S. Department of Education, the U3E, and from Falk College. He was awarded the Moore Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award from the University of Kansas School of Engineering, the Provost’s Award for Academic Excellence in Teaching with Technology from Western Illinois University, and several awards from WIU’s College of Business and Technology.

Ehrlich earned a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Kansas in 2010. His dissertation was titled, “The Effect of Desktop Illumination Realism on Presence and Generalization in a Virtual Learning Environment.” He also holds a computer science M.S. earned in 2007 from Wichita State University, and an accounting and business administration B.B.A., earned in 2004 from Friends University in Wichita, KS.

Chandice Haste–Jacksond Portrait

Chandice Haste–Jackson

Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science

Chandice Haste–Jackson is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science beginning Fall 2019.

In addition to working as internship coordinator in Falk College since 2016, Haste-Jackson has served as adjunct faculty in the Department of Human Development and Family Science since 2005, teaching courses such as Intimate Relationships and Gender Roles, Family Development, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She has also taught as adjunct faculty for Onondaga Community College and the American Public University/American Military University System Department of Human Development and Family Science. She previously served in Syracuse University’s School of Education as director of the Liberty Partnerships Program and has held positions at the Chadwick Residence, Inc., the Dunbar Association, and Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility, Inc.

Haste-Jackson serves on the School Counselor Advisory Board for the Syracuse City School District and is a consultant for My Brother’s Keeper Syracuse initiative founded by President Obama.

Haste-Jackson has presented for the Society for Research on Adolescence in San Francisco, CA and the National Council on Family Relations in Orlando, FL. She has given presentations for the U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement in Washington, DC, the New York State Education Department Empire State Youth Summit in Albany, NY, Ethiraj College and Women’s Christian College in Chennai, India, as well as for the National Diversity Council’s Upstate New York College Diversity Summit in Syracuse, NY, among others.

Haste-Jackson’s work in urban youth development, vulnerable families, cross-cultural family dynamics, and diversity education has received support from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, New York State Legislature-Joan Christensen, Onondaga County Department of Long-Term Care and Aging Services, Onondaga County Youth Bureau, Onondaga County Department of Health, Onondaga County Department of Social Services, United Way of Central New York, and Syracuse University.

Haste-Jackson earned a Ph.D. in child and family studies from Syracuse University in 2013. Her dissertation was titled, “Strengths and Risk Factors for Romantic Relationships: Perspectives of African American Women.” She also holds a M.S. in behavioral sciences with a concentration in psychology, earned from Cameron University in 1999, and a B.A. in cultural anthropology, earned from Syracuse University in 1996.

Jeremy Losak Portrait

Jeremy Losak

Assistant Professor, Department of Sport Management

Jeremy Losak joins Syracuse University’s Falk College Department of Sport Management as a tenure-track assistant professor in Fall 2019, where he will teach in the areas of sport management and sport analytics.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Losak was a graduate assistant in the John E. Walker Department of Economics at Clemson University. His teaching experience includes positions as teaching assistant for Sport Economics, teaching assistant and later head teaching assistant for Undergraduate Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics, and teaching assistant for Managerial Economics. In the sports industry, he was a baseball analytics consultant for Wasserman Media Group, marketing analytics consultant for The Madison Square Garden Company, and analytics intern for the Auburn Doubledays.

Losak’s research focus is in sports economics, particularly sport labor markets and betting markets. He is published in Managerial Finance and in the Academy of Economics and Finance Journal. He has given several presentations at venues such as the 2019 Eastern Economic Association Conference in New York, NY; the 2018 Southern Economic Association in Washington, DC; the 2018 Missouri Valley Economic Association’s Sports Economics Session in Memphis, TN, and; the Center for Research in Sports Administration’s Sports, Data, and Journalism Conference at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

Losak is the recipient of a Junior Researcher Award for the 2018 Sports, Data, and Journalism Conference at the University of Zurich and the Distinguished Student Paper Award at the 2018 Missouri Valley Economic Association Conference. He is also the recipient of travel grants from the Institute for Humane Studies Hayek Fund and Clemson Graduate Travel Grant Service. He was named a 2016 Falk College Class Marshal and a Falk College Scholar while at Syracuse University.

Losak earned a Ph.D. in economics from Clemson University in 2019 where he was a Koch Fellow in the John E. Walker Department of Economics. He also earned a B.S. in sport management from Syracuse University’s Falk College in 2016.

Stefanie Pilkay Portrait

Stefanie Pilkay

Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Stefanie Pilkay joins Syracuse University’s Falk College School of Social Work as a tenure-track assistant professor in Fall 2019.

