Ohio Wesleyan Professor Shares Food for Thought
Christopher Fink
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University faculty member Christopher Fink, Ph.D., shares thoughts on leading Travel-Learning trips to Italy and on working with students to conduct food-related research here in Delaware in the latest edition of Edible Columbus magazine.
Fink, an assistant professor at Ohio Wesleyan and chair of the Department of Health and Human Kinetics, has led multiple trips to Italy to study issues including the relationship between the Mediterranean culture and Italian lifestyle. His research interests also include physical activity and dietary behavior change. While in Italy, he learned about the Granaries of Memory project, which seeks to collect food-related memories and traditional knowledge from around the world using video interviewing. He has since brought the concept to Delaware.
“While a project like this has its pedagogical and philosophical goals, one of the most enriching aspects is working with students in this manner,” said Fink, who joined the Ohio Wesleyan faculty in 2007. “Students were forced to break out of their preconceived notions about food, and consider the variety of meanings that individuals hold with respect to food that move far beyond just sustenance, health and enjoyment. One student stated that the process ‘has helped me to gain a better connection with food overall. I also will think more about how food and culture interrelate.’”
Read Fink’s article, “The Granaries of Memory: A unique project brings Ohio food traditions to Italy,” on Pages 24-25 of Edible Columbus. Learn more about the OWU Department of Health and Human Kinetics.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.