Professor Deborah Harris will present her research on the ways that gender factors into approaches to food and food preparation. Professor Harris (Texas State University) is the author of Taking the Heat: Women Chefs and Gender Inequality in the Kitchen.

Both the power and humanity inherent in food and cooking are central to Dr. Harris’ research, as was evident in coverage of her work on National Public Radio (NPR, 2015/10/02) who noted that, “Women have historically been told their place is in the kitchen — but not as chefs: According to statistics from the U.S. Labor Department, to this day, only about 20 percent of chefs are women.” As Harris questions then, “How is it that women—the gender most associated with cooking—have lagged behind men in this occupation?”

This event is also sponsored by the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program. For more information, please contact Frayda Cohen at frcst5@pitt.edu.