Before joining Syracuse University, Pilkay served as an adjunct lecturer at both Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work in New York, NY since 2018 and the University of Tennessee, College of Social Work in Knoxville, TN since 2015, teaching research methodology, trauma theory and practice, lifespan and neurophysiological development, and human behavior in the social environment. She was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Atlanta, GA since 2017. She has served as a court-appointed special advocate for Anderson County Tennessee Juvenile Court. In 2014, she was a forensic social worker for the Community Law Office, Knox County Public Defender’s Office. Specific to her research experience, Pilkay has served since 2018 as an early investigator trainee on “Developmental Origins of Health and Disease,” an international cross-discipline research study with collaborations between Canada and the U.S.

Pilkay’s research interests include trauma, early-life adversity, inter-generational transmission of adversity, adversity and trauma mechanisms for risk and resilience in human development. She is published in the Journal of Social Work Education, the Journal of Social Service Research, and has given several peer-reviewed presentations, most recently at the 64th Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education in Orlando, FL, Connecting for Children’s Justice Conference in Murfreesboro, TN, the International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect in Prague, Czech Republic, and the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry in New York, NY. Pilkay’s work has been supported by the National Institute of Health/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the University of Tennessee Health and Science Center.

Pilkay earned a Ph.D. in social work with a minor in graduate statistics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2017. She holds a M.S. in social work, an evidence-based interpersonal practice major with trauma treatment graduate certification, and a B.S. in social work with majors in honor’s social work and psychology, earned in 2014 and 2013, respectively, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Xiafei Wang Portrait

Xiafei Wang

Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Xiafei Wang joins Syracuse University’s Falk College School of Social Work as a tenure-track assistant professor in Fall 2019.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Wang served as a research assistant on “Evaluation of Chinese National Working Committee on Children and Women & the United Nations Children’s Fund Joint Child Friendly Spaces Project in China,” funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund: China since 2017, and on “Improving Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Health Outcomes: Integrative Family and Systems Treatment (I-Fast) Integrated Episode of Care Model” since 2014, funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services and Department of Developmental Disability.

Wang has published peer-reviewed articles in Social Work Research, Journal of Social Service Research, The Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, Children and Youth Services Review, Journal of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, PsyCh Journal, Community Mental Health Journal, Child Psychiatry and Human Development, Child Abuse & Neglect, and Social Work in Mental Health, as well as multiple book chapters.

Wang recently presented at the 32nd Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment in San Diego, CA, the Council of Social Work Education 64th Annual Program Meeting in Orlando, FL, National Association of County and City Health Officials 2018 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development 2018 in Dublin, Ireland, ResilienceCon 2018 in Nashville, TN, and the Society for Social Work and Research 22nd Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., among other presentations.

Wang’s work has received support from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Big Cities Health Coalition, Central Benefits Health Care Foundation, and the Ohio State University College of Social Work.

Wang earned a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 2019. Her dissertation was titled, “Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Trauma: A Mixed-Methods Study.” There, she also earned her M.S.W. in 2015. She earned a M.A. in social work and social policy from Peking University in 2012 and a L.L.M. from the Peking University Law School & The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Beijing, China and Lund, Sweden in 2011, where she was named valedictorian. She also earned a B.A. in social work from Peking University in 2009.


Welcome Class of 2023!

09/08/19

Otto with students moving in to a dormFalk College welcomes the Class of 2023 including 307 first-year and 20 transfer students who join 140 graduate students who are new as well. Welcome back to all Falk students who, this year, represent 40 states and 30 countries!

The entire welcome week schedule for new students can be found by visiting the Syracuse Welcome website.


2018-2019: A Year In Review

06/06/19

Newsletter of the Graduate Program in Food Studies

Volume 2

Inside this Issue

  1. Message from the Graduate Director
  2. Food Studies program hosts guest speaker series
  3. Graduate student highlights
  4. Alumni news
  5. Scrapbook

A Message from the Graduate Director

Evan Weissman PortraitLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi ac sem eleifend, fringilla nulla suscipit, pretium elit. Vestibulum sed velit purus. Nunc accumsan condimentum sagittis. Nulla vel lorem ac ipsum convallis aliquam vel accumsan justo. Mauris venenatis odio rhoncus egestas pharetra. Suspendisse imperdiet ullamcorper mauris, quis molestie lacus ullamcorper non. Vestibulum diam sapien, condimentum quis mattis in, condimentum eget leo.

Sed pretium neque nec ex efficitur vestibulum in at erat. Donec iaculis risus risus, sit amet molestie turpis tincidunt ac. Curabitur ultricies turpis quam, ac porta felis feugiat condimentum. Sed eget tincidunt justo. Sed ac metus ut lacus tempor semper eu in purus. Sed pharetra blandit semper. Nulla sit amet condimentum ante, sed mollis nulla.

~ Dr. Evan Weissman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Food Studies, Interim Graduate Director

Food Studies program hosts guest speaker series

A person presents to an audience under an outdoor tent
Dr. Seitu Jones leads a workshop at Brady Farms on October 6, 2018.
The Food Studies program hosted a diverse group of guests this year in collaboration with departments across campus. Topics spanned the field of Food Studies, and included experts in areas of food security, the human right to food, and food as activism through public art.

On October 4, St. Paul, Minnesota-based, 2017 McKnight Distinguished Artist, Dr. Seitu Jones gave a lecture titled “CREATE: Art, Act & Eat,” where he discussed how he draws from both food and activism to inspire his public art projects, and how these components bring about new community stories. On October 6, Jones led a hands-on workshop at local Brady Faith Farm connecting food stories and community art.

On October 30, Food Studies co-hosted a roundtable panel titled “Migrant Rights and the Labor of Food Justice, A Platica” with Dr. Steven Alvarez from St. John’s University Department of English, Crispin Hernandez from the Workers Center of CNY and Food Studies professor Dr. Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, Steven’s scholarship contributes to ongoing research concerning literacy, foodways, immigration, and writing studies, focusing on the humanizing element of sharing food as a form of social care. The Workers Center of CNY discussed current labor and legal struggles of immigrant farmworkers in New York State. Dr. Minkoff-Zern’s interdisciplinary work on food and racial justice, transnational agricultural projects, and migrant health helped to frame contemporary social justice issues for migrant workers.

Two people present before an audience
Dr. Sarah Bowen and Dr. Joslyn Brenton present on February 14, 2019.

On October 31, Food Studies hosted Canadian food policy analyst and writer Wayne Roberts, who spoke about his time as manager of the Toronto Food Policy Council from 2000-2010. He presented on aspects from his book, “The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food,” about the relation of the global food system to climate change and economic disaster.

On February 14, the Food Studies program co-sponsored Dr. Sarah Bowen of North Carolina State University and Dr. Joslyn Brenton of Ithaca College as they presented their 2019 book, “Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It.” In their talk they urged folks to look beyond romantic images of family-style meals to find fixes to the food system that are fair, equitable, and nourishing.

One person presents before an audience
Dr. Jahi Chappell presents on April 8, 2019.
On March 26, the Food Studies program sponsored Dr. Carolin Mees, Architect and Food Systems Designer at the New School’s Parson School of Design. Dr Mees’ presentation, “Design for Food and Right to the City,” discussed the history of resistance to development in the Bronx since the 1970s and community responses in terms of claiming land and designing it according to neighborhood cultural preferences.

On April 8, the department hosted Dr. Jahi Chappell for a lecture on his 2018 book, “Beginning to End Hunger: Lessons on food security, transformation, and solidarity in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.” Dr. Chappell is a Senior Research Fellow of Agroecology and Agricultural Policy at Coventry University. He discussed the research he conducted on Brazil’s novel approach to ending hunger, offering ideas about how to enact policies that improve city food security.

Graduate Student Highlights

Maegan Krajewski

Maegan Krajewski portrait
Maegan Krajewski received a number of teaching honors this year.
Maegan Krajewski defended her thesis research, titled “Lunch Money: Understanding Community-Led School Food Programs in Regina, Saskatchewan,” on April 26. Krajewski was a Teaching Assistant for Food Studies courses and received a number of honors related to her teaching, including the Department’s Outstanding Teaching Assistant award, and a certification for University Teaching from the Future Professoriate Program of the Graduate School. Krajewski published an essay to the Graduate Journal of Food Studies December 2018 issue, titled “Everything for Sale Here is Dead,” in which she discusses the significance of including Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants in the Food Studies canon. In October, she presented preliminary findings from her thesis research at the Graduate Association for Food Studies annual conference, and will present her final thesis project at the 2019 ASFS/AFHVS conference in Anchorage, Alaska this June. The Falk College Poster Symposium featured Krajewski’s work in March, and she was also the recipient of the 2019 Roseane Viana Human Rights Paper Award for best graduate paper in the fields of food, nutrition, and/or health. Krajewski will continue her research as a graduate student of Social Sciences at the University of Regina in the fall.

Adrianne Traub

student presenting with TV monitor behind her
Adrianne Traub defends her practicum project in May.
Adrianne Traub defended her practicum research, titled “Assessing NY FarmNet Services and Organic Farmer Mental Health in New York State,” on May 7. Traub developed a survey that helped NY FarmNet identify the mental health needs of organic farmers in New York, and she also led a consulting workshop for farmers. Traub served as a Research Assistant for the Food Studies department and was also an Adjunct Professor for Agroecology at Tompkins Cortland Community College. Traub and her partner run Main Street Farms, a mid-size organic farm in Cortland, and Traub is beginning a blueberry farm this summer.

Katie Mott

Katie Mott served as a Graduate Research Fellow in the Lerner Center for Public Health and Promotion this year in addition to her role as a Teaching Assistant for Food Studies courses. Her research brief, “Lotta Food, No Money: Syracuse’s Poor Have Challenges that are Much Bigger than Food Access,” was published on February 12. In it, she discusses the findings from her research after the closing of a locally-owned grocery store in Syracuse’s Near Westside neighborhood. Mott was interviewed on local station NPR about this work. Mott will defend her thesis research, also related to food access and the closing of the Nojaim Brothers grocery store, in summer 2019.

Cheyenne Schoen

Cheyenne Schoen conducted research with the Syracuse Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment agricultural partnership program for her thesis. In October she presented preliminary findings from her research at the 2019 Graduate Association for Food Studies conference, and will present the final version at the 2019 ASFS/AFHVS conference. She served on the editorial board of the Graduate Journal of Food Studies and as a Research Assistant for the Food Studies department.

William Cecio

William Cecio (B.S. 2017) served as Research and Teaching Assistants for Food Studies. His practicum research will involve urban food governance. He will present his research, “Urban Food Governance and Social Reproduction: A Literature Review” at the 2019 ASFS/AFHVS conference. Cecio has a bachelor in Food Studies from Falk College.

Sara Weber

Sara Weber was accepted to present her research project, “Examining Food Waste in the Hospitality Industry: How Can Guests and Hotels Prevent and Reduce Food Waste at the Preparation and Consumption Points of the Food Supply Chain?” at the 2019 ASFS/AFHVS conference. She holds bachelor in Sociology and Political Science from Utah State University and is the House Director of Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity at SU.

Camila Ferguson-Sierra

Camila Ferguson-Sierra was a Teaching Assistant and her work, “Palm Oil, Food Insecurity, and Land in Colombia: A Literature Review,” was accepted as a 2019 ASFS/AFHVS conference presentation. Ferguson-Sierra has a bachelor in Conservation Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Maryssa Schlough

Maryssa Schlough is conducting research on school food programming in Onondaga County for her practicum project. Schlough comes to the program with background as a Youth Farm Educator for Montezuma Farm to School Program. She has a bachelor in International and Global Studies from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Collin Townsend

Collin Townsend (B.S. 2018) plans to conduct his thesis research on the restaurant industry in Syracuse. He is a Research Assistant for the Food Studies department, an experienced chef with over a decade of experience, and owns CJT Food Business Consulting firm. He has worked as a research assistant on the FoodPlanCNY project and as a Workforce Educator at With Love Onondaga Community College. He holds a bachelor in Food Studies Falk College.

Alumni News

Briana Alfaro, MS, 2018 joined the staff of Northeast Organic Farming Association New York (NOFA-NY) as their Outreach Coordinator in Fall 2018. She is also beginning a flower farm in Syracuse.

Irma Nurliawati, MS, 2018 works as an Agri-Food Quality Inspector at the Plant Biosafety Division, Agricultural Quarantine Agency, Ministry of Agriculture in the Republic of Indonesia.

Hillary Chartron-Bartholomew, MS, 2018 works as the Director of Human Resources, Information Technology, Communications & Operations at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County.

Molly Ennist, MS, 2018 works as a budget analyst for the New York State Department of Education.

Scrapbook

three students posed in a hallway
(Left to right): Cheyenne Schoen, Maegan Krajewski, and Katie Mott with their favorite mascot during Maegan’s thesis defense.
group shot of people at a dinner table
(Left to Right) Food Studies Internship Coordinator Elissa Johnson, graduate student Cheyenne Schoen, Professor Rick Welsh, and another graduate student attend a fundraising event for the Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment Organization.
Three people standing in a green corn field
Graduate student Cheyenne Schoen with Somali farmers in the RISE agricultural program.
Student talk with attendees in outdoor tent
Artist Seitu Jones leads a workshop at Brady Faith Farms related to public art and food justice.

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